|
To All West Berkshire Libraries Customers
Welcome to our March news!
 Although we offer a wide range of services including information and advice, free computer use, space for private study, self-service printing and copying, meeting rooms for hire and a variety of events and activities throughout the year, undoubtedly when people think about libraries the first thing they think of is books and reading.
From the latest bestsellers to board books for babies, we have something for everyone. We don’t only have books in print either. Audiobooks, e-magazines and e-newspapers, e-audio and e-books from several major online suppliers are all available to library members for FREE.
This month we invite you to help us Share the joy of reading with family, friends and our local communities – and if you are reading this on Thursday 3 March, may we wish you a very happy World Book Day!
 As part of our commitment to encouraging reading, we have a Partnership Agreement with the national charity BookTrust which currently allows us to provide free ‘Bookstart packs’ for babies and young children. Baby packs are normally distributed for us by Health Visitors across the district. However, if you have a baby older than 10 weeks and you have missed out on this for any reason, you can collect a Bookstart pack from your local library.
Our Bookstart packs for children aged 3-4 years are normally distributed through nurseries and pre-schools, but if you have a child of this age who doesn’t attend one of these settings you can collect a pack from any West Berkshire library during normal opening hours. (Available while stocks last.)
 Did you get a chance to drop in to the Educafe in Newbury Library during February? If not, don’t worry - we’re delighted to tell you that this friendly community café will now take place every Wednesday, 11am-2pm.
Educafe in the library provides a safe space for people to make new friends, eat and learn. Come and join us to enjoy arts and crafts, games and puzzles, activities for parents with babies, IT support, a befriending service, our ‘chatty corner’ for anyone who wants to improve their English language skills, and lots more.
Refreshments provided – all welcome to come and enjoy a chat and free cake!
 British Science Week runs from 11-20 March this year. In connection with this we’ll be holding a special STEM Week on Instagram, starting on Monday 14 March, when we will be highlighting some of our favourite titles relating to science, technology, engineering and maths. We hope these will provide you with plenty of inspiration for what to read next. As usual, all the books we feature will be available to reserve and borrow free of charge from West Berkshire Libraries.
 Our monthly LEGO clubs are a great way for youngsters to use their imagination and experiment with creating their own structures.
Children over 5 years can join us at any of our sessions. Parents/carers need to stay with children under 8. While you are there, why not have a go at building something yourself?
-
Burghfield Common Library – first Friday of the month, 4.15-5.30pm
-
Hungerford Library – first Saturday of the month, 10.30am-12pm
-
Newbury Library – first Saturday of the month, 2-3pm
-
Thatcham Library – first Saturday of the month, 10.30am-12pm
Thatcham and Theale libraries also run Duplo Play sessions for young children. Please ask in the library for details
Throughout March, new book-related online crafts for children will be available every weekend on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as usual.
This month’s online storytime is ready for you to enjoy on YouTube now. Come and listen to Beth from West Berkshire Council’s Archeology service reading Princess Scallyway and the brave, brave knight, written by Mark Sperring and illustrated by Claire Powell.
 Hungerford, Newbury and Thatcham and Libraries now have Wellpoint ‘health kiosks’ available for customers to use. Try them out to measure your height, weight, BMI, blood pressure, heart age and cardiovascular risk. It’s quick and easy to do and will help you to maintain your health and wellbeing.
West Berkshire Council appreciates everything that residents have done over the past two years to protect each other and the West Berkshire community. Although all domestic legal restrictions relating to the virus have now ended, we all need to continue to behave responsibly and consider the people around us. Thank you for your consideration for others when you are visiting our libraries.
We hope to bring you our next newsletter in early April. Meanwhile please follow @WBerksLibraries on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up with latest news about all that’s happening in our libraries.
You can find details of all West Berkshire Libraries opening hours, including our Mobile Library timetable, on our website: www.westberks.gov.uk/libraries.
|
