Library opens a new chapter for village

A £781,000 library and community centre is opening in Leicestershire on Friday 3 April, thanks to support from the Big Lottery Fund.

Leicestershire County Council has built a library and community centre at Newbold Verdon, which will also be a base for the youth service, voluntary groups and the community.

It is the first new library to open with support from the Big Lottery Fund, which has awarded £781,402 for the building and its reading garden.

Ernie White, Leicestershire’s Cabinet member for Community Services, said: “I’m delighted that, thanks to the Big Lottery Fund, we can open this state-of-the-art library and community venue for Newbold Verdon and its surrounding villages.”

Mick McGrath, head of the Big Lottery Fund in the East Midlands, said: “The opening of the first BIG-funded library couldn’t have come at a better time.

“Libraries sit at the heart of our communities so are ideally placed to host a range of important local services. The Newbold Verdon building is a shining example for other libraries to follow.”

The building will open at 10.00am on April 3 for the official launch and at 11.00am to the public. Reporters and photographers are welcome to attend – for further details, please contact the press office on 0116 305 7046.

Background:
The new library has:

• A community room, which can be used by local groups for meetings
• A computer suite of 10 computers and an interactive white board
• An advice suite, where people can seek advice about issues affecting them
• Lots of new stock and DVDs
• A reading garden, mosaics and community artwork, due to be unveiling in the summer

www.leics.gov.uk/newboldverdon_library

Bumper year for county libraries

It’s been a record year for Leicestershire’s libraries, new figures revealed today. The County Council’s library service says that:

• The number of visitors in 2008/9 has risen by 13 per cent, to 3,853,867
• Issues of books, CDs and DVDs rose by four per cent over the last year, to 4,153,816
• Issues of children’s books rose by seven per cent in a year
• More than 88 per cent of comments received by the library service are positive
• More than 50% of the population used the service last year

Ernie White, Cabinet member for libraries, said: “I’m delighted that people are voting with their feet and making our libraries a great success. “They’re warm and welcoming and a great place to visit, whether you want to borrow a book, hire a CD or DVD, surf the internet, research your family tree, take part in a local group or get advice on benefits. “I’d encourage anyone who hasn’t been to a library for a while to check out their local branch.”

At a time when library services in some other parts of the country are cutting back, Leicestershire is revamping or rebuilding its libraries. The latest examples are Oadby library, which opened last month (February) and Newbold Verdon, where a new library and community facility opens in April.

Celebrating the possible… Alan Gibbons

Children’s book author Alan Gibbons paid a visit to Oadby Library, and he has some wonderful things to say about us. Thanks, Alan!

Read it yourself on his blog – http://alangibbons.net/?p=336

Glenfield Library helps Mums and Dads get online

Glenfield Library has organised an Information Open Day with plenty of activities for all the family to join in with on Monday 30 March 2009 from 10.00am – 8.00pm.

Computing in the Library

Children, parents, carers, family and friends are all invited to pop into the library and use the computers to find out what the internet is all about and explore free online information resources available.

A recent study conducted by the London School of Economics has found that the internet is the most common tool available to young people to search for information, engage in online discussions and participate in web-based activities.  On the other hand parents are often unaware of the risks that young people face while they are on the internet and need help in understanding how to deal with good and bad internet experiences.

Glenfield library will be offering people an opportunity to surf the internet safely, try interesting websites to do with homework, look for consumer information before shopping online and play games. Staff will be on hand to help with these activities and all the other exciting interactive online journeys available on the Information Open day.  For further information, visit www.leics.gov.uk/glenfield_library

Voyage of natural discovery

Discover Like Darwin

Local naturalists and wildlife enthusiasts are signing up to join a new programme to share  their enthusiasm for the natural world and museum collections, as part of a new project called Discover Like Darwin.  Leicestershire County Council has been inviting budding naturalists to join in the celebration of the science of natural history, local wildlife and Leicestershire’s landscape by developing a new programme of events for early summer through to the end of the year.

Ernie White, Cabinet member for Community Services, said; “This programme aims to raise awareness of the natural world through activities that inspire scientific exploration and observation of the environment and wildlife, whilst having fun!”

You can visit your local library to find books about natural history, insects, wildlife and more.

To register your interest in the ‘Discover Like Darwin’ programme, or for more information, visit www.leics.gov.uk/darwin

Bumper year for county libraries

It’s been a record year for Leicestershire’s libraries, new figures revealed today.

The number of visitors in 2008/9 has risen by 13 per cent, to 3,853,867
Issues of books, CDs and DVDs rose by four per cent over the last year, to 4,153,816
Issues of children’s books rose by seven per cent in a year
More than 88 per cent of comments received by the library service are positive
More than 50% of the population used the service last year

Ernie White, Cabinet member for libraries, said: “I’m delighted that people are voting with their feet and making our libraries a great success.  “They’re warm and welcoming and a great place to visit, whether you want to borrow a book, hire a CD or DVD, surf the internet, research your family tree, take part in a local group or get advice on benefits.

“I’d encourage anyone who hasn’t been to a library for a while to check out their local branch.”
At a time when library services in some other parts of the country are cutting back, Leicestershire is revamping or rebuilding its libraries.  The latest examples are Oadby library, which opened last month (February) and Newbold Verdon, where a new library and community facility opens in April.  Leicestershire’s library service has:

• 55 libraries
• 6 mobile libraries
• 412 computers
• 23,000 DVDs to rent
• 712,000 books to borrow

www.leics.gov.uk/libraries

Leicestershire Children’s Book Prize

There are only two weeks left for children to help choose the winner of the first-ever Leicestershire Children’s Book Prize by voting for their favourite book.

A shortlist of 6 fantastic books with particular appeal for 10 – 13 year olds was chosen by children throughout Leicestershire, and Leicestershire Libraries and Borders Books are now asking children to vote for their favourite from this exciting list.  Children have until April 3rd to vote and can vote in their local library, at Borders, or online at www.leics.gov.uk/childrensbookprize.

The books range from; exciting adventures about secret agents, laugh out loud stories, stories about families and friends, through to true life stories.  There is plenty of humour, suspense and emotion and the books are guaranteed to get everyone reading for pleasure and enjoyment.  All the books are available to borrow in Leicestershire Libraries and children can request them free of charge.

The author of the book with the most votes will win the Leicestershire Children’s Book Prize and be invited to the prizegiving in Borders, in June.  There is also a prize draw for all those schools who have children participating in the voting and the school pulled out of the draw will win  £200 worth of books from the prize sponsor, Borders. There will also be prizes for children who write the best book reviews.

Ernie White, Cabinet member for Community Services, said: “We are looking forward to the first ever Leicestershire Children’s Book Prize and hope that many children will take the opportunity to read the exciting books on offer and vote for their favourite.  We are pleased with the response we have had so far and hope that even more children join in to help select the winner of the prize.”

For more information contact your local library or check out the website:
www.leics.gov.uk/childrensbookprize

Thurmaston Library book sale

Thurmaston Library is having a book sale. Old library books and DVDs will be sold to make way for the new stock. Anyone wishing to extend their own library and help make room for the new stock should go along to Thurmaston Library on Church Hill Road between Monday 20 and Saturday 25 April 2009.

Thurmaston Library on 0116 305 3513.

www.leics.gov.uk/thurmaston_library

Harey times

The arrival of spring brings with it the now rarely seen boxing behaviour of male and female hares. You can help protect and conserve these animals by getting involved in a local wildlife survey.

Hare Survey

Leicestershire County Council’s Historic and Natural Team need volunteers to record sightings of hares in Leicestershire and Rutland.  By finding out about their size and distribution in the counties, we can find out about what is happening to their populations and if any conservation action needs to be taken to safeguard their habitats.

You don’t need to be an expert on these creatures to take part. The easy to use survey contains information about hares and rabbits, with hints on how to spot the animals.  Visit www.leics.gov.uk/hare_rabbit_survey for more info.

Don’t forget you can visit your local library for books about hares and other animals! Visit www.leics.gov.uk/libraries

Thurmaston Library Reading Group

From May 2009 a new monthly reading group will be taking place at Thurmaston Library on the first Tuesday of each month at 5.00pm.

Book groups are great places to make new friends, share your reading experiences with others and widen your reading by trying books you might not normally choose for yourself. Over the year a wide range of books will be read. The books chosen each month will be available to borrow from the library.

Anyone interested in joining the new reading group is invited to go along to Thurmaston Library at 5.00pm on Tuesday 5 May when the group will be holding it first meeting.   For more information contact Thurmaston Library on 0116 3053513, www.leics.gov.uk/thurmaston_library