Minutes of the final AGM

 The Committee for the Friends of Sawston Library met for the last time in the wonderful new library on Friday 29th October. The minutes are available here. Yasmin thanked everyone who has worked so hard over the last ten years to keep the library open, and help it to find a new home. Pat reported on the success of the book Treasure Hunt, which was a great way to promote both the library and local shops. The Grand Opening of the library was also discussed, and was very well attended.

Book Treasure Hunt

 Thank you to everyone who took part in the Library's Book Treasure Hunt, and especially to the 23 Sawston businesses who placed books in their windows.The winner was Clare Postlethwaite who was presented with a £10 token at the Grand Opening of the library on Saturday 2nd October.

Grand Opening!

Saturday 2 October

10am - 1 pm

Please join us for the (delayed) grand opening of Sawston Library! 

Family activities include:

10 am - Ribbon cutting

10.30 and 11.30 am - Fun with children's author Isabel Thomas

Decorate a cupcake

For COVID safety, numbers inside the library at any one time may be restricted. Thank you for your understanding.

Book Quiz

 To enter the Quiz download and fill in the form here.

On the 2nd October 2021, Sawston will celebrate the, long overdue, official opening of the New Library on New Road. There will be several events taking place on the day.

As part of the celebrations, the Friends of Sawston Library would like to organise a BOOK TREASURE HUNT around Sawston village. The idea is to display books in the windows of shops and other premises, for people to find and write down the titles ... and work out if there is a connection or not between the shop and the book!

We would like you to participate by offering to display a book between Monday 6th September and Monday 20th September

All the books will be supplied by us and brought to you on the 6th or 7th September and will be collected on 21st or 22nd September

Hopefully, you would like to support this venture, which will also have the benefit of customers browsing your window!

If you have any questions or agree to take part, please email Yasmin Emerson (yasmin@sawstonlibrary.org.uk) by Friday 13th August. Thank you! 

Winter Mini Reading Challenge 2020

 

Keep your children reading this winter by encouraging them to take part in The Reading Agency’s Winter Mini Challenge at www.wintermini.org.uk The Challenge begins on Tuesday 1 December 2020 and will end online on Friday 15 January 2021.

Children simply read three or more books of their choice (including eBooks and audiobooks) then rate and review them. Books added to the website will count towards unlocking special rewards, with a special Everyone Is A Hero certificate to print off and keep once they reach their reading goal! The website will also feature activities, recommendations for great winter reads, and competitions.

As part of the challenge families can also nominate their Reading Heroes on social media. You can post a picture, share a story about them, or even record a video about them! Just make sure to get their permission first!

Use the hashtags #WMC2020 and #ReadingHero in your post. At the end of the Challenge, The Reading Agency will enter all the entries into a prize draw – and the winning hero will receive the Winter Mini Challenge booklist bundle!

18 September Friends of Sawston Library update

 

Good news! The library is, at last, in its new home within Sawston Community Hub on New Road, next to the Marven Centre. Bad news! The only view you can get for the time being is from the outside looking in...

Most people in the village probably know that Sawston Village College was the first village college, established with the aim of lifelong learning within the community. With that in mind, the public library was brought into SVC and used to be where the SVC reception area is now; the idea being initially that SVC students would use it during the day and adult education students use it in the evenings. Eight years ago our library, with its rich history and listed bookshelves, burnt down. Plans for a community hub (to house the library and the children's centre which was at Bellbird until recently) were already underway at the time, but that didn't seem to help speed things up - hence eight years of library in a temporary building at the front of SVC. It's all taken an extraordinarily long time, during which the County Council were renting the leaky temporary building - even a year ago I didn't believe that the community hub would actually be built. But here it is, at long last!

As Chair of Friends of Sawston Library, I was invited to have a sneaky tour of the building. After five months of re-reading books from home and occasional bookswaps with friends, seeing shelves and shelves of books and not being able to touch them was challenging... The new space is surprisingly spacious. The floor area isn't very much different from what we had in the temporary library, but with the high ceilings it feels like a much bigger space. It's good to see that the shelving is much more accessible - no shelves so low down that you have to get down on your hands and knees. And it's all on wheels, so that we can move shelves around more easily when we are able to run events again. The computers weren't installed when I visited, but the computer area is a bit more private than we've been used to - much more appropriate if you have to enter sensitive information - and apparently wi-fi is on the way. The children's area will be a real highlight - there's a lovely little cubby-hole, with fairy lights all around - perfect for burrowing into with a book. Lots of childrens picture books are arranged with covers facing out, so it won't be such back-breaking work looking for the next haul. The light in the library is just lovely for reading - lots of natural light, but not so much that you end up squinting.

Further back in the library there are little multi-purpose meeting rooms, which will be used for by various County Council employees.

There's a decent kitchen and several toilets. Outside, a path round the side of the building leads to the children's centre. Ah, and after all my gentle reminders, I am pleased to see there is a thoroughly respectable bike shed. I can't wait to get in and use the library properly!

But sadly, for now, users have to order library books. Go to www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk and click on Libraries, where you can click on the "Join Cambridgeshire Libraries today" button if you're not already a member (it's all free). Before logging on, there are two options:

1. Search the library catalogue and order books as normal. Click on "Search the library cataloge/log in to your account" and log in as normal - use the long number from the front of your library card and your usual PIN. Then you can search for authors, choose books, and order them to come to Sawston Library. Ordering books is free for everyone now.

2. Click on the free "Select and Collect service" just below the title.

This is a library pick 'n' mix, but books instead of tooth decay.

Enter your details as prompted by the form (no spaces in your library card number) and then enter a little description of your likes and dislikes. You can do multiple orders for other members of your household within the same form. You get a phone call or email when your books are ready to collect. It doesn't matter if you don't like them - return them and order more! The Select and Collect books are chosen from within the stock at that particular library - so they can be ready quickly, often within the week. Someone from the library service will email you when they're ready to collect.

Sawston Library is currently open on Mondays 2pm to 6pm and Wednesdays 10am to 2pm. Sadly you're not allowed in the building to browse at the moment; books are collected and dropped off in the foyer at the front of the new Community Hub, which is on New Road next to the Marven Centre.

You'll need to wear a mask unless you're exempt. News just in on mobile libraries - the service is about to return to normal. There's a phrase you don't hear every day! You can't go in the mobile library and browse, but can order in the two ways above - just select your mobile library stop for the collection point. And, of course, you can order books over the phone - call 0345 045 5225 and have your library number ready.

Written down it sounds like a palaver. But think of it as a more pleasant Amazon; you can order from the comfort of your own home, you get a nice walk up to the library, you don't give Jeff Bezos any money and it's free! What's not to love?!

The Friends of Sawston Library committee would normally have an AGM about now. But we've decided to put it off for a year, in the hope that we'll have a better idea then about how we can use our lovely new space that we have argued for for so long. Please do try out one of the book ordering services, and peek through the windows at our lovely new library!

Yasmin Emerson

Chair of Friends of Sawston Library