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*** View latest Coronavirus information for libraries here ***
Happy Christmas from
Staffordshire Library Service
Due to Staffordshire being placed in Tier 3 National Restrictions, Staffordshire’s 16 County Managed Libraries will be offering a limited service during December and early January.
You can return books to your local library, order books for pick up via ‘order and collect’, place requests and access the home reader and mobile library service. You will also be able to use the photocopying facilities.
We are making bookable study space, public computers and printing available to use within our libraries if booked in advance. For more information about bookings or printing contact your local library.
Browsing of book stock is currently unavailable, but libraries are offering a ‘Grab & Go’ service where you can collect books that have been preselected by staff to take home with you.
Libraries will not open after 5pm and Stafford Library will not be open on Sundays
For more information about services and operating times at our 27 Community Managed Libraries please contact your Community Managed Library directly. Telephone numbers can be found on the Staffordshire libraries webpage at www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Libraries.
All loans will be automatically extended for 10 weeks, from issue, with the earliest date for books due back being the 9 January 2021. There are currently no overdue charges for the late return of items.
When visiting a Staffordshire Library you will be required to wear a mask or face covering. We are using contact tracing within all our buildings.
You can follow us on Facebook for a range of activities and events including Story Time, Baby Bounce & Rhyme and Craft Time. You can also join one of our Adult Book Chat, Creative Writing or Wellness groups. Simply visit Facebook/Staffordshire Libraries to take part.
Our online library for FREE eBooks, eAudio, eMagazines, eComics and eNewspapers is available for you to use, as are a selection of FREE to access online resources.
Visit our eLibrary
Visit our FREE online resources page
If you are not already a member or know somebody who could benefit from these services, please visit our website to join. It's easy and it's FREE
You can keep in touch by following us on Facebook (Staffordshire Libraries) and/or Twitter @StaffsLibraries
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 The Reading Agency #WinterMiniChallenge has started!
Sign up the kids & challenge them to read books over the winter!
Borrow from your library or our great eLibrary!
It's free, just register online here!
We have lots of festive fun taking place on our Staffordshire Libraries Facebook & Twitter pages during December
Take a look at some of the things we have planned over the festive period on our Library Facebook and Twitter Pages!
Every day at 10am we will be bringing you a new advent calendar video to open
We have a quiz every Saturday evening, Elf on the Shelf each day, a Staffordshire themed festive online jigsaw, craft videos, stories, wartime Christmas clips and lots more.
On the 21st December we will be celebrating the Winter Solstice with a day of Wassailing!
To take part just visit Facebook (Staffordshire Libraries) and/or Twitter @StaffsLibraries
Looking for a good read this Christmas!?
We’ve added even more eBooks & eAudios to our ‘Festive Finds’ bookshelf on Borrowbox!
We’ve got crime, romance, history & traditions, cooking & plenty for the kids too!
Please visit Borrowbox via the App on your smart phone or tablet, or our eLibrary
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Telephone Reading Friends
Staffordshire Library & Arts Service relaunched our Telephone Reading Friends programme again on the 23rd November.
In libraries we appreciate what a difficult year it has been for many people but we’ve also seen the value attached to working with our communities to help people feel connected. Telephone Reading Friends is available to support customers who are interested in books and reading but, for whatever reason, are finding it difficult to visit their local library at this moment in time. Customers would be matched with a member of library staff or a volunteer and book chats would take place once a week for a 4 week period. The chats are entirely flexible in their content but will have books and reading at their core.
If you know someone who may be interested in this service please email reading.friends@staffordshire.gov.uk
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Christmas Coffee and Cake with Emily Galvin
Join Lichfield Library Poet in Residence Emily Rose on the 19th December at 11am for a festive morning of poetry and discussion.
Whether you are a writer yourself or simply want to share some classic Christmas verse, you can get in touch with Emily at emilyrosepoet@gmail.com if you'd like to grab a place.
Emily will send out the Zoom link the day before the event.
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 Staffordshire Libraries presents … A Ghost Story for Christmas!
Thanks to a collaboration with local author A.G Smith and film maker and theatrical producer Alan Birch of Weeping Bank Productions Staffordshire Libraries will be hosting two of Smith’s stories on our Facebook and Twitter pages over the festive period.
A.G. Smith said:
‘The tradition of telling ghost stories during the long, cold Christmas nights is a tradition that dates back to at least the eighteenth century. It was once as much a part of Christmas as singing carols and decorating fir trees. In the Victorian era many magazines printed ghost stories specifically to be read to the family at Christmas. When I created the world of Weeping Bank and the character of The Librarian, it was with this long legacy firmly in mind – so please, revive a spooky old Christmas tradition this year and sit back and listen to some more haunting Tales From Weeping Bank Library.’
This year we are presenting two specially filmed readings of A.G. Smith’s ghost stories.
The first is ‘Now you Lay me Down to Sleep’ the terrifying tale of Angela Rees and her experience at Clevelip Farmhouse, which will go live on our Facebook and Twitter pages at 8:00pm on Monday 21st December, the Winter Solstice.
Our next story will be ‘The Wraith’ an extract from a much longer story called ‘The Richmond Portmanteau’, going live at 11pm on Christmas Eve, 24th December.
Both stories are read by Alan Birch who has played the character of The Librarian on stage for the last five years. In 2021 Alan will return to the role in ‘The Curse of Seagrave Oratory.
This opportunity has only been made possible thanks to the generosity of A.G Smith and Alan Birch.
Can you complete our Festive Jigsaw?
Try your luck against the clock with our festive jigsaw - it took us almost 20 minutes! How long will it take you?
The online jigsaw puzzle allows you to put together a jigsaw on your screen and not worry about missing pieces.
Click on this link to play
Check out our Facebook page for a new jigsaw each Sunday at 7pm
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 We have teamed up with our friends at Staffordshire Community Learning to bring you a group where you can discuss and raise questions around digital skills.
Receive help and advice from Community Learning IT tutors, read about new courses and the latest digital news.
Find out about online Library resources, activities and events.
Just request to join the group here
Lockdown Memories at Christmas
We have been working with our friends in the Archives and Heritage Team on a project called 'Lockdown Memories'; a project to create a lasting record of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown measures and how it has affected the lives of Staffordshire people.
This year might be one of the strangest Christmases we all ever experience and we would love to add your memories, stories, images, art or anything else that you would like to share to this lasting record.
Please complete the form at this link
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Christmas is a time for family...history research!
Discover your family story this Christmas with Ancestry!
Staffordshire Library members can still access Ancestry Library Edition at home, thanks to Proquest and Ancestry UK. This means that you can really get stuck into your family history over the Christmas holidays
To access the site you need to log in to your Library account here
You then need to make sure you are in the ‘Account’ section and scroll to the bottom of the page and follow the link where it says ‘Access Ancestry Online’.
New to Ancestry? We have created a guide that you can download here
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 Great news! We have added more Borrowbox campaign titles to our eLibrary, available to borrow for a short time without queuing! There’s David Baldacci, Wilbur Smith, Matt Haig, Ann Cleeves, Enid Blyton and more…
There are a selection of eBooks and eAudio books, seasonal offerings and titles for children so something for all the family, but make sure you borrow before they are gone!
Please visit Borrowbox, either via the App on your smart phone or tablet, or at our eLibrary and start your next great read!
The Mars Odyssey
Zoom Presentation by Andrew Lound
Talk Radio’s ‘Mr. Spaceman’
Even a journey of 35 million miles must begin by one step, a step that will begin the Mars Odyssey. Mars has influenced numerous cultures effecting legends, religious beliefs, and scientific development. Andrew Lound traces the history of Mars exploration taking us on a journey of great human tragedy, of scientific discovery and of intense debate that has changed forever our perception of the universe. More of a performance than a simple Zoom lecture, it is illustrated with quality images, music, video and a costume. So prepare to be taken on an odyssey that will end one day with a human foot making an imprint in the red Martian soil.
Andrew is a regular and extremely popular speaker at #PertonLibrary and this talk is sure to be fascinating and entertainingly told in Andrew’s inimitable style.
Friday 18th December 7.30pm
Tickets are just £4.00 – Please visit Eventbrite to organise your ticket:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-mars-odyssey-tickets-129645807099
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It's Quiz Time!
To celebrate our first quiz in December we have a festive theme going on - how will you do? Follow this link and find out!
Share with friends and family and get a Christmas competition going.
Look out for a new quiz every Saturday evening.
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#YouAreNotAlone
After a difficult year, celebrating Christmas safely at home will be a welcome relief for many of us, but we know that for victims of domestic abuse this isn't the case.
Staffordshire Police have launched the #YouAreNotAlone campaign to offer advice, support and guidance.
Anyone with concerns can report them through private message on Staffordshire Police’s Facebook and Twitter, online or by calling 101.
For details of the support on hand visit www.staffordshire.police.uk/domesticabuse
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Staffordshire County Council - Residents Survey
Staffordshire County Council is committed to listening and responding to the needs of its residents, which is why we want to hear from you.
Share your opinions on your local area and the services you receive from Staffordshire County Council in the new Staffordshire Residents’ survey.
It will only take 10 minutes to complete, and your responses will help us determine what is most important to residents and what we will prioritise in the near future.
The closing date for the survey is midnight on Monday 4th January 2021.
Take the survey here
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Have you enjoyed our season of Black History films in collaboration with the director Jason Young?
Would you like to see more?
Please take a couple of minutes to complete this short survey
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The Night Sky in December
With long cold nights December can be a great month for stargazing. Although our Astronomy Group at Perton Library are unable to meet due to Covid, group member Doug, has produced this great guide to the December skies.
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Have you visited the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography yet? It's FREE to access from home with your Library card number.
ODNB contains over 60,000 biographies, 72 million words, 11,000 portraits of significant, influential or notorious figures who shaped British history.
This time we have selected a British author whose name is synonymous with Christmas, Charles Dickens.
Start searching by following the ODNB link on our Online Resources page.
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Chilling psychological thriller anyone?
We’re thrilled to announced that Ben McPherson, author of A Line of Blood, will be our January guest in our free ‘A Season of Reading’ online author talks.
Ben will be chatting about his new thriller, The Island, which, although fiction, is influenced by the Norway terrorist attacks of 22nd July 2011 and the subsequent trial of Anders Breivik which Ben covered as a journalist. Ben says, ‘I wanted to concentrate on what that does to the psyche of a country, and to the individuals caught up in the violence. I also wanted to look at how someone could become radicalised into believing in mass murder, in the most peaceful, most equal country on Earth. How does a person end up a loser in a country that is supposed to have no losers?’
To hear more about The Island and Ben’s writing career join us on Wednesday 6th January at 7.30pm on Staffordshire Libraries’ Book Chat Facebook Group.
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 Do It For What Matters
We know that COVID-19 guidance can be confusing, but there are four simple things you can do to stop the spread:
Wash your hands
Cover your face
Make space (2 metres)
Get tested
Let’s do it to get back to what we love. Visit this website for more information.
#doingourbit #stopthespread
 About Staffordshire Library Service
From books to local history resources, Your Library has a host of fabulous services and exciting events for you.
Why not try out our eBooks service, join a reading group or If you're looking for something in particular, you can also search the online catalogue or view a list of frequently asked questions.
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