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Welcome to our March newsletter celebrating World Book Day. We bring you ideas for reading for everyone to enjoy as well as an update on library events and activities including Easter holiday activities and new IT help sessions. We also have important news about changes to our Freegal Music service.
World Book Day 7 March 2024
World Book Day is an exciting event in many school calendars when children often dress up as their favourite character from a book.
It’s a great day to plan a trip to our libraries, look out for the special book displays some of our libraries will have in the children’s sections. You never know, you might spot one of our staff members dressing up in honour of the day!
The World Book Day website has ideas and information for celebrating World Book Day and for enjoying books any time of the year.
Photo booth for World Book Day
Come along and have your photo taken. Dress up as your favourite character and give us your best pose!
Bracknell Library - Thursday 7 March
Crowthorne & Sandhurst Libraries - Saturday 2 March - Saturday 9 March
Ellie Brown author visit at Bracknell Library
Saturday 9 March 9:45am to 10:15am
Ellie will be reading her books Marvellous Magic and The Little Red Kite for children aged 2 to 7. Children are welcome to come wearing their World Book Day costumes if they would like to.
Free, just come along and enjoy the fun! No booking required.
 Join us for fun stories, songs, music and crafts! Regular events for babies and toddlers are held in all our libraries. No need to book, just turn up.
Binfield Library
Bounce and rhyme - Thursdays 9:30am to 10am (50p per child)
Birch Hill Library
Tots' time (crafts, stories, songs and rhymes) - Tuesdays 10:30am to 11:30am (£1.50 suggested donation per family). Siblings are of course welcome during school holidays.
Bracknell Library
Storytime with songs - Monday 10:30am to 11am (free)
Bounce and rhyme - Thursdays 10:30am to 11:30am (50p per child, term time only)
Saturday Storytime - Saturday 9:45am to 10:15am (free)
Crowthorne Library
Bounce and rhyme - Mondays 9:30am to 10:15am (50p per child, term time only)
Bounce and rhyme - Tuesdays 2pm to 2:30pm (50p per child, term time only)
Tots' time (rhymes, stories and a craft) - Wednesdays 9:30am to 10:15am (£1.50 per child, term time only)
Great Hollands Library
Bounce and Rhyme - Fridays 9:30am to 10:00am (50p per child, term time only)
Harmans Water Library
Tots' time (crafts, stories, songs and rhymes) - Mondays 10:30am to 11:30am (£1.50 suggested donation per family). Siblings are of course welcome during school holidays.
Sandhurst Library
Bounce and rhyme - Fridays 9:30am to 10:15am (50p per child)
Tots' time (rhymes, stories and a craft) - Fridays 11am to 12pm (£1.50 per child, term time only)
Whitegrove Library
Rhymetime - Wednesday 10am to 10:30am (50p per child)
 Children aged under 7 can pick up a stamp card at any Bracknell Forest library and start collecting stamps every visit. Every visit to the library will earn you a 'Book Bug' stamp - if you fill up your stamp card you'll get a certificate - there are three certificates in total to collect. See if you can get them all from book beetle to book bee and then a brilliant gold-tier book butterfly!
International Women’s Day 8 March 2024
As we celebrate women and their achievements, we have some great inspirational reads for girls and young women.
Lionesses, European champions: the road to glory by Emily Stead
Follow the story of four key players in their journey from the playground to the pitch, as they prepare for the biggest match of their lives. Learn how star players Lucy Bronze, Ellen White, Leah Williamson and Beth Mead stepped up to help the Lionesses secure the title of European Champions 2022.
Children's fiction 7+
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Animal Explorers: Stella the Astronaut by Sharon Ren tta
Stella is determined to be the first-ever squirrel in space. Her hopes are dashed when she finds that she's too small to go to Space School, but Stella won't let that stop her. Surely, if she's determined enough, she can still make her dream come true? Soar to the Moon with Stella, then discover the inspiring stories of four real-life spacemen and women.
Picture book
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Becoming Jo by Sophie McKenzie
Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy: four sisters whose stories are forever imprinted in our hearts. But what if their stories had different endings? Reimagined by the author and told through the eyes of everybody's favourite sister, 'Becoming Jo' proves just how timeless the characters and themes found within 'Little Women' really are.
Children's Fiction 9+
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As Spring is showing signs of arriving it’s a wonderful time of year to share one of our many books about baby animals and farms with your children.
Ten Little Ducklings by Lucy Rowland
The sun is up, it's a brand new day. Ten little ducklings want to play! There's lots to see and lots to do - let's play a game of PEEK-A-BOO! Get ready to play with ten little ducklings as they set off on an exciting adventure. There's a busy new scene to explore with each turn of the page, from a day at the farm to a hot-air-balloon outing, and from a snowball fight to a birthday party. Can you spot which little duckling is hiding on each page?
Picture book
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Katerina the Cat by Michael Morpurgo
Take part in the heroic rescue of a fishing boat in trouble, meet a boy who makes an extraordinary discovery in the vegetable patch, and find out how a farm cat forms a very special connection with a young Ukrainian girl. These three uplifting stories capture the wonder, muck and magic of a city child's week on the farm.
Children's Fiction 5+
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Take some time for yourself and curl up with a delightful book for some much needed me time.
Staff and volunteer book recommendations for fun, escapist and captivating reads!
Someone Else's Shoes by Jojo Moyes
Nisha Cantor and Sam Kemp are two very different women. Nisha, 45, lives the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband inexplicably cuts her off entirely. She doesn't even have the shoes she was, until a moment ago, standing in. That's because Sam - 47, middle-aged, struggling to keep herself and her family afloat - has accidentally taken Nisha's gym bag. Now Nisha's got nothing. And Sam's walking tall with shoes that catch eyes - and give her a career an unexpected boost. Except Nisha wants her life back - and she'll start with her shoes.
A story of mix-ups, mess-ups and making the most of second chances.
Also available as an eBook and eAudiobook on BorrowBox.
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Shot with Crimson by Nicola Upson
In 1939 the worries of war follow Josephine Tey to Hollywood, where a different sort of battle is raging on the set of Hitchcock's Rebecca. Then a shocking act of violence reawakens the shadows of the past, with consequences on both sides of the Atlantic, and Josephine and DCI Archie Penrose find themselves on a trail leading back to the house that inspired a young Daphne du Maurier - a trail that echoes Rebecca's timeless themes of obsession, jealousy and murder.
A clever murder mystery and the latest in a series of Josephine Tey (Golded Age crime writer) novels in which she is the main character together with police detective, Archie Penrose. More in the series.
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The Figurine by Victoria Hislop
When Helena inherits her grandparents' apartment in Athens, she is overwhelmed with memories of the summers she spent there as a child, when Greece was under a brutal military dictatorship. Her remote, cruel grandfather was one of the regime's generals and Helena discovers an array of valuable objects and antiquities. How did her grandfather amass such a trove? What human price was paid for them? Her desire to find answers about her heritage dovetails with a growing curiosity for archaeology, ignited by a summer spent with volunteers on a dig on an Aegean island.
An interesting, atmospheric, and page-turning story around the selling and looting of Greece’s ancient treasurers.
Also available as an eAudiobook on BorrowBox
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The Ghost Theatre by Mat Osman
On a rooftop in Elizabethan London two worlds collide. Shay is a messenger-girl and trainer of hawks who sees the future in the patterns of birds. Nonesuch is the dark star of the city's fabled child theatre scene, as famous as royalty yet lowly as a beggar.
Together they create The Ghost Theatre: a troupe staging magical plays in London's hidden corners. As their hallucinatory performances incite rebellion among the city's outcasts, the pair's relationship sparks and burns against a backdrop of the plague and a London in flames. Their growing fame sweeps them up into the black web of the Elizabethan court, where Shay and Nonesuch discover that if they fly too high, a fall is sure to come…
A very different historical fantasy book, beautifully written and captivating.
Read the eBook on BorrowBox
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Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Two kids meet in a hospital gaming room in 1987. One is visiting her sister, the other is recovering from a car crash. Their love of video games becomes a shared world - of joy, escape and fierce competition. When the pair spot each other eight years later in a crowded train station, they are catapulted back to that moment. The spark is immediate, and together they get to work on what they love - making games to delight, challenge and immerse players. Their collaborations make them superstars. This story pulled me in remarkably quickly to the world of 1990’s gamers. Despite it being far from my own life, this story of love in all its forms was deeply touching.
Also available as an eBook.
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The Trainspotter's Notebook by Francis Bourgeois
Immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of the railway as the world's most famous trainspotter and TikTok sensation Francis Bourgeois, takes you on an epic journey and shows you the joy of following your own passions. Sharing his love for trains, Francis takes us along on his most memorable trainspotting adventures. Traversing the fields and footbridges of the British countryside, passing through grandiose ticket halls, historic terminals and backwater stations, we chase locomotive perfection. Francis’ passion and joy are inspiring and thrilling!
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Books to share on Mother's Day
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Well done, Mummy Penguin by Chris Haughton
Mummy Penguin is off to find a fishy dinner for her family. She has to swim very fast, climb a slippery cliff - cu-crunch, cu-crunch, cu-crunch - and even tiptoe past some sleeping seals. Shh! All the while, Little Penguin looks on in awe and says: 'Well done, Mummy Penguin!'
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My Mummy Marches by Samantha Hawkins
Mummy says that some things can't be said with just words. Sometimes you have to say it with your feet. A young girl watches her mummy proudly take to the streets to march for what she believes in. Mummy marches through the sunshine, through the rain and through the deepest snow, on her own or hand-in-hand with others, to give voice to causes that need to be heard. Inspired to join the next generation of young activists, her daughter dreams of marching alongside her. Here is a joyful story celebrating the power of peaceful protest and the will to change things for the better.
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My Mum is a Lioness by Swapna Haddow
She loves her 'cubs', she can run faster than anything, and she can catch you in a single pounce for cuddles and kisses. She always makes sure you can hear her incredibly loud, proud roar. What else could Mum be but a lioness? But sometimes, especially when her young ones are upset or scared, a lovely, warm, protective lioness embrace is just what is needed
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 Visit Bracknell Library for our monthly tech support drop-in sessions for older and disabled people in collaboration with AbilityNet.
AbilityNet can help with technology and digital know-how using mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smart watches, fitness trackers, headphones and more.
No need to book. Come along on the second Friday of each month:
- Friday 8 March 10am to 11:30am
- Friday 12 April 10am to 11:30am
- Friday 10 May 10am to 11:30am
- Friday 14 June 10am to 11:30am
- Friday 12 July 10am to 11:30am
 Free taster session at Sandhurst Library on Tuesday 5 March at 11am
Join us for a free taster session of Mum & Baby Movement & Exercise in collaboration with Sport In Mind. For mums with babies up to 1 year old. Mats and tea/coffee provided plus an opportunity for questions afterwards.
Only 10 spaces available. Please contact Sandhurst Library to book.
 Unfortunately, we have made the difficult decision to stop subscribing to Freegal Music. Customers will no longer be able to access the Freegal Music website and app to enjoy free music from 9 April 2024.
We understand that some customers who use this service may be disappointed, and we want to give customers time to transfer their downloaded titles from the app to their preferred location. (Apple restrictions mean you will not be able to transfer your song tracks directly to a computer from the Freegal Music app.)
You can find information on how to keep songs already downloaded from Freegal and suggestions for where to find other free music streaming services on our Freegal Music webpage.
 We are organising plenty of events to keep children busy during the Easter holidays. For the latest information, please check library events on the library website.
Bracknell Library
Easter themed treasure hunt
Every day during the school Easter holidays, you can join in the hunt for hidden pictures. Enter your completed hunt for the chance to win a prize.
Easter craft kits
If you need inspiration for some ‘crafty’ time at home, we have Easter craft kits for sale. Everything is included for three activities, except glue, sticky tape, scissors and colouring pens/pencils.
£1.50 per pack while stocks last.
Creative writing session
Saturday 13 April 10:30am to 12pm for ages 11 to 18
We will be hosting a creative writing session led by Igniting Writing for young people. Alex Baker runs a creative writing group at Wokingham library and he will bring his enthusiasm and expertise to Bracknell Library. Join Alex for a fun, free, session for anyone who would like to write for pleasure whether they are an experienced or beginner writer. The session will explore settings and how they can be used to add drama and colour to your writing.
Free. Contact Bracknell Library to book your place.
Crowthorne Library
Easter crafts
Wednesday 3 April 10:30am to 11:30am for ages 3 to 10
£2 per child. Booking required.
Dogs Trust workshop
Thursday 11 April 10:30am to 11:30am for ages 4+
Toy dogs Jake the Jack Russell and Kareem the Cockapoo will be at the workshop to educate children aged 4 and upwards and encourage safe behaviour around dogs. Please note there will be no real dogs at the event. Booking is essential as we are limited to 12 spaces. Booking required, free.
Contact Crowthorne Library to book these activities.
Sandhurst Library
Easter crafts
Thursday 4 April 2:30pm to 3:30pm for ages 3 to 10
£2 per child. Booking required.
Dogs Trust workshop
Thursday 11 April 2:30pm to 3:30pm for ages 4+
Toy dogs Jake the Jack Russell and Kareem the Cockapoo will be at the workshop to educate children and encourage safe behaviour around dogs. Please note there will be no real dogs at the event. Booking required, free.
Contact Sandhurst Library to book these activities.
 Wednesday 24 April 2024 7pm to 9pm at Bracknell Open Learning Centre
Look at the ways we clutter our homes, minds, and life. You’ll explore different ways to make it simpler and more productive, whilst saving and possibly earning money! Fee: £16.
More information and bookings
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