March 2024

It's Wellbeing Month!

It is Wellbeing Month in our libraries.

Did you know there are lots of ways your library can help you improve your wellbeing:

• Find a book to boost your mood
• Take part in a regular activity
• Check out the drop-in information stands in our libraries this month from organisations including wellbeing hubs, Health and Independent Living Support (HILS), Meals on Wheels, Age UK, Alzheimer’s Society, West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service and more

For our younger library customers, we are running a Hunt the Bear character hunt during March in all libraries with a chance to enter a prize draw. Come and have a look for our well-hidden bears!

Farmyard Fun during the Easter holidays!

Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O.

And on his farm he had a…?

Well, you’ll just have to trot down to your local library to find out!

Join us at the library during the Easter holidays for some hay-larious stories and a-moo-sing crafts.

All activities are free, but booking a place with the library is essential. Quack quack!

Library opening hours over Easter

All West Sussex Libraries will be closed over the Easter period on:

• Friday 29 March 2024
• Monday 1 April 2024

Libraries will be open as normal on Saturday 30 March 2024.

You can still access our eLibrary 24/7 with your library card while we are closed.

Upcoming events in our Libraries

We’ve got a bumper range of in-person and online events coming up in our libraries in March and April.

From author talks to Discovery Days, webinars on newspaper archives to business networking events, we’ve got plenty at the library to keep you busy.

• Midhurst Library Discovery Day – on Saturday 2 March from 10.00am - 1.00pm. The event will showcase what the library has to offer and lots more.
• Women in Business networking coffee morning – on Tuesday 5 March, 10.00am - 12.00pm at Crawley Library. Discover more about our business support and meet one of our Business and Intellectual Property Centre (BIPC) expert advisors. Tickets are free, but booking a space via eventbrite is essential.
• Newspapers for family historians – an online webinar on Monday 11 March at 10.30am offering advice on how to access historic newspapers in West Sussex Libraries and online.
• An Evening with Jessica Hepburn – on Thursday 21 March, 6.30pm at Midhurst Library, as Jessica introduces her new book Save Me from the Waves. Tickets: £5.00, available from Midhurst Library.
• Talk on Elizabethan Chichester – on Tuesday 26 March, 7.00pm at West Sussex Record Office in Chichester or online. Join Dr Caroline Adams to find out what it was like to live in Elizabethan Chichester.
• An Evening with Graham Bartlett – on Monday 8 April, 7.00pm at Littlehampton Library. Join us to celebrate the release of Graham’s latest book City on Fire, the third book featuring Chief Superintendent Jo Howe. Tickets: £5.00, available from Littlehampton Library.

Change of location: The Be A Councillor drop-in event due to be held on Tuesday 5 March from 4.15 - 5.15pm at Shoreham-by-Sea Library will now be held at Lancing Library. 

Are you looking for a job?

Libraries have a lot to offer if you’re job searching and it’s all free: 

• Library card. Find out how to join the library 
• Wi-Fi
• eLibrary including eNewspapers & eInformation resources; Cobra may be particularly useful
• Computer use if a library member.
• Borrowing up to 20 items at a time
• Non-fiction book requests
• Enquiry service; via the Ask a Librarian form
• Study space
• Local information
• Volunteering opportunities

Note: From Monday 1 April the resource MyWorkSearch will cease to be available in West Sussex libraries. Any users should ensure they have any documents saved separately.

Revised Fees and Charges

Some library charges will change from Monday 1 April. Remember our free reminder service will send you an email three days before your loans are due, giving you a chance to renew or return them before incurring any late charges.

Register online with your library card number and PIN or ask staff in your local library.

Did you know...

You can access the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography for free on our website.

Why not look up some notable women of Sussex to mark International Women’s Day on Friday 8 March?

For example:

• Anita Roddick (born in Littlehampton) – Body Shop founder
• Eleanor Davies-Colley (born in Petworth) - surgeon and a founder of the South London Hospital for Women and Children
• Dame Caroline Harriet Haslett (born in Worth) - electrical engineer and electricity industry administrator
• Anna Raymond Massey (born in Thakeham) – actress

Image from West Sussex Past Pictures: Firewomen dispatch riders, Bognor Regis

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

If you no longer wish to receive updates from the Library Service, unsubscribe here.