News

Raffle Winners!

Posted on by Zara
Our volunteer Dave is presenting the first place prize to Jean. The prize is a hamper full of food and confectionery.

Narborough and Littlethorpe Community Managed Library gives our local community the opportunity to not only borrow books and use the internet, but also to enjoy social and learning activities. Or indeed to sit on our bench outside and enjoy our small garden

We now rely totally on voluntary donations and grants to fund all our running costs and insurances etc, so our fund raising is essential.

On behalf of the library team, I would like to thank all our local businesses who have so generously provided Raffle Prizes to this year’s Summer Raffle:

  • Asda, Fosse Park
  • Hilton Hotel, Enderby
  • Plough Inn, Littlethorpe
  • Hi Tide Fish Bar, Narborough
  • Petals Florist, Narborough
  • Narborough Arms
  • Pizza House, Copt Oak
  • Old Inn, Littlethorpe
  • Narborough & District Bowling Club
  • Royal Court Shoe repairs, Narborough
  • Narborough Post Office
  • Tesco, Copt Oak
  • Cloud Nine, Narborough
  • Next, Enderby
  • The Bread Box, Narborough
  • Oh Sew Clean, Narborough
  • Hair Sanctuary, Narborough
  • Narborough Eyecaare
  • Oasis, Narborough

And congratulations to the winners of the prizes! Pictured is our volunteer Dave presenting Jean with her 1st prize hamper.

PrizeWinner
Luxury HamperJean L
3 month Voucher for 2 adultsRodger
Meal for twoHelen H
2 x Fish supper.Lee H
Nokia C22 Mobile PhoneTracey H
BouquetDave W
£20 Voucher receivedJoanne C
Voucher for 2×14″ PizzaParnell
Voucher for Nail Care £30Haywood
Bottle of SpiritsParnell
HandbagPaul F
Tea For two VoucherJan
Social Club MembershipPauline S
Two bottles of wineSue J
Bottle of Red WineChris V
Selection of Household OrnamentsAnn H
Selection of Cosmetics and toiletriesJackie S
Voucher for Meal Deal.Jenni H
Voucher for Meal Deal.Derek P
Voucher for Meal Deal.Olena
Voucher for Meal Deal.Janet
Voucher for Dry Cleaning.Sue E
VoucherLesley W
Pair of SunglassesDavid H
Two £5 Massage VouchersRalph

Summer Fair

Posted on by Zara

Our summer fair will be on Saturday 14th June, 2025, from 2-4pm at the library.

We will have handcrafted toys and gifts for sale as well preloved books.

There will also be a tombola and children’s lucky with fantastic prizes to be won, or you could win a bottle of wine on our bottle-bola!

We will also have a free children’s activity.

It will also be the last chance to buy raffle tickets, as we will be drawing the winner at 3:30pm. We have lots of prizes including a hamper, phone and meal vouchers, so be sure to get your ticket!

This is an important fundraising event, so come along and support your local library.

Summer Fair
Saturday, 14th June, 2025
2-4pm
Narborough and Littlethorpe Community Library, Station Road, Narborough

Book and Plant Sale

Posted on by Zara

We’re holding a book and plant sale at the library on May 17th, 10:15am –  12:30pm.

We have a huge variety of preloved books for sale, including adults fiction and non-fiction and children’s books.

All proceeds from the sales go towards the ongoing costs of running the library, so we thank everyone for their support.

Also, don’t forget to get a raffle ticket while you’re there!

St George’s Day- What To Read

Posted on by Zara

We have been celebrating English authors for St George’s day month at the library. We have a wonderful display with art by our volunteer Maddy, and a selection of hand picked books for you to discover. Here’s a closer look at a few of the titles.

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson

1926, and in a country still recovering from the Great War, London has become the focus for a delirious new nightlife. In the clubs of Soho, peers of the realm rub shoulders with starlets, foreign dignitaries with gangsters, and girls sell dances for a shilling a time. The notorious queen of this glittering world is Nellie Coker, ruthless but also ambitious to advance her six children, including the enigmatic eldest, Niven whose character has been forged in the crucible of the Somme. But success breeds enemies, and Nellie’s empire faces threats from without and within. For beneath the dazzle of Soho’s gaiety, there is a dark underbelly, a world in which it is all too easy to become lost.

We say: This is about the dark under belly of London when two girls try to make it in the entertainment business.

Available at the library, click here to order further copies

The Pier Falls by Mark Haddon

An expedition to Mars goes terribly wrong. A seaside pier collapses. A 30-stone man is confined to his living room. One woman is abandoned on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean. Another is saved from drowning. Two boys discover a gun in a shoebox, and a group of explorers find a cave of unimaginable size, deep in the Amazon jungle. Here, Mark Haddon demonstrates two things: first that he is a master of the short form, and second that his imagination is even darker than we had thought.

We say: a dark and emotional collection of short stories

Available at the library, click here to order further copies

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 by Sue Towsend

Teenager Adrian writes candidly about his parents’ marital troubles, the dog, his life as a tortured poet and ‘misunderstood intellectual’. His painfully honest diary makes hilarious and compelling reading.

We say: suitable for teenagers, YA, and adults, this is a humourous diary about school life and separation of a child’s parents

Available at the library, click here to order a copy

Summer Raffle Tickets On Sale Now!

Posted on by Zara

Tickets for our Summer raffle are now on sale at the library!

The tickets cost £1 each, raffle to be drawn at our Summer fayre on 14th June at 3:30pm.

Thank you to the local businesses for their generosity for donating prizes. Our raffle is important fundraising event for the library, and keeps us able to provide our services.

Prizes to be won:

  • Food hamper – Asda Fosse Park
  • 3 month voucher for 2 – LivingWell Health Club, Hilton Hotel
  • Nokia C22 mobile phone
  • Meal for 2 – Plough Inn, Littlethorpe
  • Fish supper for 2 – Hi-Tide Fish Bar, Narborough
  • Bouquet – Petals Florist
  • £20 voucher – Narborough Arms
  • 2 14″ pizzas – Pizza House, Copt Oak
  • £30 nail care voucher – Cloud Nine Beauty
  • Bottle of spirits – Tesco
  • Handbag – Royal Court Shoe Repairs
  • Tea for two – Hilton Hotel
  • Social club membership – Narborough & District Bowling Club
  • 2 bottles of wine – Old Inn
  • Bottle of Wine – Narborough Post Office
  • Household ornaments – Next
  • Cosmetics and toiletries – Next
  • Meal Deal voucher – Bread Box
  • Dry cleaning voucher – Oh Sew Clean
  • Voucher – Hair Sanctuary
  • Sunglasses – Narborough Eyecare
  • Massage voucher – Oasis

Library Journal – March 2025

Posted on by Zara

Our new computer system is now live! Our volunteers have risen to the challenge and are figuring out intricacies of the new system, finding new features as they go. As our librarians have their first shifts on the new system they may be a bit slower than usual in processing your books as we want to make sure that everything is done correctly. We thank you in advance for your patience. 

The new system up and running means that you can now reserve books to pick up at the library (£1 fee applies) and use Borrowbox as usual.

In January, we held an afternoon tea party for our volunteers and friends of the library to thank them for their support in 2024. It was a lovely afternoon, with tea, sweet treats and a quiz. These social events are fantastic ways for our volunteers to socialise.

To become a friend of the library we ask for a donation of a minimum of £10, but larger donations are gratefully received, membership lasts for the financial year. By becoming a friend of the library you are helping the library stay open as we are completely self-funded, and this scheme provides incredibly valuable income. Friends of the library get newsletters emailed to them throughout the year and are included in an annual draw to win a small gift. To become a friend of the library please come in and fill out a form.

In the summer we will be holding a summer fayre with a tombola, if anyone has any unwanted gifts or suitable items for tombola prizes, we would gladly accept any donations. Again, these events are vital for the financial stability of the library. 

Our non-fiction book stock has had a boost last month. We have lots of biographies, including Sonny Boy (Al Pacino), and Boris Johnson’s autobiography, and books covering health and history. If you don’t know what to have for dinner, we have a batch of new cook books including baking, easier recipes, high protein and vegetarian. Or, if you want to get away we have a selection of travel guides, explore London, Crete, Denmark or China, come to the library and decide where your next holiday will be.

The new year has seen the last of our original five trustees step down as her maximum term of nine years has been completed. Most of our library regulars will know Maggie, pictured below on the left with our chair of trustees, Helen. Maggie led the group who turned Narborough Library into a community managed library, thus saving the library from closure. She has worked tirelessly over the years not only behind the counter but also organising events, fundraising, and being a general beacon of knowledge for everyone else who volunteers at the library. She is carrying on as a volunteer, but we want to say a huge thank you to Maggie for her hard work and dedication to the library. At an afternoon tea we presented her with gifts, including a planter (she is an avid gardener and some of you would have bought her plants from our plant sales), and a book about her time at the library, and the important work she has done for the community. 

Throughout March we will be celebrating women’s authors and characters for International Women’s Day (March 8th), come and take a look at our display and recommended books.

International Women’s Day – What To Read

Posted on by Zara
A display of books by women's authors at the library, there are also decorative posters.

We are celebrating International Women’s Day all month at the library. We have a wonderful display with art by our volunteer Maddy, and a selection of hand picked books for you to discover. Here’s a closer look at a few of the titles.

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends who come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook’s mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility – following generations of women haenyeo – but also danger. The haenyeo free dive, holding their breath as they swim to the rocky sea bottom in pursuit of their quarry. Both will experience tragedy in the water, further deepening their bond. Despite their love for each other, Mi-ja and Young-sook’s differences are impossible to ignore.

We say: This book is a testament to the power of women’s communities when they come together when faced with tragedy.

Available at the library, click here to order further copies

Atalanta by Jennifer Saint

When a daughter is born to the King of Arcadia, she brings only disappointment. Left exposed on a mountainside, the defenceless infant Atalanta is left to the mercy of a passing mother bear and raised alongside the cubs under the protective eye of the goddess Artemis. Swearing that she will prove her worth alongside the famed heroes of Greece, Atalanta leaves her forest to join Jason’s band of Argonauts. But can she carve out her own place in the legends in a world made for men?

We say: this Greek myth retelling has a strong, inspiring, female main character who can match anyone she‘s with.

Available at the library, click here to order further copies

The Women by Kristin Hannah

Raised on California’s idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, twenty-year-old nursing student, Frances ‘Frankie’ McGrath has always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl. But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different path for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurses Corps and follows his path. As green and inexperienced as the young men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is about to discover the true value of female friendship and the heartbreak that love can cause.

We say: this book highlights how much women give to wars, and how it is often overlooked.

Not currently available at the library, click here to order a copy

Crying in H Mart: a memoir by Michelle Zauner

In this story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humour and heart, she tells of growing up the only Asian-American kid at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother’s particular, high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother’s tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food. As she grew up, moving to the east coast for college, finding work in the restaurant industry, performing gigs with her fledgling band – and meeting the man who would become her husband – her Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live.

We say: this is a powerful, and sad memoir. Michelle cares for her mother as she succumbs to cancer, and finds comfort in her Korean heritage.

Available in the library, click here to order further copies