Spring into action this March - Rediscover Your Library and get access to all our resources and services?
Not already a member? Give us a try, it’s FREE and easy to join.
You can:
• Relax with a good book, borrowing as many as you would like
• Always on the go? Download to your tablet, e-reader, mobile phone from a range of eBooks, eAudio, the latest eMagazines, eComics and read online newspapers
• Don’t know what to read next and too little time to choose? Let us choose for you with our Order and Collect service based on favourite genres and authors
• Feel connected just by sitting and reading and having a chat
• Use the PCs and Wi-Fi and brush up on your digital skills – help is at hand if you need it
• Find a quiet spot and sit and study
• Print and photocopy those important documents
• Discover your story and use Ancestry and Find My Past
• Take part in activities and events and make new friends
• Find out about local groups, clubs, societies and volunteering opportunities
And much more…
Just pop in and see us, visit our website or find us on Facebook or Twitter and we’ll open your eyes to a world of possibilities.
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World Book Day is coming!
If, on Thursday 3rd March, you are seeing children dressing up as Harry Potter, The Gruffalo, Red Riding Hood and many more colourful characters from our favourite children’s books on their way to schools, you’re not dreaming it’s because it’s World Book Day! And this year it’s a special one as it’s the 25th anniversary of the annual event – with the message for all children and young people ‘You are a reader’.
In Staffordshire Libraries we will be celebrating all things children’s books from our continuing work with local schools with class visits, a range of fantastic displays and an online children’s book quiz via Staffordshire libraries social media pages; all inspiring and encouraging a love of reading. Some of our libraries have the World Book Day vouchers to give out which can then be exchanged at local retailers for a free World Book Day book.
We hope to see lots of children and families across our libraries during the week leading up to World Book Day, we have loads of great books for all ages and if your child/children haven’t got a library card then it’s the perfect time to get one and encourage their love of books and reading.
So on this World Book Day grab a book, enjoy and celebrate all things children’s books!
For more information, activities and resources please see the World Book Day website
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Start-up Information Hubs
Staffordshire Libraries and Arts Service working with Business Enterprise Support are delighted to announce that they have been awarded £64,520 Arts Council England funding to set up Start-up Information Hubs in libraries across Staffordshire.
The service will support those who are unemployed, economically inactive or have been affected economically by COVID-19. The project will provide information and a dedicated space for start-up fact sheets, promotional materials, leaflets and business related reading books to help those investigating self-employment as an employment option.
Staff and volunteers will support the hubs by guiding people to information and signposting to other services across the County.
This work will begin with initially establishing the 16 Staffordshire County Council Libraries and then moving onto conversations with the Community Managed Libraries to establish Start-up Information Hubs there.
Find out more about Business Enterprise Support
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Bumper Book Chat this March!
Thanks to publishers Bookouture and Hodder & Stoughton, March is a month for thriller fans on Book Chat as we welcome online two panels of very different authors.
First up to on 2nd March at 7.30pm, will be Shalini Boland, Clare Boyd and S E Lynes. These three queens of psychological suspense will be chatting about the themes of their latest novels: marital deception, motherhood at its best and its worst and toxic female friendships!
Next, on 22nd March at 7.30pm, we will welcome another trio of authors; Luca Veste, Claire Askew and C S Robertson. Liverpudlian crime writer, Luca Veste’s latest offering Never Said Goodbye breathes new life into the psychological thriller genre with a captivating and gripping storyline that is part missing person mystery, part all out action thriller. Times Crime Book of the Month author, Claire Askew, brings us the fourth novel in her DI Helen Birch series A Matter of Time, a breathless, real-time, 24-style thriller that combines nail-biting tension with boundless compassion and C S Robertson will be introducing us to Grace McGill; when people die alone and undiscovered, it's her job to clean up what's left behind - whether it's clutter, bodily remains or dark secrets!
If you would like to find out more about the event and to take part online, please join the free Book Chat Facebook Group where the link to the event will be shared on the day. You can also message us through the group to ask any questions that you might have about taking part.
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British Science Week 10th - 20th March
British Science Week is a 10-day programme of thousands of events running throughout the whole of the UK with the aim of celebrating science, engineering, technology and maths. With no restrictions on who can organise events, the topics on which they are focused, the audience or the venue, the resulting programme is a hugely varied and eclectic mix suitable for people of all ages and abilities.
Getting involved in British Science Week is really easy, and you can take part in lots of different ways including downloading activity packs, exploring the Smashing Stereotypes campaign, taking part in a poster competition or going to a local event. Find out more at the British Science Week Website
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Perton Library Science Fair and Spring Festival
To celebrate British Science Week Perton Library and Wild About Perton are hosting a fantastic science fair for all the family on Saturday 19th March, 10:00am – 3:00pm.
Thanks to a generous grant from Millennium Point Trust we are able to offer some fascinating science shows, exhibitions and things to see and do. We’re also working with our friends from Wild About Perton and are buddying up our event with their annual Spring Festival.
Come along and meet the team from Think Tank and watch special shows, be wowed by Medical Mavericks who will help you explore how the body works, learn all about climate change and the efforts in Staffordshire to reduce our waste and carbon footprint with Waste Savvy Staffs and the Climate Change team from South Staffordshire Council. We’ll also have Dr. Phil Jemmett and his team of scientists from Warwick University who will be demonstrating experiments all day. Andrew Lound will also be with us in full astronaut gear and with a selection of meteorites and you can meet the animals with Zoolab! Our Library astronomy group will also be on hand with a selection of telescopes and a display about our local famous astronomer Lord Wrottesley; they will be happy to answer any questions that you might have about the hobby of astronomy. Staffordshire Police will also be demonstrating the science of fingerprinting and you can meet local Archaeologists from the Archaeology in Mind group, the RSPB, Staffordshire Wildlife Trust and the team from Forest of Mercia who can tell you about their work and how you can join a course.
Abbie Vlahakis, CEO of the Millennium Point Charitable Trust comments:
“We are delighted to fund such an exciting project. It’s a pleasure to see all of the enthusiasm and passion the Staffordshire team poured into their application realised in what is set to be a wonderful Science Fair brimming with activities guaranteed to engage and inspire young people to consider STEM subjects and careers.”
Please contact Perton Library on 01902 506050 for further information or to book a place on the Think Tank and/or Zoolab shows.
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Jigsaw Time
'The wreck of The Sunbeam on Rossbeigh Beach in County Kerry, Ireland.' is the theme for this month's jigsaw puzzle.
Check out our Facebook page for a new jigsaw each Sunday at 7pm
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Quiz Time
This month's quiz is entitled "Cover Me – Other People’s Songs". Do you know your originals from the cover versions? If so take our quiz and let us know how you get on on our social media.
Try the Quiz here.
Look out for weekly quizzes every Saturday evening on our Facebook and Twitter pages.
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 Enjoy these new Borrowbox Campaign Titles
Don't miss these great new titles, available without any need to queue, We've got eBooks and eAudios of these great titles from popular authors including David Baldacci, Karen Swan, Emma Donohue, Colm Toibin and Emily Bronte!
Just download the Borrowbox App from your app store for your device or visit our eLibrary
March Night Sky Guide.
Perton Library's Astronomy volunteer, Doug, has put together a guide to the March night sky. It's an interesting time as the familiar Winter constellations begin to disappear.
Download it here.
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 Holiday Activities and Food - Easter Fun!
If your child is eligible for a free place on Staffordshire County Council's Easter Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, they will receive a letter from their school. This letter will contain a unique 'HAF' code which you will need to register your child and then view the activities. Registration opens at 4pm on 21 March 2022.
Find out more here
 Be part of the IRONMAN 70.3 STAFFORDSHIRE team
Be part of the IRONMAN 70.3 STAFFORDSHIRE team when the major sporting spectacle returns to the county on 12th June, 2022.
Volunteers are at the heart of each IRONMAN race, and we are on the lookout for enthusiastic, motivated individuals or organisations to join the team and get involved.
You will be in the thick of the action and IRONMAN have a variety of roles available at each event so you can choose whichever role and shift suits you best.
From Athlete Registration to handing out medals (and everything in between!) there's a role to suit you.
As a thank you for your time and efforts, IRONMAN provide each volunteer with:
- An IRONMAN Volunteer T-shirt
- An IRONMAN Drawstring bag
- Water & snacks to see you through your shift
- 10% discount on IRONMAN merchandise
- A donation for volunteer groups
To see what volunteer roles are available and to register visit the official volunteering registration portal here
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