Due to the Coronavirus outbreak all Libraries in Staffordshire are now closed, and our service is suspended until further notice. This includes all:

• Staffordshire county managed libraries

• community managed libraries

• the mobile library service

• the home reader service

• the schools’ library service

This decision supports the government’s most recent advice to the public to implement social distancing and to stay at home.

All loans will be automatically extended until libraries reopen and fines will not be charged for late returns so please do not worry if you have books at home, please continue to enjoy them. We look forward to welcoming you all back to our libraries in the future.

We are continuing to offer our online service, eLibrary and are active on social media so there are lots of ways to use the library from home!

If you’re not already a member follow this link to join. It's easy and it's free.

To view what is on your library account, please login to our library catalogue with your card number and PIN.

In the meantime, please do keep in touch by following us on Facebook and/or Twitter @StaffsLibraries where we are posting information, advice and sharing what else is going on in the world of libraries!

If you know of anyone, family, friends, neighbours, colleagues who might benefit from access to our free services please share this eNewsletter with them and spread the word about how Your Library can help.

Here is just one example of the lovely comments we have been receiving from you:

“StaffsLibraries just want to say that you are doing a fantastic job of keeping us entertained and educated during a really difficult time. Keep up the good work and can't wait to be back in the library when we're on the other side”

Where are we?

Many of our staff, alongside those from other County Council teams, have been redeployed to support critical services and are now working to support call centres and food distribution hubs across the county. Others are collecting and delivering shopping for the most vulnerable members of our community. We're all #DoingOurBit to help.

Can you help?

Across the county, thousands of elderly and vulnerable people rely on personal care from a social carer—help taking medications, assistance in washing and dressing, and cooking meals.

Now, the county council is asking local people to step up and help out with these tasks if needed, to ensure care can continue if the coronavirus pandemic worsens.

More carers will also help keep people out of hospital and reduce the pressures on the NHS.

People who step up will receive training and support to carry out the tasks needed.

People who are interested in stepping up and helping out can visit www.staffordshire.gov.uk/icare to get more information and sign up.

eLibrary

Borrow eBooks, eAudio books and eMagazines from our eLibrary

We have a great selection of books and magazines for you to choose.

Download the Borrowbox, ULibrary and RBDigital Apps or access via other devices and you are ready to go...and...it's absolutely FREE.

Visit the eLibrary for more information to get you started.

Have you tried the new look NewsBank yet?

NewsBank is our FREE to access electronic newspaper resource that you can read on your laptop, tablet or other device at home.

The site has had a recent makeover and has lots of exciting new features for you to explore including:

• Range of searchable local, regional and national newspaper
• Quick links to daily headlines, special reports and top local newspapers
• Hot topics with the latest topical news and information
• Advanced Search options
• Read Speaker web reader function to support visually impaired readers
• Citations
• Download, e-mail, print and options to copy links

We have just added 5 image versions of top UK newspapers to our site. This a temporary measure until 8th May so log in now and see the full versions of The Times, Guardian, Telegraph, Mirror and Daily Mail, with images and layout as though you had picked it up off the news stand!

If you haven’t tried NewsBank yet, it is time you did! Just follow the link below and start reading!

Please note: When logging into NewsBank from the first login screen please select ‘No Username and Password. Click here for additional login options’ and enter name of Library authority (Staffordshire) and your Library Card number.

NewsBank

We have collated some useful websites for you to help keep you and the children busy over the coming weeks, why not check them out?

We are sharing more links through our Facebook and Twitter and will also do so in future editions of this eNewsletter.

Booktrust Home Time

If you’re looking for something fun as a family, then this incredible website is for you. Enjoy story time with free online books and videos, play games and win prizes! You can even test your knowledge in book-themed quizzes and learn how to draw some of your favourite book characters.  Click here!

BBC Bitesize

For primary aged children to post 16 there is something on BBC Bitesize to help them learn and keep them occupied. Beginning Monday 20th April, BBC Bitesize will publish daily online lessons for all ages. They will also have a new dedicated TV channel full of learning content, podcasts on BBC Sounds and loads of educational video on iPlayer. Click Here!

Family Zone

As a response to school closures, the National Literacy Trust have developed a comprehensive web portal for parents, to support you during this time. Over the next days, weeks and months they will be updating this as often as they can with new and useful content for parents.

Split up by age group below, you will find ideas and guidance for simple activities that will engage your children at home, while also benefiting their reading, writing and language development.

You'll be able to access free reading and writing resources, audiobooks, videos, competitions and reading challenges. Every resource is available for free, although to access some you may need to create a free account. Click Here!

Digital Unite Covid-19 Guides and Resources

From using online health services to staying in touch with friends and family, we’ve pulled together some of our most relevant digital guides to help you and your learners during these challenging times. Stay safe. Click Here!

Open Learn from the Open University

Check out the brilliant Open Learn website for a huge selection of FREE courses  that will keep you and the children busy while indoors. Click Here! 

BTO Garden Bird Watch

Stay connected to nature, learn about your garden wildlife and contribute to important scientific research without leaving your home. The British Trust for Ornithology are giving everyone free access to BTO Garden Bird Watch during the COVID-19 lockdown. Click Here!

Mental Health support and guidance

Staffordshire County Council have produced some excellent information and a collection of links to help us all with our mental health during this unsettling time.

We all have mental health, and our mental health is just as important as our physical health. We're all different, our genes, upbringing, life circumstances and the choices we make are all unique to us, and all affect our mental health.

Whoever you are and however you feel, we can all take steps to look after our mental health. Click Here !

Oxford Resources

We have teamed up with Oxford University Press to provide you a selection of fantastic, reliable online resources. Whether you want help with a difficult crossword, to discover the lives of famous people throughout British history or any other research these resources are just what you are looking for! Just enter your library card number when prompted.                                

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Oxford DNB is a collection of more than 57,000 biographies, describing the lives of people who shaped the history of Britian and beyond from the 4th century BC to the 21st century.

Oxford English Dictionary Online

The OED Online has recently been updated with a new look and several new features. The core of the site is still the 600,000 definitions and uses of words, but the website now features word timelines, an historical thesaurus and pages on the OED's most-cited authors and texts - offering an insight into those who have shaped the English language.

Oxford Reference Online

With Oxford Reference Online you can find a wealth of facts, figures, definitions and translations from more than 175 Oxford reference titles, including the acclaimed Oxford Companions series, and all 20,000 entries from the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.

Oxford Research Encyclopedias 

With today’s overabundance of information, and misinformation, students and researchers alike can be overwhelmed in identifying what’s trustworthy, what’s up-to-date, and what’s accurate. Oxford University Press has invested in the Oxford Research Encyclopedias to meet this challenge. Working with international communities of scholars across all fields of study, we are developing new comprehensive collections of in-depth, peer-reviewed summaries on an ever-growing range of topics.