suffolk libraries direct - library information, renewals, reservations, news and events News

Free First Aid Courses for Young People

Sarah — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:07:03 +0000

FREE First Aid Courses for young people aged 14-18 years.

Saturday 25 May 09.00 - 16.00 and Thursday 30 May 09.00 - 16.00. Limited places available, please book your place.

Gainsborough Library contact details

Suffolk Libraries gets behind the Big Library Read

Mel — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:00:00 +0000

Between 15 May and 01 June you can join millions of eBook readers around the world in reading one book.

The Big Library Read book is The Four Corners of the Sky by Michael Malone. You can download the book for free between 15 May and 01 June.

Millions of library users around the world will be participating so why not take part too.

New Walking Book Group at Saxmundham Library

Sarah — Tue, 14 May 2013 11:46:58 +0000

What you need to do to join in

Get a copy of the current book - 'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck
Read it before the walk...but don't worry if you don't quite finish it before the walk.
Turn up outside Saxmundham Library at 10.00 on 9th June with £1 contibution to The Friends of Saxmundham Library.
Enjoy the walk and talking about the book.
Arrive back at the library for a cuppa.

Dogs and children are also welcome to walk with us.

Any questions or to pick up a copy of the book please contact Saxmundham Library

Debenham Library 10 year anniversary party

Leon — Fri, 10 May 2013 08:29:33 +0000

We're holding a party on Friday 17 May from 1800–2030 to mark the library’s contribution to the local community over the last ten years.

There'll be a BBQ, refreshments, music, stalls, a raffle, books and birthday cake. All proceeds will go to support the library.

The building in Cross Green was originally a fire station and later became a bank. When this closed, local people successfully campaigned for their own library.

The library, which is the smallest in Suffolk, opened on 17 May 2003 and has become such a popular local resource that we plan to move to the village primary school to create more space for library customers.

New cancer book and leaflet collection

Leon — Thu, 09 May 2013 08:34:15 +0000

We're providing a new collection of books for people affected by cancer. The list has been selected by colleagues working at Macmillan Cancer Support.

See the cancer book collection.

The collection will be available from several libraries in Suffolk from 13 May, which marks the start of Cancer Prevention Week. You can also request the books from your local library.

The collection consists of 31 books and 40 leaflets which cover a variety of different cancers. They're aimed at anyone affected by cancer, including children who either have cancer or are dealing with a relative or friend with cancer.

You can borrow any of the books from Ipswich County Library and Lowestoft, Bury, Haverhill, Beccles and Felixstowe libraries. If you live near a different library, you can request it from there.

Each item includes local contact details for further support from Macmillan Cancer Support in Suffolk.

You can also find out about the collection at GP surgeries, special cancer units and from community care workers visiting people in their homes.

Volunteer for the 2013 Summer Reading Challenge

Leon — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:45:20 +0000

We're looking for volunteers to help with the 2013 ‘Creepy House’ Summer Reading Challenge.

Interested in volunteering? Contact your local library.

The Summer Reading Challenge is the Reading Agency's annual campaign to keep children reading through the long summer holiday with a series of activities and challenges.

Children earn stickers and other rewards, with a certificate for everyone who reads 6 library books.

Last year nearly 3,800 children in Suffolk completed the challenge and nearly 2,300 joined the library to take part.

The Reading Challenge involves a fantastic team of volunteers who help children with their reading and run events through the summer.

If you're interested in getting involved this summer, contact your local library.

Reviews of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Sarah — Tue, 07 May 2013 11:50:06 +0000

Lesley's Review:

Sarah's Review:

Please add your comments/reviews of this title below:

Suffolk Libraries support organ donation drive

Leon — Fri, 03 May 2013 09:43:16 +0000

We're supporting the NHS campaign to get more people to sign up to the Organ Donor Register.

Information leaflets about organ donation and how to sign up to the register are now available from special displays in all our Libraries. The leaflets cover issues such as frequently asked questions and religious beliefs regarding organ donation.

Organ donor display at Ipswich County Library

There are currently more than 10,000 people in the UK who need an organ transplant to save or enhance their lives and three people die every day because they don’t get the transplant they need.

Suffolk Libraries Mental Health and Wellbeing Service has organised the displays to help encourage more people to join the register or to find out more. If you are visiting your local library and want to find out more just look out for the leaflets or ask a member of staff where they are.

Find your local library.

Dementia Awareness Week

Leon — Fri, 03 May 2013 09:08:23 +0000

On Monday 20 May we'll host a a dementia awareness and information day. It'll take place in the lecture hall at Ipswich County Library in Northgate Street, from 1000 to 1300.

Find out more about this event.

Great Cornard and Hadleigh libraries will run dementia information sessions on 14 May.

Haverhill Library will also display dementia information during the week. There are four permanent Alzheimer’s Society information displays at Ipswich, Felixstowe, Stowmarket and Woodbridge libraries.

We're working with Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust and Alzheimer’s Society to support Dementia Awareness Week, which runs from 19 to 25 May.

Dementia Awareness Week is Alzheimer’s Society’s annual flagship awareness-raising campaign. The theme for this year's Dementia Awareness Week is talking about the condition.

World Book Night celebrations in Suffolk

Leon — Thu, 02 May 2013 11:22:00 +0000

People across Suffolk joined in with World Book Night library events on 23 April.

World Book Night promotes the benefits of books and reading by encouraging people who don’t regularly read to pick up a book or visit their library.

Volunteers also distributed free World Book Night books.

Libraries ran events across the county:

Mildenhall Library held a Booklovers’ Delight event where readers discussed their favourite books to win a prize.
Ipswich County Library held a Forty Winks storytelling session for 30 people which we hope will develop into a more regular story time session.
Gainsborough Community Library held a very successful evening with around 140 attendees, many dressed as pirates (Treasure Island was one of the World Book Night books). Volunteers also hit the streets to give books away. View photos of the Gainsborough Community Library event.
Westbourne Library also held a Treasure Island themed event which attracted visitors who had never been to the library before.
At Rosehill Library about 30 people enjoyed crafts and a treasure hunt. The Bookstart bear came dressed as a pirate.
Glemsford Library invited local author Grace Farrant to sign copies of her latest novel So Many Paths and give a talk.
Sudbury Library raised over £260 ina raffle.
Lowestoft Library invited local authors to read original work while others read sections from their favourite books. View photos of the Lowestoft event.

Photos

World Book Night at Lowestoft Library

40 winks at Ipswich County Library Library

Pirates at Gainsborough Library

Author Charlie Haylock at Sudbury Library

May at Woodbridge ArtLib Gallery

Mel — Wed, 01 May 2013 06:00:00 +0000

This month’s exhibition is The Tree Hunt.

Work created as part of East Feast. Pupils from Bawdsey, Hollesley and Rendlesham primary schools have worked in partnership with Eastfeast and local artists to explore Staverton Thicks, an ancient oak and holly woodland. The Tree Hunt exhibition includes a vibrant collection of ceramics, textiles, painted driftwood, poetry and journals, all of which have been inspired by Staverton Thicks. This project has been funded by the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB AAF fund www.eastfeast.co.uk

Come along to the Woodbridge ArtLib Gallery and enjoy! A percentage of all work sold helps to support Suffolk Libraries.

Mike Readman, 12 May 1947–29 April 2013

Leon — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:53:03 +0000

Mike Readman

Vice Chairman and Board Member Suffolk Libraries

Suffolk Libraries, and indeed the world, are poorer places today following Mike’s untimely death.

I first met Mike in February 2012, after we had both been appointed to the board of Suffolk Libraries. He had been unable to take an active part in the library campaign in 2011 as he was fighting the first round of his battle with the cancer that has finally claimed him.

It had been hoped that Annie Kerr would be Stradbroke’s nominee for the board but she was by that time fighting her own battle with cancer, one that she was to lose in January this year. I well remember her telling me that Mike Readman was to be nominated in her stead and that he was someone very active in the community and a really good person, and so he proved to be.

On appointment he immediately immersed himself in the role and by the time of our first board meeting he already had plans and ideas formulated, to put forward, to assist in the development of the organisation.

Previously Mike had a long and distinguished career in business, culminating in his position as Vice President, HR Operations Europe with JP Morgan and Company, from which he retired in 1998 and moved to Suffolk to enjoy his five grandsons, and pursue his interests in local, social and family history and his sport and community activities.

Many of his roles had involved challenge in rebuilding and restructuring businesses to meet change, often with conflicting pressures and short timescales, equipping Mike with a focused, analytical approach to problems and people, coupled with a great sense of humour, all of which he brought to the board, contributing hugely to the structure, strategy and success of Suffolk Libraries.

Sadly during 2012 Mike’s cancer returned, but he met that challenge head on, fighting with dignity and a tenacious determination, for many months longer than his most pessimistic prognosis.

I have visited him frequently, the last time just three days before his death, and on every occasion of far greater importance than his own condition was his desire to “be in the loop”; to hear about developments taking place and the new appointments; always offering his considered views and suggestions for building on our progress and success, and he never lost that sense of humour.

His family have lost a much loved vital member, I have lost a dear friend and colleague and Suffolk Libraries has lost a champion.

—Sylvia Knights, 29 April 2013

Competition to design a logo

Sarah — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 11:55:45 +0000

Help us design a logo for the Friends Group at Rosehill Library.

There will be three prizes: Under 10 yrs, 10-16 yrs & Adult.

(The winning design will be adapted as required.)

Please print a copy of the entry form below and drop it in to Rosehill Library by the closing date of 31st May 2013.

Alternatively you may wish to design a logo on your computer. In this case please submit your entry via email, ensuring that you attach a completed entry form: Rosehill.Library@suffolklibraries.co.uk

Design a Logo Entry Form (pdf)

Design a Logo Entry Form (doc)

Winners will be announced on 6th June 2013.

Sudbury library short story competition results

Emma G — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:32:39 +0000

The Friends of Sudbury library are pleased to announce the winners of their short story competition:

Under 12’s

E Mowles – Breaking the Ice

M DeAlwis – Lucky Red Hat

A Howells - The Ice Castle

B Watson – The Evil Snow Queen

12-17yrs

J Slade – Winter Story

K Meyer – When Snow Falls

Over 18’s

M Stocker – A Woman’s Mind

The prizes were booktokens and the stories are now available in the library for the public to read.

Rumpus at Newmarket library

Emma G — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:48:49 +0000

Newmarket library held ‘The Rumpus’ event over Easter based on ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ by Maurice Sendak.

Local children were invited to come to the library in their pyjamas, draw Wild Things and make Wild Things Crowns, before being read the book.

Cick here to see some more photos of the event on our Fickr page.

Street dance at Ipswich Library

Leon — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:36:24 +0000

Ipswich County Library in Northgate Street is holding a live street dance performance and workshop at 3.30pm on Saturday 20 April.

The event is free and aims to be a fun and engaging afternoon for anyone who wants to join in. The dance performance will be by Marcel Jarrett, a young library user and his dance tutor Jay Austin.

The street dance event is a great example of the wide range of activities which are on offer in the county’s libraries and it is hoped that more young people will come along to take part and see what the library has to offer them.

After the performance there will be a dance workshop which everyone can join in with to have some fun and get moving.

For more information call Ipswich Library on 01473 583710.

Reviews of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Sarah — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 19:53:01 +0000

Lesley's Review:

Sarah's Review:

Amy, Nick's wife goes missing. He is the main suspect. How well do you ever really know someone though?

To be honest a quarter of the way through this book I was struggling to keep going. Amy's diary entries were sycophantic and really annoying and I did not find Nick, her husband, a very sympathetic character. How much more could I take and why was everyone raving about this book?

Then it happened...the twist...of which I cannot say much as it would ruin your enjoyment of the book. From that moment I could not put this book down and completely understood all that had gone on before.

This is a superior read and the sort of book that I suspect it is not until you have finished it that you think 'that was one cracking read!'

So my advice would be read this book and please please please do not give up on it. Don't worry, you will know when you get to the 'shocking twist' and you will be rewarded for your patience.

Please add your own review in the comments box below:

Local students compete in National Poetry Competition at Ipswich Library

Leon — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:19:46 +0000

Ipswich County Library hosted the local final of the National Poetry by Heart poetry reading competition last week.

Five talented students from across the region competed in the event and each gave a passionate recital of two poems—one pre 1914 and one post 1914.

Victoria Hicks from Stalham High School in Norfolk was the outright winner and Hannah Bunting from the Ormiston Sudbury Academy in Suffolk was the runner up.

Event winner Victoria Hicks with Shona Bendix, Chair of Suffolk Libraries. See more pictures.

The other finalists were Bethany Hall from County Upper School Academy in Bury St Edmunds, Will Wright from Framlingham College and Matthew Skazick from Bungay High School.

Poetry by Heart is a pioneering national competition designed to encourage pupils at school and college in England to learn and to recite poems by heart. There is more information on the Poetry by Heart website.

Julie Blake, Education Director of the Poetry Archive, explains the thinking behind the competition: “Competitors need to choose one poem from before 1914 and one poem from after 1914. We hope that in reading, preparing and reciting, young people will gain much enjoyment and confidence.

“School competitions have led to county finals and then a grand final will take place over two days in London on April 19th and 20th. The spirit of the competition is that we want students to take poems to heart not simply learn them by rote and we have been thrilled by the response to the initiative.”

Poetry by Heart is an educational initiative of The Poetry Archive which was co-founded by former poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion.

Green fingers at Newmarket Library

James Powell — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:07:15 +0000

Visitors to Newmarket Library may have seen the small display of plants for sale to raise funds for the library.

One library user called Bill has been volunteering to help grow and pot these plants.

You can read his story from the point of view of another regular visitor to the library, Julian Partridge who has added a photo and story to his flickr profile. Please click here to read the story on flickr.

Any proceeds from the sale of the plants will be put towards the running of the library. Newmarket Library is also holding a meeting for anyone interested in getting involved in a Friends of Newmarket Library group on Tuesday 16 April from 2pm. For more information read the related news story.

April at Woodbridge ArtLib Gallery

Mel — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 06:00:00 +0000

This month's exhibition will feature work by Nicki Holt, Printmaker.

"I am a printmaker concentrating mainly on etching and collography, but also produce lino cuts, woodcuts, monoprints and dry points, often combining some of these processes as collages. Each print process that I use is chosen to best suit the mood of the subject I am trying to convey and I find experimenting to achieve this very exciting. This exhibition, rather than following a theme, features the diversity of subjects and different printmaking disciplines which interest me, and is a fair representation of the way I work. My inspiration comes mainly from nature and landscape, but also from poetry, memories, and dreams, so imagination plays a big part in most of the work I produce."

www.nickiholtprints.co.uk

Come along to the Woodbridge ArtLib Gallery and enjoy! A percentage of all work sold helps to support Suffolk Libraries.