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Following the government's advice, our libraries have been closed since Saturday 21 March. Open+ has also been disabled.
Any update will be communicated via our website and social media channels.
This also affects books reservations. You cannot place new reservations at the moment, but you will be able to borrow books already processed for collection when the libraries re-open. We shall keep them for 7 days.
If you wish to return your books, please use the external letter box outside the following libraries: Ascot Heath, Binfield, Birch Hill, Bracknell, Crowthorne and Great Hollands. It is usually next to the library entrance.
Online reading and resources, plus the Home Library service
Digital books, newspapers and magazines
We have hundreds of free novels, children's stories, non-fiction books, as well as local, national and international newspapers and magazines using these different digital services:
BorrowBox
Find free e-books and e-audio books to borrow using the BorrowBox app (for tablets and phones) or the BorrowBox desktop version (for computers and laptops and transferring to e-readers, such as Kobo or Nook, or MP3 players).
RBdigital
It offers a different range of e-audio books and a selection of e-magazines such as BBC Good Food, Hello!, New Scientist and The Economist. Download the RBdigital app to a tablet or phone, or use the RBdigital desktop version for listening and reading on a computer or laptop or transferring to an MP3 player.
PressReader
There are 600+ UK, local and international newspapers on PressReader (both on the app and the PressReader desktop version) to keep up to date with the news, plus a huge selection of magazines covering everything from homes and gardens to sports and entertainment.
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 To learn, study and search
Take a look at our online resources, including:
- New in 2020 – Theory Test Pro. Revise all the questions, read the official handbooks, watch hazard perception clips and take practice tests - a great way to practise the driving theory test while you are at home
- Research your family history using Find my Past from home! Thanks to Find My Past staff, Bracknell Forest Libraries' borrowers are now allowed to access this resource from home while libraries are closed. Please use the form at the bottom of our webpage to request access, quoting “Find My Past access from home”
- Find information for homework using Encyclopaedia Britannica and Issues Online
- Research old newspapers with the Times Digital Archive and European Newsstream.
Home Library Service
Our free delivery and collection service for books and audio books, dedicated to customers unable to visit our libraries in person, is working as normal.
Please be aware that we are implementing social distancing measures and delivery staff will not be entering your properties. We shall either leave books outside your front door or in a designated safe place, and they will be collected without any physical contact between customers and library staff. However, we are happy to chat, albeit maintaining a safe distance.
Bracknell Forest Libraries are introducing a new Home Delivery Service during the Libraries’ closure period. If you register for this service, we shall deliver books to your home and collect them free of charge.
To be eligible for this delivery and collection service you must be:
- Resident within Bracknell Forest and
- Aged 70+, in a vulnerable category, or self-isolating for medical reasons.
How to register:
1. Call or email a library to register. We are taking telephone calls at 3 libraries so please call one of the numbers below:
Bracknell – 01344 423149 Bracknell.Library@Bracknell-forest.gov.uk
Sandhurst – 01252 870161 Sandhurst.library@Bracknell-forest.gov.uk
Whitegrove – 01344 424211 Whitegrove.library@Bracknell-forest.gov.uk
Please provide your full name, E+card number and telephone number.
The service can be required even by people that are not already a registered library customer. They just need to state this when registering and include name, full address including postcode, date of birth, telephone number and email address.
2. You will be given full instructions on how the system works, from ordering the books to delivery/collection days for your area.
3. Staff will select the books that you request. Please note there will be a restriction of 5 books per person per order.
Safety measure:
Please be aware that both the staff in the libraries selecting the books and delivery staff will be observing appropriate health and safety measures applicable at this time.
All books will be quarantined for 72 hours on return before they can be released for re-issue, in line with Public Health England’s guidelines.
We will also implement social distancing measures as detailed for the Home Library Service above.
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 More about our e-books and e-audio books
More about our e-magazines and e-newspapers
All our regular clubs and events in all Bracknell Forest Libraries, including the activities scheduled during the Easter holidays, have been cancelled.
If possible, activities will be rescheduled later in the year.
In the meantime, we will regularly publish resources, links and ideas to keep your family and children entertained on our social media channels - Facebook and Twitter.
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The best thing to do is to renew your books online - you just need your library card number and PIN for that. Start here.
You can renew books twice (3 weeks each time) after the first loan, if you do it online.
Alternatively, books can be renewed between 9.30am and 5pm Monday to Saturday (on Saturday till 4pm) by phoning either Bracknell, Sandhurst, or Whitegrove Libraries. Please bear in mind that we have a skeleton staff in our libraries currently, so if you do not get through first time, please contact one of the other two libraries.
Telephone numbers can be found above and here.
Also, you can send us an email using the form at the bottom of our webpage. The email inbox is regularly checked by staff.
If you are experiencing difficulties in renewing books, please call one of the above libraries.
Also, if you don't remember your PIN, please call or email one of the above libraries and we will help.
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The following e-books have just arrived on BorrowBox! If they are on loan add them to your wish list or place a reservation, you will receive an email when they are available again. More titles are due to be added very soon.
- The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
- The Girl in the Woods by Patricia MacDonald
- Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
- The Man Who Didn’t Call by Rosie Walsh
- Margot and Me by Juno Dawson
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The Giver of Stars
by Jojo Moyes
England, late 1930s, and Alice Wright - restless, stifled - makes an impulsive decision to marry wealthy American Bennett van Cleve and leave her home and family behind. But stuffy, disapproving Baileyville, Kentucky, where her husband favours work over his wife, and is dominated by his overbearing father, is not the adventure - or the escape - that she hoped for. That is, until she meets Margery O'Hare - daughter of a notorious felon and a troublesome woman the town wishes to forget. Margery's on a mission to spread the wonder of books and reading to the poor and lost - and she needs Alice's help.
BorrowBox e-book
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Lost Children Archive
by Valeria Luiselli
A family in New York packs the car and sets out on a road trip. A mother, a father, a boy and a girl, they head south west, to the Apacheria, the regions of the US which used to be Mexico. They drive for hours through desert and mountains. They stop at diners when they’re hungry and sleep in motels when it gets dark. The little girl tells surreal knock knock jokes and makes them all laugh. The little boy educates them all and corrects them when they’re wrong. The mother and the father are barely speaking to each other.
Meanwhile, thousands of children are journeying north, travelling to the US border from Central America and Mexico. A powerful, moving novel which intertwines these two stories.
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Surprise Me
by Sophie Kinsella
After being together for ten years, Sylvie and Dan have all the trimmings of a happy life and marriage; they have a comfortable home, fulfilling jobs, beautiful twin girls, and communicate so seamlessly, they finish each other's sentences. However, a trip to the doctor reveals they could live another 68 years together and panic sets in. In the name of marriage survival, they quickly concoct a plan to keep their relationship fresh and exciting: they will create little surprises for each other so that their (extended) years together will never become boring. But mishaps arise and secrets are uncovered that threaten the very foundation of their unshakable bond.
BorrowBox e-book
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Desert God
by Wilbur Smith
Eunuch Taita has risen from nothing to become the most trusted man at the Pharaoh's side. Only he can plot a mission that will return Egypt to its former glory. Only he can muster the force that can break the back of Egypt's greatest enemy. The perfect story to escape to a different place and era. Wilbur Smith is a storytelling master.
BorrowBox ebook
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The Society of the Crossed Keys
by Stefan Zweig
The Society of the Crossed Keys contains the director Wes Anderson's selections from the writings of the great Austrian author Stefan Zweig, whose life and work inspired The Grand Budapest Hotel. An author to discover.
Including selected memoirs of the author and the short story "Twenty-four Hours in the Life of a Woman".
BorrowBox e-book
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Rules for Perfect Murders
by Peter Swanson
A series of unsolved murders with one thing in common: each of the deaths bears an eerie resemblance to the crimes depicted in classic mystery novels. Can the killer be stopped before all eight of these perfect murders have been re-enacted?
RBdigital e-audiobook
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The Accidental Life Swap
by Jennifer Joyce
Rebecca Riley has always been a bit of a pushover. When her glamorous boss, Vanessa, asks her to jump, she doesn't just ask how high, she asks if her boss would like her to grab a coffee on the way back down! So whilst overseeing the renovation of Vanessa's beautiful countryside home, the last thing Rebecca ever expected was to be mistaken for her boss - or that she would even consider going along with it! Far away from the bustling city and her boss's demanding ways, could she pretend to be Vanessa and swap lives, just for a little while?
RBdigital e-audiobook
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Fing
by David Walliams
Myrtle Meek has everything she could possibly want. But everything isn't enough. She wants more, more, more! When Myrtle declares she wants a fing, there's only one problem. What is a fing? Mr and Mrs Meek will do anything to keep their darling daughter happy, even visit the spooky library vaults to delve into the dusty pages of the mysterious Monsterpedia. Their desperate quest leads to the depths of the jungliest jungle where the rarest creatures can be found. But will they ever find a fing? And will Myrtle be finally happy?
RBdigital e-audiobook
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Paddington On Top and Other Stories
by Michael Bond
Up until now, Paddington has managed to avoid school. But the Inspector himself catches up with him and packs him off. After one day, even the teacher wonders whether there is anything he can teach Paddington!
RBdigital e-audiobook
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Have a look at the other leisure facilities across Bracknell Forest
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