And just like that, we are in 2025 and a Happy New Year to you all from everyone at the library!
If, like for many of us, the New Year brings periods of reflection on new starts and challenges, why not consider coming along to one of our community groups? Our Adult Social Crafting & Cake sessions are (as the name suggests) a truly social afternoon where a variety of crafts is undertaken under the guidance of Barbara and Audrey. The monthly afternoon session costs £2.50 – for craft supplies – and includes refreshments and is available Tuesdays 14th January 11th February and 11th March. Our regular Monday 2.30-4pm Busy Hands sessions restart 6th January at a cost of £1. If creativity is not your thing why not try our Over 60s Games Group which meets the first Wednesday afternoon of the month. As well as playing board & card games they also have lively discussions and generally put the world to right! We also have our Creative Writing sessions which are held on the last Saturday of the month 10.30am-12noon at a cost of £1. Julia will support and guide you as you either make your writing debut or continue with an existing piece of writing.
Our children’s area is also popular, and we are continuing to hold a monthly Tot’s Playtime session on the last Wednesday of the month 2-3pm. This is an hour of fun with toddler toys, crafts etc and a chance for adult carers to socialise too! £1 donation to library funds is the cost for this. We always have some fabulous children’s books too so if your children or grandchildren aren’t members of the library bring them in, and we can get them registered – they’ll be able to borrow books immediately. Registration is completely free for both adults and children so come on in and see what we have to offer.
Not only is it a new year but we are getting a new library system – and yes there’s been a few groans and anxious looks from our volunteers! We will, of course, receive training so I’m sure all will be well eventually. However, there’s a period of transition where our library will be a little bit disrupted while the old system is taken down and the new one is installed – this will be between 6th-17th February. You will still be able to borrow and return books as normal and the libraries website will remain live, but you will be unable to renew or reserve items online. Public computers will still be available, but you will be unable to print during this transition period. If you use our E-Resources (ebooks, eAudio, eMagazines, eNewspapers-Borrowbox and Pressreader) you will still have access if you log in using your library card and pin number before 7th February. If you are logged out, you will have to wait until we go live with the new system. Fingers crossed everything goes seamlessly and we are back up and running by the end of February!
We had fantastic support last year for our coffee mornings – our Xmas one was fabulous. Our Busy Hands ladies and our crafting team raised over £650 over October – December period with their hand-crafted items – a big thank you to them for helping to keep us open. Our next coffee morning is Saturday 11th January 10am-1pm. Come along and beat any January blues with a chat, a cuppa and a delicious home-made cake.
And finally, thinking about new challenges. We are always looking out for new volunteers. If you’d like to find out what it takes, then pop into the library and have a chat. There’s no fixed rota, we are super flexible but would love more people to join us.
And just like that, we are in 2025 and a Happy New Year to you all from everyone at the library!
