Happy day

Welcome to our regular newsletter with bits & pieces of news about Blythe library-centre

+
World event

One of the happiest days at the centre in the last few weeks was the World Book Day event. Traditionally, this is the day when everyone dresses up as a favourite character from a book; and also when libraries are full of story-telling sessions. And Blythe was no different.

Janet is The Cat, Hilary is Cruella de Vil from 101 Dalmatians, and Tina is Snow White. Story-book perfection…!

Our volunteers dressed up (see above), and the children came in to the centre also in all sorts of costumes. Tina did a great job as Chief Storyteller!
A marvellous day.

Festival

Talking of book events, here’s a bit of forward notice for the Moorlands’ festival for children’s literature. Called The Brilliant Festival, it is planned to take place at Biddulph Old Hall on 12th & 13th July. The 12th is reserved to schools, but on Saturday 13th the whole thing is thrown open to the public.
The festival will feature readings, talks, workshops, performances, installations – and activities “to feed the imagination”.

It’s all the brainchild of the ‘Outside Arts’ group, which is a Moorlands-based community arts organisation. It is the group that was behind the ‘Cheadle Moon’ extravaganza and which is currently setting up the forthcoming Moorlands Polish Heritage Event and the Leek Textile Week, so we know the quality of the book festival will be good.

Come along and watch film… for free

One of the great things about Staffordshire Libraries’ managers is that they set up some excellent opportunities for library-users. They can negotiate contracts so that major institutions & businesses, who usually charge for access to their online sites, will allow it for free in libraries.
The condition is that: free access is only possible on computers that are actually physically in libraries. At Blythe we have a computer room where this free access is possible.
Ask the volunteers at the desk about what platforms are available for free, or check the ‘Staffordshire Free-Access’ page.

The latest institution to permit its wares to be seen on library computers is the British Film Institute. The BFI is now allowing free access to its ‘Replay’ collection – archive footage going back almost sixty years. These historic videos include news footage, such as that from the 1984-1985 Miner’s Strike, right through to classic TV programmes such as The Book Tower – and it’s all easily searchable.
So… come on down to Blythe and enjoy an hour checking out the past…

Wednesdays

Finally, don’t forget to check out our Events page for what’s coming up on Wellness Wednesdays, when we put on talks about health. The next ones concern osteo-arthritis, diabetes and arthritis in general.
Remember, it doesn’t have to be you that has the condition – you could be a carer or concerned relative or even just worried that you might develop the condition. All are welcome!

Please give us your thoughts on any of the news in this article – write something in the Comments Box, which is further down this page.

Lots going on…

Welcome to our regular newsletter with bits & pieces of news about Blythe library-centre

Support for good causes

One of the most successful ventures at the Centre is the Thursday Quiz, which is a lot of fun and also raises a deal of money. The quiz participants themselves get to choose which local good cause they’d like to see the money go to.

So it was heartening to hear that one of the most recent donations from the Quiz group’s efforts was made in memory of Sue Molloy, the long-term Centre volunteer who sadly died last autumn. In her name, over £400 was presented to the Donna Louise Trust, the hospice for sick children.
A very nice gesture…

And, if you have a good cause in mind (it doesn’t have to have formal charity status, it could even be something very small indeed), why not drop along and see the Quiz organisers? They are always looking round for something local which deserves a bit of support.

Reading makes sense

Encouraging people to read has never been as important as it is nowadays. Reading means you get time to re-read something and also reflect and think – which is impossible with fast-moving online videos and chats.
Reading also creates a huge difference to personal development: research has shown that just spending 10 minutes a day reading and sharing stories with children can make a crucial difference to their future.

World Book Day, which takes place on Thursday 7th March, is the annual chance to start reading afresh. Why not make a date to come into the library and take away a book to read?

Stoke South is here

As part of a major review, a lot of parliamentary constituencies have changed their borders (or even disappeared). One such is the Stoke South constituency, which has now been extended to absorb nearly all of the catchment area of Blythe Library Centre.
So it was no surprise to see that Jack Brereton MP was due to make an appearance at our monthly ‘Local Authorities Surgery’ session at the Centre. Jack is the current Stoke South MP.

It’s very much worth dropping in to these regular sessions, especially if you have questions about how the local district is being managed; county, district and parish councillors, as well as the local PCSO, all try to make themselves available for in-person chats on the day. (See What’s On page for details).

Colourful paintings

Finally it was great to see a recent exhibition of paintings at the Centre which featured pictures by local artist Patricia Bradshaw.

Her vibrant landscapes (see pic above) are really something to see – and surprisingly inexpensive to buy!

Please give us your thoughts on any of the news in this article – write something in the Comments Box, which is further down this page.

Out and about with the library

At last the weather is beginning to turn and we can look forward to the coming year!

Books, books, books

One thing on the immediate horizon is the annual World Book Day on March 2nd, which really is a time to celebrate reading.
By coincidence, Staffs Libraries have just released the list of the most popular books taken out on loan in the county.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, the last 12 months were a good year for crime and thriller authors with 9 out of the top-10 most popular titles fitting these genres. Established popular writers like Lee Child, Ann Cleeves and Val McDermid were joined by Richard Osman and his gentle and humorous Thursday Murder Club series.

A librarian with Staffordshire’s top borrowed books

The odd one out was Sarah Winman’s Still Life. This Sunday Times List bestseller is a wonderful tale of two people who meet in Florence towards the end of the Second World War; it follows their developing friendship in that capital of culture.

Funny stories continued to be the most popular reads for children. Jeff Kinney’s Wimpey Kid series really dominated the children’s issues, but it was also good to see Harry Potter still in there. The ‘classics’ continued to appeal: both Matilda and George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl made the top 10 most popular titles again.

Don’t forget: if you’d like to borrow any of these titles but they are not on the shelves, just ask to reserve them. We can even get them from one of our sister libraries if we don’t have a copy in our stock.

Days out

With the milder weather also comes the desire to get out and about, especially by taking day-trip on a coach to one of Britain’s loveliest destinations.

We sell tickets for Copeland’s Coaches day-trips, so please come in and look through the company’s brochure and purchase one, if one jumps out at you. We get a cut of all sales, do it’s a form of fundraising for us.
The trip that looks really appealing (in more ways than one!) is the day-trip to York in April for the town’s Chocolate Festival. (Chocolate is not just for Xmas…!!)

Driving in the comfort of the library

Great news for anyone whose new year resolution is to learn to drive: you can practise your driving theory-test using Theory Test Pro here at Blythe Centre, free!
This computer-based programme contains the official practice test-question bank, hazard-perception video clips and an online version of the Highway Code. All this material is licensed from the Driving Standards Agency, the people who set the tests. It’s a great way to get started on getting your licence.

The programme can only be accessed for free from library computers, so we suggest you book some computer-time here and come along for a few sessions.
One thing to know is that, when you first use it, you will need to register with your name, email address and password. This information allows Theory Test Pro to save your test scores – and thus you can follow your progress as you practise for the test.

++
Please give us your thoughts on this article – write something in the Comments Box, which is further down this page.