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.

Library Journal – February 2025

Posted on by Zara

Narborough and Littlethorpe Community Library

Over the years the library has become an important community hub for Narborough and Littlethorpe, offering regular groups who meet at the library. The groups have been an important source of information, support and a lot of fun for our attendees. A lot of new friendships have been made and people are a part of the community.

Like the library, our groups are run by volunteers who work to make these groups happen. And over the holidays they had Christmas parties or outings. 

The groups we currently run are:

  • Wriggly Readers (every Tuesday,  9:15am – 10:30am) – this group is for pre-school children and their carers to enjoy storytelling and book related crafty activities or songs.
  • Board Games Group (every Tuesday, 11am – 1pm) – this group enjoys fun and competitive games of Scrabble, but other games are also available and we have just bought a large print Scrabble set. 
  • Digital Drop-In (every Wednesday, 10:30am – 12:30pm) – you can drop into this group whenever you need help with your technology devices or you need help online, their team will help you.
  • Busy Hands and Minds (every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month, 2pm – 4pm) – this is our crafting group. If you knit, crochet, sew, come along to make new friends and get to know other like-minded people.

A small charge of £1 per person is made for the groups to cover the cost of refreshments. There is no commitment to attend every meeting. If you’d like information drop into the library or email us at nandlclibrary@gmail.com.

During February we will be celebrating Valentine’s day. We have plenty of Danielle Steele, Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones books and plenty more romance titles to discover. Including titles in large print and audiobook CDs.

We’re pleased to announce our first fundraising event for 2025! We are holding a quiz at Littlethorpe Village Hall on 14th March, 2025 starting at 7pm until 9.30pm. Bring your own food and drinks, some hot drinks will be available. Tickets will be available next month for £5 each from the library, keep an eye out for posters and on our website for the notification that they are for sale. You have plenty of time for brushing up on your trivia!

Last month I told you about our new computer system going live this month. We have been busy learning the ropes so we thank you in advance for your patience while we work at perhaps a tortoise’s pace getting used to the new system. Our regular hare speed will be back shortly!

Library Journal – January 2025

Posted on by Zara

Happy New Year from all of us at Narborough and Littlethorpe Community Library! We look forward to a year of continuing to provide our villages with plenty of reading material and opportunities to join in with the community.

If your New Year’s resolution is to read more this year, our library is the place to visit. At the end of December, we received a delivery of two boxes of brand new books! The selection includes crime fiction, contemporary fiction, and more. We have new books by James Patterson, Jilly Cooper, M J Alridge, and CJ Sansom, to name a few.

We have recently been displaying the books of a selected author of the month. For December, we chose the books of Lynda La Plante. For those unfamiliar with her work, she is a crime fiction writer who also wrote the highly rated BBC television series Prime Suspect, starring Helen Mirren.

Looking for recommendations? We have a catalogue called “Who Writes Like…” that you can use to look up your favorite authors and find similar books by other authors.

Or, you could try a title that our librarians loved last year. We recommend Kristin Hannah’s The Women, The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak, and In Memoriam by Alice Winn. You can check where to find these books online at https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/leisure-and-community/libraries.

A huge thank you to everyone who came to our Christmas Fayre last month! We had lovely crochet Christmas decorations for sale and others crafted from books, all made by our volunteers. We raised a great amount of money for the library, and we hope everyone got some nice gifts for friends, family, or themselves!

We also had a children’s lucky dip with great prizes and a Christmas coloring competition. Our favorite entries were given an advent calendar, kindly donated by the Co-op. They were put on display inside and outside the library, along with Christmas trees colored in by local nurseries, they looked fantastic.

Our librarians are facing a new challenge over the next few months. Leicestershire County Council has implemented a new system that we will use to process book loans, returns, etc. We will have a training session before our first shift using the new system in February, but it will still take some getting used to. It may be a while before we get back to providing the speedy service our patrons are accustomed to.

Please note the following information, which will also be available on our website (nandlclibrary.org). From January 3rd until February 17th, you will not be able to reserve or place a hold on a book. During the same time frame, you will not be able to renew books online. To renew a book, visit any library or call us at (0116 286305) and we can renew it for you. You will also not be able to print from our PCs between February 6th and 17th.

If you use Borrowbox, make sure you login before 5th February, at 7pm you will not be able to login again until February 17th. If you are logged in and do not log out, it will not log you out and you will be able to continue to use Borrowbox.

We apologise for the disruptions this will cause. but the new system will help us provide better service in the future.