Building work at Smallbridge Library

Smallbridge library will be closed for approximately four months from 31 December 2007. We need to close the library for essential building work including replacing the heating system and the floor. The nearest alternative libraries are the Wheatsheaf Library, Wardle Library and Belfield Library.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. We welcome your custom at any library in the borough. Your barcoded library card lets you borrow or reserve items from any of our libraries.

Unashamèd sentimentality

There are times when we can feel bogged down with sundry bureaucracies, trying to keep track of all the latest initiatives and worrying about the workaday problems involved in running a public library service.

Every so often it's useful to take a step back to remind ourselves that we do make a positive impact on people's lives.

Season's greetings to all.

Silver surfers

We currently have regular "Silver Surfers" sessions on Tuesday mornings at Milnrow and Smithybridge libraries. The sessions are lead by volunteer tutors who have generously offered their time to help people find out more about computers and the Internet in a friendly and informal setting.

Silver Surfer sessions are aimed at the over 50s (birth certificates are not required!) and don't assume that you have any experience of a keyboard or a computer. The main aim of the sessions is to build up people's confidence so that they aren't scared of the technology and feel comfortable having a go for themselves.

The sessions are very popular so it's generally a good idea to ring the library beforehand to see if there are any spare places.

• Jean at Milnrow on 01706 641563
• Elaine or Jennifer at Smithybridge on 01706 378281

Many thanks to everyone who makes these sessions such a success.

Life in Middleton

Joanne and Paula have written some promotional pieces telling people about Alkrington and Middleton libraries for the local free newspapers. The notes they put together when we asked them to tell us about their libraries gave them a useful starting point.

Alkrington Library appeared in the December issue of Alkrington Life. Middleton Library is due to appear in the February edition of Middleton Life. We've had positive feedback from customers about the Alkrington article and we hope this is repeated in February.

Public libraries are elective services — people don't have to use them if they don't want — so it's important that we keep a high positive profile via as many different communication channels as possible. We need to make sure that we're reminding people that we do lots of nice stuff, and a good deal of it very well. Like many other library services, we're not particularly good at blowing our own trumpet. It's a habit we do need to learn if we're to catch and keep the interest of all our potential customer bases. And we are learning: we're getting a significantly larger number of pieces in the local press about events and activities in our libraries than we did even a year ago.

Tangerines, Air Raids and Santamobiles

Our friends at Cartwheel Arts have been working with groups and individuals in Darnhill and writer Joy Winkler to create a little gift book of Christmas words called "Tangerines, Air Raids and Santamobiles" to get people into the Christmas spirit.

Wartime memories and stories for children sit alongside stories about how we celebrate Christmas today and young people's hopes for the future. Joy Winkler has also contributed a special new poem to the book.

You can find some copies of the book at Darnhill Library.

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Darnhill Festival was a great success. Seasonal cheer was provided by Father Christmas, who dealt with 150 children with the full great good humour that only he can bring.

Middleton Library

Middleton Library is an historic building dating from 1889 situated in a pleasant Victorian park (opposite The Old Boar’s Head pub) within the town’s conservation area.

Access to the ground floor Adult Lending Library & Reading Room is via a steep cobbled ramp plus several steps. The Reference/Local Studies & Children’s Libraries are situated on the first floor, accessed via a staircase. Our friendly, helpful staff, recognising the difficulties presented by the library’s layout do all they can to assist those with limited mobility. If you require help, don’t hesitate to ask.

Limited free parking is available immediately next to the building.

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Adult Readers
In addition to the wide range of constantly replenished fiction & non-fiction stock that you would expect from a central library we also offer for example, books in large print, books on tape, graphic novels, audio “learn a language” packs, a selection of local & national daily newspapers & materials for those wishing to improve their literacy & numeracy skills.

Looking for something new? - check out our Author Of The Month display.

No time to browse? - try our Quick Choice selection.

No need to buy the latest bestseller - we have multiple copies available free of charge.

Book Sale – a varied selection of ex-library stock is always available at very reasonable prices. Pop in & pick up a bargain.

Free Reservation service – Any item on the library catalogue can be reserved free of charge from this website, in person or over the phone.

Please ask any member of staff for details about services for housebound customers & those with special needs. For example, our Talking Book Club, offering unabridged popular titles in cassette form for the visually impaired & those who have difficulties with other formats (visits every 3 weeks.)

Middleton Reading Group – meets in the library once a month on Monday evenings 6-7.00pm to discuss a chosen book.

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Children & Young People
We have a very well stocked & self-contained Children’s Library offering something for all ages from babies to teenagers. A study area provides a quiet space for homework, whilst our information & reference sections cover the full range of National Curriculum subjects. Story packs, offering a picture book & accompanying audio tape can be borrowed free of charge.

An under 5s’ storytime, which includes a simple craft activity, takes place every Thursday at 2.00pm during school term times. All young children & their parents & carers are welcome.

Young library members wishing to use our free, filtered Internet access for fun, homework, word processing & e-mails, can join the Young Surfers Club. Please ask staff for an application form.

Look out for free fun events throughout the school holidays, including the Summer Reading Game.

Local schools, nurseries & playgroups are very welcome to visit by prior arrangement.

A collection of new & classic picture books, pop-up books & simple non-fiction for pre-schoolers is available for loan to nurseries, playgroups & registered childminders. Please ask for further details.

During school term times the Children’s Library opens at 2.00pm. However a selection of picture books is available downstairs in the reading room for those with young children who prefer to visit in the morning.

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Reference & Local Studies
We have a well-stocked reference collection including encyclopaedias, business directories, phone books, advice guides & maps. A coin-operated photocopier is available & we also offer a fax service.

Local History resources for the Middleton area include an extensive collection of photographs featuring Middleton streets, buildings, town centre, etc; books & pamphlets on the history of Middleton; local maps; historical register of electors. The Middleton Guardian newspaper since earliest dates is available on microfilm. For family historians we have the Middleton parish registers & census records on microfilm. Please ring to book a reader. We offer free access to Ancestry.com via our public access computers.

A member of the Manchester & Lancashire Family History Society holds a drop-in advice session on Monday afternoons between 2-4.00pm.

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Computers
Computers (some with scanner), offering free access to the Internet, e-mail, word processing etc. are available & can be pre-booked. Colour printing costs just 10p per copy. You don’t even need to be a library member!

Need some help setting up an e-mail account or just need someone on hand to boost your confidence if you’re new to the net? Why not try one of our popular “Free ‘n’ Easy” sessions which are held every 2 weeks on Tuesday mornings from 10-12.00pm. No need to book – just drop in. Our friendly, knowledgeable staff will prove to you that computers don’t bite! Please ask for details of the next session.

From time to time, we also host special “Silver Surfer” events and taster sessions for beginning your family history on the web.

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All the staff at Middleton Library will make you feel most welcome, so come & visit us soon & we promise you won’t be disappointed!

Branch library spotlight: Spotland Library

Every so often we will feature one of our libraries or services in this blog to give you a bit more detail about what we're doing for our local communities. This time we've asked Spotland Library to tell us a bit about themselves.

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Spotland Library is a light and airy 1970's building with a leafy frontage and recently constructed disabled access. It is situated on Ings Lane just off Edenfield Rd with easy access by public transport and parking is available outside the building.

Two lively and friendly book groups meet regularly, one on the first Thursday of the month at 2.15p.m. and the other on Monday evenings at 6.15p.m. every fourth week. (please contact Library for dates of next meetings).

There is also a craft group on Tuesday afternoons from 2 - 4.p.m. where you can make your own bespoke greetings cards (a small charge applies)

Children can join in the frequent school holiday activities and the yearly Reading Game.

Internet access is available free of charge and you can print for a small fee of 10p per sheet.

Whether you want the latest best seller, to trace your family tree or need to do your homework, a wealth of information and warm welcome awaits you at Spotland Library!

Getting involved in Milnrow Library

The poetry group at Milnrow Library meets once a fortnight to share a love of poems. Each session has a different theme, giving members the opportunity to share ideas and opinions on both contemporary and traditional verses. Tutors also offer advice and tips on writing poetry.

The library also has an active reading group, giving people the opportunity to explore new authors and genres and share their views with other people. Members of the group choose a novel in advance which is then discussed in the next session. Don't worry that you can't join the group because you've not read the book — it's a friendly and inclusive group who welcome newcomers.


These sessions are free and anyone of any age is welcome to join in. To get details of the next session please ring Jean at the library on 01706 641563.

Branch Library Spotlight: Wardle Library

Every so often we will feature one of our libraries or services in this blog to give you a bit more detail about what we're doing for our local communities. This time we've asked Wardle Library to tell us a bit about themselves.

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Wardle Library is situated in the heart of the Wardle community.

The library encourages all ages to use the excellent facilities on offer:

• The very young particularly enjoy creating works of art at the craft table where monthly competitions are judged by the Wardle Art Group and winning entries are rewarded with certificates.

Extra special prizes are awarded at Easter and Christmas.

• We provide area for quiet study, reference books and free broadband internet access available to all.


• Those not confident in using computers, can be provided with informal training to assist with homework, studies, research, general enquiries etc.


• Every second Tuesday we host a storytime, craft and music session provided by Sure Start.


• During school holidays various events take place from optical illusion shows to Easter egg hunts, from beastly bug fun sessions to police safety talks.

Come to visit us and receive a warm friendly welcome! Please feel free to give comments to help continually improve our library service.

Branch Library Spotlight: Balderstone

Every so often we will feature one of our libraries or services in this blog to give you a bit more detail about what we're doing for our local communities. This time we've asked Balderstone Library to tell us a bit about themselves.

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Balderstone Library always has a friendly welcoming atmosphere, and is situated just inside the entrance to Balderstone Park, off Oldham Road.

The outside of the Library has just been renovated, and has full disabled access and parking.We have a variety of wildlife surrounding the building, and this provides much entertainment for staff and borrowers alike!

The inside of the Library is bright and spacious, and user friendly.

We have:

• 6 PCs available for the public to use free.
• A wide selection of books, and information on everything to do with the local community.
• Featured stock displays, e.g. "quick picks", new books in stock, storysacks for children, and graphic novels.
• An "Author of the Month" promotion.
• Displays of local art and community events.
• Regular visits from local schools, and nurseries, and also well attended under-fives' events on Thursday afternoons, and Friday mornings.

On the first Monday of every month, we have a Reading Group, and this has been running successfully for four years.

The "Friends of Balderstone Library", are a group of people who voluntarily give their time to hold regular events in the Library, e.g.flower arranging, hanging basket demonstrations, watercolour sessions, wildlife talks etc. These are always well attended, and provide support for the Library.

We recently ran a free six week course on "Tracing your Ancestors". This course is run by a local lady who is also a borrower, and is very interesting and highly entertaining! Due to popular demand, we are hoping to repeat this course.

So please feel free to come and visit us, and see the warm friendly atmosphere for yourself. We look forward to seeing you!

World Music in our libraries

We've just expanded our World Music Collection with a new range of CDs covering a wide range of music from Irish folk to Congolese Soukous; Brazilian hip-hop to Bollywood; yodelling to salsa.

The extended collection also includes The Rough Guide To The Music Of... series and Rough Guides to different styles of World Music. If you want to get a flavour of some of this music we have a selection loaded onto a listening post in the Wheatsheaf Library.

World Music Collection CDs are available in Castleton, Middleton, Norden and the Wheatsheaf libraries. When Heywood Library reopens next year it, too, will have CDs from this collection.

They are available for loan to anybody over the age of 14, costing 50p for a three-week loan (25p for Passport To Leisure card holders).

Christmas at the library

Opening times

All of our libraries will be closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. They will be closing at 4pm on Christmas Eve.

Belfield Library will also be closed on Saturday 29th December.

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Web Catalogue links:

Christmas cookery

Music for Christmas

Christmas crafts

Christmas carols

Darnhill Festival — Past, Presence and Future

Ann and the staff at Darnhill Library are working full-tilt to support the latest Darnhill Festival, which takes place on Monday 17th December.

If it's a nice day on Monday and you visit the library you'll see the Poetree — poems will be hung from its branches — and an exhibition of the work that's been done with some of the artists from Cartwheel Arts. If it's not a nice day the library will be hosting some of the other events, too.

We're definitely looking forward to the unveiling of The Father Christmas of the Future by Year 2 of St. Margaret's School!

Kids' Christmas

We've updated the Christmas material on our "Kids' stuff in Rochdale Libraries" blog.

The new entries include jokes and riddles; Christmas crafts links and some information about Christmas customs.

Children's stories about Christmas

Poetry to smile about

There were lots of smiling faces at Littleborough Library's children's poetry workshop. The workshop was organised by members of Littleborough Poetry Group who encouraged the children to write about things that made them happy.

The children produced some great work. Shabana will be putting some of them up on display for everyone to enjoy.

Many thanks to everyone who helped make this a success.

Cinderella Competition

You could be the lucky winner of free tickets to see "Cinderella!"

18 winners of the Library Service's Christmas Colouring Competition will be presented with family tickets for an evening performance of the pantomime at the Gracie Fields Theatre on Thursday 3rd January 2008. Family tickets allow entry for up to two adults and two children.

Colouring Competition entry forms are available from any of our libraries.

Please note:

• The closing date for entry is Saturday 22nd December.


• Please make sure that you put your telephone number on the form so that we can get in touch with you!

Many thanks to Meredith Productions for the donation of the tickets.

Winning Reads

We've added this year's William Hill Sports Book of the Year longlist to our Web Catalogue. This year's winner is "Provided You Don't Kiss Me: 20 Years With Brian Clough" by Duncan Hamilton.

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Elsewhere in the Web Catalogue, we've updated the Quick Reads list and Authors of the Month.

Children In Need

Spotland Library raised £97 for Children In Need with a combination of competitions, fun and frolics and sales of works from the craft group that meets in the library.

Many thanks to all involved!

Wheatsheaf Library reopens

The Wheatsheaf Library reopened on schedule on Wednesday 28th November. Regular visitors will notice that as well as recarpeting all the floors of the library we have made substantial changes to the layout of the lending and reference floors. If you're not a regular visitor to the library we're more than happy for you to come in and have a look round. Customer feedback so far has been very positive — we welcome all customer comments, constructive criticism as well as praise, so please feel free to let us know what you think.

Many thanks to everybody who worked so hard to get everything ready on time and contributed ideas for improvements.

Pure Passion: Christina Jones

Castleton Library was the venue for a very successful "meet the author" event featuring novelist Christina Jones on Wednesday November 14th.

Many thanks to everyone who turned up to the event and joined in the question and answer session. Thanks also to Janice and Bev for making such a good job of all the arrangements.

Christina is currently at the top of a regional vote to find readers favourite romantic novelist, thanks to her latest book, ‘Love Potions.’ Her writing has been published in many magazines including ‘Take a Break’ and ‘Company’. She had her own monthly humour column in the Oxford Times for six years, and now broadcasts regularly on radio and television.

Christina’s appearance was part of ‘Pure Passion’, a promotion of 20 of the best contemporary romantic novels available to borrow from public libraries in the borough. You can vote for your favourite reads online and make your own recommendations.

Alternatively, you can complete a ‘Pure Passions’ postcard at any library. The region’s most popular will be announced in time for Valentine’s Day 2008.

Children's Plus Survey: headline results

A quick summary of the Children's Plus Survey results, which are mostly very encouraging.

Children were asked whether they thought that the library overall was ‘good’, ‘OK’ or ‘bad’. The standard is that 77% should state that the library is ‘good’.

• 89% stated that the library overall is good.
• The highest results, discounting those libraries that had less than 10 questionnaires completed, were Norden and Wardle libraries, with 97%.

Who do children visit the library with?

• The majority visited with ‘someone from my family’ (58%)
• A good proportion visited with their school, nursery or playgroup (23%)
• A proportionally larger of respondents at Langley, Junction, Smallbridge and Wardle libraries visited the library on their own (over 16-23%). This was very different to the remaining libraries (where this tended to be less than 10%).

Why do children visit the library?

• The most popular activities were ‘borrowing things’ (66%) or ‘reading’ (41%).
• Also popular were ‘using computers’ (34%) or ‘looking around’.
• ‘Playing with toys’ was popular at Darnhill Library (35%) and Balderstone Library (47%).
• Belfield, Langley and Wardle had very high proportions of children visiting to use computers (all over 50%).
• Doing homework was a key reason for visiting Wardle Library (39%).

Why do children borrow books?

Children were asked why they like borrowing books from the library (applies to those who stated that they visit to borrow books).

• The majority ticked that they ‘like reading’ (68%), that ‘the library has good books’ (44%) or that they ‘want to get better at reading’ (39%).
• At Belfield, 57% ticked that they wanted to read books to help with their homework - much higher than elsewhere.

What do children think of our books?

• 86% thought our books are good
• 13% OK
• 1% bad

What do children think of homework help?

• 67% thought homework help was good
• 30% OK
• 3% bad

Compared to how children responded to the similar question for books and computers (below), this is a disappointingly low result.

Use of computers in libraries

Children were asked where they use computers (they could tick more than one option).

• The majority use computers at home (72%) or at school/nursery/playgroup (60%).
• 42% use computers at the library.
• Smithybridge, Norden and Alkrington had a low response rate for those using computers in the library (between 15-20%).

Why do children use computers?
Children were asked what they use the computers for in the library (applies to those who stated they visit the library to use computers).

• The majority use them for playing games (65%)
• 53% use them for homework.
• 54% use them for looking at websites.

What do children think of our computers?

• 83% think they are good
• 16% OK
• 1% bad

The number of respondents ticking ‘good’ was quite low at Alkrington and Belfield (less than 70%).

Participation in activities

Children were asked if they had been to the library for activities such as reading groups, events etc. They could tick more than one option (including ‘none of these’).

• 47% had not attended any event.
• 26% had attended an under 5s event, and 26% a holiday activity.
• 17% had attended a ‘book or reading activity’, 9% an ‘after-school activity’ and 6% ‘to take part in a reading group’.
• 44% of children at Norden, 49% at Alkrington and 41% at Smithybridge said that they had attended an under-5s activity - a much greater proportion than other libraries.
• Nearly 50% of respondents at Darnhill had attended a holiday activity - again a much greater proportion than other libraries.

Children’s perception of libraries

Children were asked if they thought the library was ‘a friendly place’, ‘a safe place’, ‘easy to get to’, etc. In general, all libraries scored highly in each of the perception questions apart from ‘open when I want’.

• 100% of Castleton, Langley, Spotland and Wardle respondents thought the library was a ‘safe place’.
• However, only 85% of respondents at Castleton thought the library was ‘easy to get to’ - lower than other libraries.
• Some libraries scored low on ‘open when I want’ (50-60%). These were Alkrington, Smallbridge and Wardle.

The impact of libraries on children

• 66% said that use of libraries had helped them to read better.
• 53% said that it helped them to ‘learn and find things out’ - this was particularly high at Belfield (69%).
• 47% said that it helped them to do better at school - and this was very high at Belfield and Norden.
• 38% said that it helped them to ‘join in and try new things’.
• 32% said that it helped them to use computers, and 24% to ‘make new friends’.
• At Balderstone, Belfield and Darnhill, 40-50% of children said that they made new friends in the library.

Age, gender, ethnicity

• 56% of respondents were girls, 44% boys.
• The largest split in gender was at Spotland, where 70% were girls, 30% boys.
• The majority of respondents were aged 5-10 (54%)
• 80% identified themselves as white, 20% Asian, black, ‘mixed’ or ‘other’.
• Belfield and Smallbridge had the largest proportion of respondents from ethnic minority groups - both over 40%.

Library Tree Party

Balderstone Library's Tree parties were held on 7th and 9th November as part of the Breathing Places campaign.

Twenty-seven adults and thirty-two children attended the two sessions.

The under 5's event included stories, craft and a nature trail.

The Library tree (a beautiful thick card 3D tree from the BBC) has now been decorated with children's art work from the event.

Books on Prescription

The Books on Prescription launch on Wednesday went extremely well with the scheme being introduced to a capacity audience.

Our first customer visited us this lunchtime. We hope that this will become a popular and useful service in the Borough.

Many of the titles in the Books on Prescription Collection are self-help books which many people will find useful. With this in mind there are copies in the Adult Non-fiction Collections of some of our libraries. These titles, plus a selection of other self-help books in the Non-Fiction Collection, are listed in "Prescribe Yourself A Book" on the Web Catalogue.

Thwarted!

Here's how Fate can play hob with the best laid plans of library events...

Justine at Wardle Library arranged for some firemen to come to the library to give a talk about fire safety and a tour of a fire engine. She was warned beforehand that it's a working engine so there's always the danger of an emergency call-out but it should be OK...

• The engine was late coming to the library: they were on their way well in good time when they got a call-out to an emergency (it zoomed past Zillah, one of our Community Librarians, as she was driving in from the Wheatsheaf Library).


• Next time they came they got as far as the top of Birch Road, within sight of the library, when they got another call-out and had to turn round and rush off.


• The third time they managed to park the engine in the car park and unload the goodies and fire safety information before they had to rush off to yet another emergency.

Obviously one of those days!

The children who came to the event got some fire brigade goodies, a pile of stories from Zillah, and a wave from the departing firemen. All of which is pretty neat, but not as much fun as getting to have a close look at a fire engine, so Justine's going to try and reschedule the event some time when there's not so many bonfires and fireworks and stuff.

Thanks to everyone who turned up and participated in the event. And thanks to the firemen for trying their best, we appreciate they're a busy emergency service and we're grateful for their help with events.

(Besides, it gives Justine the opportunity to chat up some firemen! )

Authors of the Month

We've just updated the "Authors of the Month" feature on our Web Catalogue. This is a list of the authors featured in some of our libraries, click on any entry in the list and you'll see which of their books with got in our libraries. If you then click on any particular title you'll see which libraries have copies and whether or not any are available.

If you're a member of our libraries and have your barcode and PIN to hand you can reserve a copy to be picked up at your nearest convenient library. This is a free service to our customers. If you don't have a PIN, next time you call into the library please ask for one to be set up for you.

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Not all of our libraries run "Author of the Month" features. Some prefer to run features celebrating particular genres or subject areas. Others prefer to run features that cut across genres and collections, including both fiction and non-fiction. These last can be particularly difficult to turn into searches that can be build into the Catalogue, the Love Stories list in "Themed Reads" being one of the few examples we've done so far. (As its name suggests, it's also the easiest!) Every so often we'll include one of these wider-ranging features in the Blog o'Reading.

What Makes You Happy

Littleborough Poetry Group is having a workshop for children called "What Makes You Happy" at Littleborough Library from 2.30pm — 3.30pm on Monday 29th October.

The workshop's suitable for children aged 7 or over.

If you're interested, please ring the library — (01706) 378219 — to reserve a place.

Heywood and Wheatsheaf Libraries — temporary closures

The Wheatsheaf Library will be closed for re-carpeting from Wednesday 7th November 2007 for approximately 3 weeks.

Books and other items on loan can be returned to the Special Services unit which is situated opposite the main Library entrance in the Wheatsheaf Centre.

Heywood Library will be closed from Monday 12th November 2007 for approximately six months for extensive refurbishment works.

Some of the stock from Heywood Library, notably Best sellers and Graphic Novels, are being temporarily transferred to Darnhill Library, which will have a temporary extension to its opening hours.:

Darnhill Library opening hours from 12th November 2007:

Monday	9.30-1	2-7.30pm
Tuesday	9.30-1	2-5.30pm
Wednesday	9.30-12.30pm
Thursday	9.30-1	2-5.30pm
Friday	9.30-1	2-5.30pm
Saturday	9.30-1	2-4pm

Your custom is still welcome!

Items issued at Heywood and the Wheatsheaf in the run up to the closures have extended loan periods so that they are not due back until the libraries are expected to re-open. Fines are not incurred on days when libraries are closed.

Borrowers from Heywood and the Wheatsheaf Libraries are welcome in all libraries in the Borough. Your barcoded library card lets you borrow or reserve items from any of our libraries.

We apologise to our customers for any inconvenience.

Masquerade!

Half term week
Monday 29th October to Saturday 3rd November

Make a mask at your local library

What’s available?
Here’s a clue!
Witch pumpkin the cat make the wolf owl with?

Call in any time during usual library hours

Pure Passion: Christina Jones

Award-winning romantic comedy author Christina Jones is coming to Castleton Library on Wednesday 14th Nov as part of Time To Read's Pure Passion promotion.

She is currently leading the voting as the favourite romantic author with her latest novel ‘Love Potions.’ You can cast your vote online by clicking on the Pure Passion logo above.

Admission is free. Everyone is welcome!

"Pure Passion" titles in our libraries.

NewsBank

We're adding to our portfolio of online reference resources.

The latest addition is NewsBank, which includes full-text information; hot topics and special reports using newspapers from both the UK and around the world. This provides support to students and researchers needing information about current affairs.

You'll need your library barcode to log onto this site. Joining the library is free: call in at any of our libraries to join (and if you've joined one, you've joined 'em all).

Books on Prescription

We've been working with Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Primary Care Trust to set up a "Books on Prescription" service to provide help for people with emotional or psychological problems including stress, eating disorders, depression and bereavement, to be launched next month.

"Books on Prescription" is a health scheme used successfully in other parts of the UK that we hope will come to be used by all GP surgeries in the Borough. It provides a collection of "self help" books that doctors and health professionals can prescribe to their patients to help as part of the recovery process. Once somebody's been given a prescription they can come to any of our libraries and we'll lend them a copy of that book. All loans on the "Books on Prescription" scheme will be confidential.

Items in the Books on Prescription Collection are only available via prescription, though there may be other copies of these titles available in the Adult Lending collections.

The scheme will be launched on Wednesday 7 November at the Manchester Golf Club in Middleton.

Co-operative history

The Rochdale area is famous for its historic links with the co-operative movement, including the Rochdale Pioneers and the formation of the Co-operative Wholesale Society.

We put a lot of material on the Co-operative Movement onto the old version of the Rochdale Council web site as part of our New Opportunities Fund funded digitisation project.

That material has now been successfully migrated to the Leisure Trust's Link4Life web site, which houses Rochdale's Local Studies pages.

The Local Studies Portal now includes a section providing detailed links to these pages as well as preset searches of the Library Catalogue for materials in the Co-operative Collection and the Local Studies collections and a selection of preset searches of the Newspaper Index.

The Co-operative Collection

Rochdale was the birthplace of the Co-operative Movement, and home of the Rochdale pioneers. The Wheatsheaf Library has a collection of material on the subject of co-operation.

The collection holds nearly 1,500 items, published from 1829 to date, relating to co-operation both in the UK and internationally. There are books; pamphlets; yearbooks; bound volumes of newscuttings; and also the weekly paper "Co-operative News." Material charts the birth of the Co-operative Movement in Rochdale and the history and development of co-operative societies around the world to the present day

A small number of the books may be available for loan for a short period, if there are duplicate copies. Otherwise, the material is available for use in the reference library only.

Branch library spotlight: Alkrington Library

Every so often we will feature one of our libraries or services in this blog to give you a bit more detail about what we're doing for our local communities. This time we've asked Alkrington Library to tell us a bit about themselves.

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Access information

The library is situated in the Mainway Shopping Precinct. There is a large free car park, including disabled parking bays close to the library entrance. The library is a single-storey building with ramped access and automatic outer doors.

People with limited mobility may require some assistance with the inner doors but staff are on hand to help.

Reading

In addition to a wide-range of non-fiction titles and popular authors, the library also offers frequently changing feature collections, introducing a greater choice and variety; “Author of the Month” displays; a “Quick Choice” selection for those in a hurry; books in large print; and a small selection of books on audio tape.

A varied selection of ex-library stock is always available at very reasonable prices. Pop in and pick up a bargain.

Please ask our friendly library staff for details about services for housebound customers and those with special needs.

Any title on the library catalogue can be reserved free of charge from the Web Catalogue, in person or over the phone.

A reading group meets in the library on Friday afternoons once a month to discuss a chosen book.

The library hosts occasional reading events throughout the year for both adults and young people.

Children and young people

The library has a spacious children’s area with plenty of room for homework and study. The book train, loaded with picture books is a favourite with the under 5s.

All ages, from tinies to teens are well catered for, starting with board books for babies and progressing through to full-length novels and information books for young readers of all ages. Story packs, offering a picture book and accompanying audio tape, can be borrowed free of charge. A special parent and carers’ collection offers a range of help and advice on topics related to the early years.

A popular under 5s’ storytime, which includes a simple craft activity, takes place every week during school term times. All young children and their parents and carers are welcome. Please ask staff for details.

Young library members wishing to use our free, filtered Internet access for fun, homework, word-processing and e-mails, can join the Young Surfers’ Club. Please ask staff for an application form.

Look out for free fun events throughout the school holidays, including the annual Summer Reading Game.

Local schools, nurseries and playgroups are very welcome to visit by prior arrangement.

Learning

In addition to a wide non-fiction stock, the library offers a small reference section.

There is free internet access, even if you are not a library member (although, of course, we would love you to join!) Colour printing is available at a small charge.

The library hosts occasional free computer-based events such as “Silver Surfer” sessions and help with family history on the web.

Community

The library has a good selection of leaflets detailing local events and places to visit, plus a community noticeboard.

A black and white photocopier is available for A4 and A3 copying.

A small display case contains items of local interest from Rochdale Museum Service.

Directions from the M62

• Leave the motorway at Junction 18 (M66).
• Take M66 towards Manchester/Middleton.
• At the end of the motorway turn right — the second exit on the roundabout onto a dual carriageway — use inside lane.
• Turn left at the second set of traffic lights (A6104) on to Victoria Avenue.
• After approx. 1 mile turn left – major traffic lights – towards Middleton.
• Take third turning on the right onto Mainway (dual carriageway). At the top of Mainway turn left then right onto a small shopping centre car park.
• The library is on the left of the shopping mall.
• For more information please contact the library directly.

Contact details

Alkrington Library
Kirkway
Middleton M24 1LW

Email: Alkrington.Library@Rochdale.gov.uk
Tel: 0161 643 7799

Opening times

Monday 9.30am-1pm, 2pm-7.30pm
Tuesday closed
Wednesday closed
Thursday 9.30am-1pm, 2pm-5.30pm
Friday 9.30am-1pm, 2pm-5.30pm
Saturday 9.30am-12.30pm

Building works update

Balderstone Library

It will take longer to complete the building work at Balderstone Library than was planned. We have had to extend the closed period to 22nd October.

Some loans will be due back during this period; we have set the circulation system so that closed days are not taken into consideration for fines and charges, so please do not worry about not being able to return items by these due dates. The Library Service would like to apologise to all customers for this unavoidable delay.


Smallbridge Library

Toilet facilities for disabled people are now being installed at Smallbridge Library. The work does not require the library's being closed but there may be some occasional disruption to the library in the process. The Library Service would like to apologise to all customers for any inconvenience.

Firemen at Wardle Library

Firemen from Rochdale Fire Service are coming to Wardle Library to give a fire safety talk and a tour of a fire engine.

Tuesday 30th October
2.30pm – 3.30pm

Places are limited so please telephone the library on 01706 377476 to book a place.

Big Wild Read

Ray Stearn is our Children's Services Manager. Amongst his many tasks is the co-ordination of and reporting back on the summer reading game. From his first look at the rough figures we have increased those starting The Big Wild Read by 18% and the figures for those finishing is up by 2%. (All the starters' cards aren't back in yet to double-check all the figures so we're not audit-proof yet.)

We had about 36% of the children finishing, which is below our target but getting nearly seventeen hundred children involved and reading something over the summer holidays isn't to be sniffed at.

Once the figures are confirmed he'll see how they relate to the promotional work we did at schools just before the holidays. It'll be useful to see if visiting a school to talk about the summer reading game leads to an increase in participation.

Elsewhere

Sixteen budding authors enjoyed a free short story workshop at Wheatsheaf Library in Rochdale on Saturday. Frode Grytten, one of Norway's most respected authors and Dinesh Allirajah a founder member of the North West writing group 'Asian Voices, Asian Lives' read some of their most popular work and shared their literary experiences.

The workshop dealt with different approaches to the "small town" story and provided a forum for debate on what makes a great story and enable participants to share Dinesh and Frode's wealth of writing experience.

A "simultaneous translation" reading was a particularly popular feature of the event. Frode read his story in the original Norwegian with an English translation scrolling on a screen behind him. This let the audiences experience the cadences of the original writing whilst still being able to follow the story.

Frode has published five short story collections, two children's books, a poetry collection and a travelogue. Dinesh has performed at venues all over Europe with his short story collection 'A Manner of Speaking' recently published by Spike Books. (More about the writers)

Eighteen people attended the readings of the results of the workshop, which were enthusiastically received.

Many thanks to everybody involved in the event.

National Poetry Day

Today's National Poetry Day, with this year's theme being dreams.

Do you have a favourite poem on this theme? Please use the "Comment" function on this blog to let us know about it. Rather despite myself my favourite poet remains the bard and tragedian William McGonagall but I'm blessed if I can recall any of his poems on this theme.

Anthologies of English poetry in our libraries.

Customer service award

Congratulations to Sharon Roddy who runs the Doorstep Library Service for housebound people. Sharon is one of the winners of Rochdale Council's awards for excellent customer service as part of National Customer Service Week.

Sharon accepted her award at the ceremony this lunchtime: a certificate and a rather nice clock.

Biggest Coffee Morning

Jennifer Harris tells us that Smithybridge Library's contribution to the World's Biggest Coffee Morning last weekend netted £176.50 for the MacMillan Nurses.

Many thanks to everyone who contributed something towards this.

Children's Book Week

It's Children's Book Week, the annual celebration of reading for pleasure organised by Booktrust. This year's theme is the environment, which follows on nicely from the Big Wild Read and complements other activities we've been involved in such as LEAF and the BBC's Breathing Places campaign.

If you or your children don't already have a favourite book or story about the environment, or if you want to try something new, our Big Wild Read and Little Wild Read lists might give you a few ideas.

Balderstone Library

Balderstone Library is closed from today for building work: toilet facilities for disabled people are being installed. The library will re-open on 15th October. We apologise for any inconvenience this will cause.

If you are a member of Balderstone Library you're a member of all the libraries in the Borough; your library card will let you borrow items from any of them. You can also use the Web Catalogue to browse our stock, reserve items and renew your loans.

Darnhill disappointment

Disappointing news: our Big Lottery Funding bid for the creation of a new library and learning centre co-located with the clinic and a children's centre has been unsuccessful. By definition a bid process offers no guarantees of success but it still hurts to fail.

What next? Well, we still need to modernise Darnhill Library and we still want to work in partnership with other organisations in the community. We'll be keeping an eye out for opportunities to put some, at least, of the ideas into action in the future, albeit probably on a less ambitious scale. We'll also be reviewing our bid to see what we can learn from the experience that might help our chances in future.

Newspaper Index update

The Newspaper Index is a catalogue of newspaper cuttings and articles held on microfilm in our local studies collections. The Index started as a project in Middleton Library in the 1980s; in the late 1990s we started transferring the data in the old card index to the searchable database that's part of the Community Resources Module of our Dynix library management system. As part of the NOF-funded digitisation project we worked on with Local Studies a few years ago we expanded the remit of the Index to include material from across the Borough and to make a special effort to get most of the original work online. At the moment there are just over eighty thousand entries. There is still a considerable way to go (especially as more articles are being added to the Local Studies collections every week).

The Newspaper Index is available online as part of our Web Catalogue. We've just updated some of the pre-set searches on the "Themes" page. This includes a new list of locality-based searches. These are searches for articles about places around the Borough (as opposed to articles that just mention locations in their text). It's early days yet for parts of the Borough as we're still catching up with 150 years or more of material.

If you're interested in seeing some of the other material derived from the digitisation project, have a look at the Link4Life web site.

Richard & Judy

A few weeks back we were one of the library authorities contacted by somebody from "Richard & Judy" to see if we'd be interested in getting one of our children's book clubs involved in the programme's children's reading promotion. Sadly, in the end the groups we suggested weren't able to get involved but it was nice to be asked and it certainly generated a bit of interest!

Rochdale Readers children's book club has decided to "shadow" the Richard & Judy Book Club by reading and getting back together to discuss the titles in the list. If you want to try it yourself the list's on our Kids' Portal.

European Day of Languages

Today is the European Day of Languages, a Council of Europe initiative, is held annually on the 26 September to celebrate language and cultural diversity.

We hold a wide range of books and audio materials to support people of all ages learning, or brushing up on, languages, European and Asian. We also have literature in foreign languages in our non-fiction collections and also in our Around The World Collection and, of course, the Bengali and Urdu Collections.

And let's not forget British Sign Language and Fingerspelling! (October 1st is the beginning of Learn to Sign Week)

World Heart Day

World Heart Day takes place on Sunday 30 September. It began in 1999 in an effort to create awareness and educate the public about preventative measures to reduce cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Healthy living titles in our libraries include books on preventing heart disease; modifying your diet to reduce the risk of heart disease; and giving up smoking, which can be a major factor in heart disease.

Booktime for children!

Children who started school in Rochdale, Heywood and Middleton this September will shortly receive a free illustrated book - Puffin’s popular children’s classic "Funnybones" by Janet and Allan Ahlberg.

The move is part of a programme known as Booktime, which is designed to promote the pleasure of reading and encourage parents and carers to read aloud with their children. In all, 700,000 pupils across the UK will take part.

This year’s Booktime book pack will contain a copy of "Funnybones" and a guidance booklet for parents and carers on the benefits of shared reading. Every primary school and library in England will receive a free resource pack to coincide with the hand-out of the Booktime book packs to pupils by their class teacher. The packs will be delivered by the library service to schools over the next few weeks.

Cabinet member for children, schools and families, Councillor Irene Davidson said:

"If we can encourage our children to foster a love of reading then we are setting them up for a bright future. Booktime is a fantastic idea and shows that books don’t have to be serious. It doesn’t matter what sort of books you read with your child – it’s the fact that you do it at all that counts."

About Booktime

Booktime was launched in October 2006 by education and publishing company Pearson in association with independent charity Booktrust.

Last year over 270,000 children in 7,500 UK schools received a Booktime book pack with the help of library services. This year, with the support of the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF, formerly the Department for Education and Skills), every reception child in England will receive a free book pack when they start school.

In addition, at least half of all children aged four to five in the rest of the UK will receive book packs during the academic year 2007/08.

More free resources

Resources, including activity sheets, session ideas, a short Booktime film, and a podcast of the author Allan Ahlberg will also be available to download via the Booktime website.

New books

In an average month we add just over 4,000 books to our lending libary stock. These range from board books and picture books for young children to horror stories and science-fiction titles to large-print editions of prize-winning fiction and biographies. We also add a few hundred non-book items each month, including talking books; CDs; story sacks; and subtitled videos for deaf people.

You can see new stock on the Web Catalogue: items that have just arrived and are being checked and invoiced have the status "Available soon." (Items that have been ordered but not yet received have the status "On order"). Once they've arrived at the library they're checked in and have the status "In." You can reserve any lending items with any of these statuses. Please bear in mind, though, that items on order may be subject to publishers' or suppliers' delays — some titles are ordered before they are written (Harry Potter, for instance).

Many of our libraries display the titles of forthcoming new stock. We also have the online equivalent in our Web Catalogue and Kids' Portal. I update these roughly every three weeks, adding a selection of new titles from one of our libraries (a different one each time, to spread the coverage). I try to include titles from as wide a range of our collections as possible, though trying to select a few dozen titles from a couple of thousand makes this easier said than done!

Big Wild Read

Saturday saw the end of The Big Wild Read, this year's national summer reading game for children.

Ray, the Children's Services Manager, is now frantically collecting together all the "finishers' cards" so that the children's certificates can be sent out as soon as possible. Certificates will be presented to children at school or in the library, depending on the choice they made when they completed the game.

Many thanks to everybody involved. We hope it was fun.

Next year's game will probably be on a sporting theme.

Building works update

More news on the works that are going to be done in some of our libraries this autumn.

Work will be delayed slightly at Heywood Library. The delay is because of some good news: there are plans for some development in Heywood Town Centre which will definitely involve the library in some way. Details are currently being finalised so we aren't sure precisely how the library fits into the plans so we've decided to hang fire until details are available. We want to avoid going through the expense and disruption of getting work done in the short term that will have to be undone, or which becomes redundant, in a year or so's time. Once these plans have been finalised we'll be able to see what modifications, if any, we have to make to the library's refurbishment plan and, if necessary, get listed building consent for the work to be done. Realistically, the work will be beginning in late autumn rather than at the end of next month as hoped.

The work at Balderstone and Spotland libraries will be going ahead next month as planned. We will also be doing some work on the accessibility of Alkrington Library later this autumn, dates to be confirmed. At this stage we don't know whether or not we will need to close Alkrington Library while the work is going on.

An online milestone

Some time between midnight and 9 o'clock this morning we had our 200,000th online renewal on our Web Catalogue.

The Catalogue went live in June 2005 and has proved to be a useful tool for encouraging use of our services and stock. We are definitely seeing its impact in our branch libraries which seem to be benefiting by their customers' being able to browse online when the libraries are closed.

Booked up

Year 7 pupils across the borough are being given the chance to get their hands on free books as part of a national campaign to promote reading for pleasure.

Booked Up is a new national initiative designed to encourage 11 and 12 year olds to read more regularly.

It is being run at schools throughout the borough and is organised jointly by the Reading Agency and Booktrust with support from the Department for Education and Skills. All schools in the borough have signed up to the scheme whereby year 7 pupils will each get the chance to choose a free book from a list of twelve specially selected titles.

Libraries in the borough are also supporting Booked Up by making sure the 12 books are available so that youngsters can try all of them before picking their favourite.

Cabinet member for Children, Schools and Families, Councillor Irene Davidson said:

"This scheme builds on the success of Bookstart where very young children are provided with free books to enjoy. Anything that inspires children to read can only be a good thing and I am delighted that our schools and libraries are giving youngsters in the borough the opportunity to take advantage of this free offer. Copies of all of the 12 books are available at libraries across the borough and are well worth a look before deciding which one to go for."

More information on the scheme

For more details about the booked up scheme, please contact your nearest local library; alternatively, if your child is in year 7, please ask at his or her school.

Wordcount

This is a bit of fun, but such a nice coincidence it's worth recording.

Wordcount is a site that tracks the use of words in the English language, showing their frequency of use as a sort of visual barometer. A lot of the point of the site is the creation of serendipitous links between words in the list. Sometimes the effect is funny, sometimes it's rather inspiring: looking for "library" I found it nestling in the company of "lived," "fit," "progress" and "believed." If you can judge a word by the company it keeps then library's doing all right.

Show-stoppers

One of the advantages of working near the Bibliographical Services Team is that I get to see a lot of the incoming stock before it goes out to our libraries. Bibs. are the very small team who do the ordering, receipt and invoicing of all our stock as well as the chasing up, sorting out and tidying up. It can be hard work for them but the up side is their bumping into the occasional book that takes their breath away.

This week's stunner has definitely been Mummy? by Maurice Sendak. It's another of his wonderful pop-up books (which, sadly, tend not to have a long shelf-life in the children's library), the story being a toddler's search for his mummy in a haunted house suitably populated by movie monsters. It is great fun. They've been bought for three of the Storytime Collections to be used in Under-5s Story Times.

Number-crunching

One of my jobs is to keep track of the usage statistics for the Web Catalogue. They're gratifyingly high, a consoling thought given the work we've put into it. These days we're averaging twenty-two thousand searches per month and ten thousand online renewals. I've just noticed that we're approaching another milestone: some time towards the end of next week we should be hitting our 200,000th online renewal, which isn't bad given that it only went live in June 2005.

Good news with online reservations, too: up to the beginning of February we charged for reservations and we'd get a couple of hundred in a busy month. Since then they've been free. The past three months have averaged just under seven hundred. It looks like people are doing an online browse, selecting items that are on the shelves in the library, to be picked up when it's convenient: getting on for two-thirds of our reservations are being filled within a week.

In touch...

In touch... is the free quarterly newsletter that the Doorstep Library Service (formerly the Housebound Library Service) delivers to its customers to help them keep in touch with the Library Service and with each other.

In touch... includes stories, jokes, anecdotes, poems and book reviews contributed by customers of the Doorstep Library Service. It also includes anecdotes and autobiographical notes contributed by the staff in the Special Services Team.

Summer's edition, which is just being delivered, includes:

• an admission by Les the Mobile Library Driver/Assistant that he enjoys going to Old Trafford to watch football;
• some poems celebrating being of a certain age;
• a reader's childhood memories; and
• a version of Sharon's narrowboat holiday that somehow doesn't mention Bailey's Irish Cream!

Autumn's issue will include more staff biographies; Milnrow ladies' poetry; book reviews; and Margaret's Borneo adventure.

For more information about the Doorstep Service for housebound people, please contact:

Doorstep Library Service
Wheatsheaf Library
Baillie Street, Rochdale OL16 1JZ
Tel: 01706 924917

Picture Book Parade

We have thousands of picture books for younger readers in our libraries. The story books include many favourite characters including Postman Pat, Kipper and Maisie. There are also lots of books telling stories in rhyme, which are great fun for reading and sharing (there's some brilliant bedtime reading amongst them!) And many of the books are introductions to the world around us, involving colours and shapes, animals and machines, and people of course!

We've listed a few of these titles in our Picture Book Parade. If you want to find more picture books, follow the links in the authors' names or the series. And you can see far, far more in any of our libraries!

Building works

Services at some of our libraries will be disrupted this autumn due to essential building work:

Balderstone Library will be closed for two weeks from Monday 1st October 2007 while toilet facilities for disabled people are being installed. This will require the temporary removal of the counter and the relocation of the Library Online PCs elsewhere within the building. The library will re-open for business on Monday 15th October.

Heywood Library will be closed from Monday 15th October 2007 for major building work following on from the repairs to the roof earlier this year. The library will re-open in the early Spring of 2008.

We apologise for the inconvenience this will cause to our customers. Please note that all our customers are welcome in any of our libraries. If you've joined any of our libraries your card will let you borrow or reserve items anywhere in the Borough.