Have your children completed the challenge?

Almost 7,000 children have taken part in the Summer Reading Challenge this summer!

Make sure your children don’t miss out on collecting a medal and certificate.

There is still time for them to complete the challenge – in fact we have extended the finish date to Saturday 15th September!

Just pop in to the library where they registered to take part and they can tell us about the books they have been reading – remember, they have to read 6 to complete the challenge. Your children will then receive their invitation to a special award ceremony, where they will be presented with their medal and certificate.

Come on Mischief Makers! Let’s see if we can beat the number of challenge finishers that we had last year!

The libraries are now providing an exciting FREE course for parents and carers to help you foster a love of stories, books and reading with your child.

Falling in Love with Reading is a short (3 week) FREE course for parents and carers of children aged from 3 to 7 years. It will explore the importance of letting children select their own books, learning through play and stories that reflect shared culture & tradition.

Falling in Love with Reading courses will be taking place in the following libraries this autumn: Arbury, Cambridge Central, Huntingdon, Ely, Littleport, March, Soham, Whittlesey and Wisbech  Libraries, with more locations to follow!

The sessions are delivered by fully trained library staff with a supporting book collections, specially curated by our colleagues in Adult Learning and Skills - for course participants to borrow to continue their learning at home.

You can sign up for this FREE course now by dropping into one of the participating libraries or contacting us on 0345 045 5225.

Starting this month we will be offering term time after school Homework Clubs in our larger libraries. Please check with individual libraries for their start date:

• Central Library Cambridge: Mondays, 4-5pm
• Huntingdon: Wednesdays, 4-5pm
• St Neots: Wednesdays 4-5pm
• St Ives: Fridays, 4-5pm
• Ely: Fridays, 3.30-4.30pm
• March: Fridays, 3.30-4.30pm
• Wisbech: Tuesdays, 4-5pm 

The clubs will offer:

• free use of the computers and internet access
• help so you can find information
• free photocopies/print-outs for your homework
• sessions are free and no need to book

Aimed at primary school children, but all ages are welcome. Parents/carers please stay with children under 11.

Remember that children can have free use of the computers and access to our resources any time the library is open. 

What spaces do you occupy everyday?

What gestures do you use to do so?

How do you organise your daily life?

Join artist and architect Helen Stratford as she inhabits public spaces across Cambridge.

Friday 15 September 2-4pm at a free event in Cambridge Central Library Entrance Foyer.

Equipped with a library of architectural, diagrammatic books, light boxes, drawing tables, and templates from ergonomic and medical contexts, Helen invites you to make your own organisational diagram for something you do every day, week or month. Perhaps doing make up, waiting for the bus, eating lunch or doing the school run.

This project is part of the engagement programme for a permanent public artwork, ‘Corpus’ by Dalziel and Scullion, that has been commissioned by the University of Cambridge for the new Capella building on the Biomedical Campus.

Photo credit: Organisational Diagrams for Everyday Life, Transitions 17 Middlesbrough 2018

Sign up to our Library Extra Membership!

Library Extra Membership gives you the same borrowing rights and access to services as our free membership but with extra benefits.

Your annual donation helps us to improve our service across all Cambridgeshire libraries, improving the space and facilities as well as offering more events.

Here’s a snippet of what you can expect from your Library Extra Membership:

• An invitation to an exclusive annual event
• Behind the scene tours of our collections
• An exclusive visit to a partner organisation such as Cambridge University Library or The British Library

Visit our webpage to find out more information and the Library Extra Membership option that best suits you.

Take a look at this months recommended reads, booklist can be viewed HERE.

Alternate Saturdays from Saturday 8 September
FREE

10.30-11.30am: Scratch | 11.30am-12.30pm: Python

Aged 9-11 years? Would you like to learn to make your own computer games? At Code Club you can learn how to make cool games, animations and websites too!

Interested? Ask at Central Library for a registration form. Limited spaces available.

Term-time only.

Or call: 0345 045 5225  

Saturday 13 October

All day - Display on Women’s Suffrage in Cambridge (Free event), 
3rd Floor Cambridge Central Library

2pm - Talk on Women’s Suffrage in Cambridge by Mary Burgess of the Cambridgeshire Collection, Conference Room, Cambridge Central Library.

Copies of a new book ‘Cambridge Women and the Struggle for the Vote’ by Sue Slack will also be on sale following the lecture.

Wednesday 31 October 5.15 pm

The Book Illustrations of Arthur Rackham (Free event)
Conference Room, 3rd Floor Cambridge Central

Arthur Rackham, whose illustrations for books such as The Wind in the Willows has given pleasure to countless children, is one of the best loved book illustrators in the twentieth-century.  In 1944 his sister-in-law, Clara Rackham, presented the Central Library in Cambridge with a collection of signed and numbered editions of Arthur Rackham's books. Paul Shakeshaft, affiliated Lecturer in the Department of the History of Art at Cambridge University, will give an illustrated lecture on Arthur Rackham using  examples taken from books which are still in the possession of the library. There will be a small display of the books and an opportunity to view them and to ask questions.

From 1 September to 8 October, work will be taking place to install a new lift and enclose the public staircase in St Neots Library.

This work is essential to improve fire safety provision and accessibility for all our customers.

The ground floor of the library will remain open throughout this period although access to some facilities will be limited.

We aim to continue with business as usual throughout this period and ensure that our regular events are unaffected.

For further information please contact StNeots.referral@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Work is due to commence on a new lift at Ely Library from Saturday 8 September until 17 October. This work is essential to improve fire safety provision and provide accessibility for all.

The Library will remain open, apart from the following days, 8, 10, 11, 17,18, 24 and 25 September and the 1, 2, 8, 9, 13, 15 and 16 October. There will be a mobile library parked on the market place on Saturday the 8th September and Saturday 13 October. 

The lift will be unavailable during the duration of the works, however the ‘Library at Home’ service is offering temporary home visits to customers unable to access via the stairs and will deliver books to customer’s homes. There is a contact number already displayed on the library to alert customers. There will also be a book drop on the ground floor while the work is carried out and a telephone number will be displayed on the ground floor that is a direct line through to the library desk on the first floor. Customers who cannot access the library and who require assisted digital help with forms such as Blue Badge and Bus Pass Applications, can arrange an appointment with library staff who will assist them at Ely Job Centre. 

Staff are also working with the East Cambridgeshire access group to ensure they are aware of the special arrangements that are in place throughout this period. The service are also working closely with our room hires and partners to discuss access during closed periods to minimise any inconvenience.

Click on your local library to discover what events and activities are coming up in the next few months.

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