Reading and books news digest

National Poetry Day

Thursday 8 October 2009 is National Poetry Day, with this year's theme being "Heroes and Heroines."

TS Eliot has been voted the UK's favourite poet.

National Poetry Day web site - the official web site hosted by the Poetry Society

T.S. Eliot's work in our libraries

Man Booker 2009

Hilary Mantel has won this year's Man Booker Prize with "Wolf Hall," set in the world of Henry VIII’s notorious chief minister Thomas Cromwell. We have got copies of "Wolf Hall" in stock in both the Adult Fiction and Best Sellers collections. You might also want to check out some of her other books!

Man Booker Prize web site - the official web site, including articles by short-listed authors

Hilary Mantel's books in our libraries

Meet the author: Sadie Jones

18 September 2009

Come and meet best-selling author Sadie Jones who will be talking about her new novel "Small Wars" at Heywood Library on Wednesday 30 September at 2pm.

Tickets are free, but booking is essential.
Tel: 01706 924941

• More details about this author.

Homelands

18 September 2009

A collection of stories and poems written in English, French and Portuguese by African people living in Rochdale. It's well worth a look:

• Homelands e-book (pdf format)

"Homelands" is published by Tell Us Another One at Cartwheel Arts in conjunction with NESTAC.

National Bookstart Day: Friday 9 October 2009

18 September 2009

Does your child or grandchild have a favourite rhyme? To celebrate National Bookstart Day 2009, there will be special nursery-rhyme themed storytimes for all children under 5 and their grown-ups in our libraries throughout the week. No need to book – just turn up.

Storytimes take place at the same time every week during school term times and everyone is welcome. Why not join the Bookstart Bookcrawl at the same time and make regular library visits even more exciting?

• Under-fives' activities in our libraries — including storytimes and Rhythm & Rhyme

National Bookstart Day web site

Black History Month

18 September 2009

Every October, for over thirty years, Black History Month has been celebrated across the UK. We will be celebrating Black History month with a range of events, displays and reading resources.

• Have you checked out these black writers based in the North West on Lancaster University's Moving Manchester project writers gallery?
  
  
  • Muli Amaye .
    
  • Pete Kalu .
    
  • Joe Pemberton .
    
  
  
• More North West based black writers for you to explore:
  
  
  
  • Segun Lee French .
    
  • Pauline Omoboye .
    
  • Levi Tafari .
    
  • Jackie Kay .

Black History Month web site — the official UK web site

Meet the author: Helen Tse

24 August 2009

On Monday 17 August, Alkrington Library was proud to welcome Helen Tse, local author of the phenomenally successful “Sweet Mandarin”

Helen Tse's books in our libraries

Storytelling course

Apologies to everybody who contacted us about the storytelling course. For reasons beyond our control we have had to postpone this programme. We hope to be able to reschedule it in the near future.

Riveting Reads

We had a very difficult time judging the "Riveting Reads" competition, part of Rochdale Libraries’ celebrations for World Book Day 2009. Young people across the borough were invited to tell us all about a favourite book and many of the resulting reviews were absolutely excellent.

Congratulations to Georgina Hulston who won the up to 11 age group and Tazmina Khatun who won the 12 to 16 age group. They each receive a £10 book token.

Highly commended were our runners-up, Beth Duxbury, Samuel Vain, Bridget Sutton, Jasmine Stott, Kurtis Tweedale and Danny Cheetham, who each receive a £5 book token.

• Here are their reviews.

Reading groups

If you love books and wish to share your experiences with other people why not come along to one of our many reading groups that are held in our libraries throughout the Rochdale borough. They are informal gatherings, which meet on a regular basis to talk about books of all genres and discuss their enthusiasm for reading. Each group is different; some may take a light hearted approach to reading while others are more highbrow and formal. There is something for everyone!

We also have writing groups and poetry groups for those who wish to branch out and participate in something a little more diverse.

Tired of struggling with small print?

You don't have to have "bad eyesight" to finding reading a chore: there are times when you want to read a book but your eyes really don't want to make much of an effort (especially if you have spent all day staring at a computer screen). Help is at hand: your local library has a wide selection of books in large print, including many titles in Amazon's best-selling list.

Here is a selection of some of the popular titles we currently have in our Large Print Collections:

New large print titles in our libraries

If you are a member of the library and have a PIN number you can use your library barcode and PIN to reserve a copy so that you can pick it up at your local library. If you are a member of the library and don't have a PIN, why not ask a member of staff to set one up for you next time you visit? You can use your barcode and PIN to log into the Catalogue so that you can renew your loans as well as place reservations.

The National Year of Reading becomes Reading For Life

2008 was The National Year of Reading, a celebration of words and reading in every form: from novels to song lyrics, from poetry to film scripts.

This year we are following up the National Year of Reading by joining in a new national literacy campaign called Reading For Life. The campaign, which will launch in Spring 2009, will build on the achievements of the National Year of Reading. The campaign will promote the importance of reading to social justice, and will be aimed at key target audiences such as black minority ethnic children, pre-school children, white working class boys and adult learners.

Reading For Life web site — news about the new programme

Read Up — teenagers have your say!

Riveting Reads

To celebrate World Book Day on Thursday 5th March, we ran a book review competition called “Riveting Reads” for children across the borough. There were 2 age groups, up to 11 and 12 to 16, and children were asked to write about one of their favourite books, explaining why they like it and why others should read it too.

We had a fantastic response, receiving over 250 entries, from children as young as 5, right up to 16. Entry forms were available to pick up in libraries or could be downloaded from the council’s website but the best form of publicity proved to be contacting primary and secondary schools via the school’s intranet. Some schools really went for it and obviously had whole classes writing reviews.

Were you ready for the Summer Reading Challenge?

This year's Summer Reading Challenge for children — "Team Read" — ran from July to September 2008. Hundreds of children joined in, reading lots of books and collecting their bronze, silver and gold medals along the way.

• Everybody who completed the Summer Reading Challenge will get a certificate.



• Don't worry if you didn't complete the Challenge, the important thing is that you had fun and enjoyed some great stories!

We launched this year's Summer Reading Challenge with two library sessions for schools with special guest performers:

• Tom Palmer at the Wheatsheaf Library on Tuesday 17 June; and



• Craig Bradley at Junction Community Library on Wednesday 18 June.

All primary schools in the Borough were invited to send four Year 5 children to the events as "ambassadors." They enjoyed quizzes or a performance poetry session and were each given a Team Read pack to show to the rest of the school.

Penalty shoot-out at the Wheatsheaf Library

After his talk about books and reading, Tom Palmer pitted schools against each other in an exciting 'Penalty Shoot-Out Quiz.' The reward for each correct answer was the opportunity to take a penalty kick against Ray 'The Cat' Stearn.

Poetry workout at Junction Library

Craig Bradley's physical brand of performance poetry - with the emphasis on performance - got the children involved in wordplay galore (can you see what is special about the word SWIMS ?) and quite a few leeks.

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Boys Into Books

We also took the opportunity to introduce teachers to "Boys Into Books," a collection of books aimed at boys in the 5—11 age group, available for loan to primary school classes.

• Boys Into Books website

Langley Festival

Langley Library is joining in the Festival with a week of events and activities, kicking off on Sunday 27 August 2008 when the Library joins in both the parade at 11am and the Fun Day at Furrow Sports Centre, which starts at 1pm.

Welcome to the Library!
Date: Monday 28 July 2008 Time: 6pm - 7.30pm
A chance to see the new library - and if you wish, join & take
out books

• Join in our 'booktalk' about popular author, Stephen King
• View photographs of past Langley Festivals (on display until end of August)
• Refreshments provided
• Pick out some booksale bargains

The Bug Box
Date: Tuesday 29 July 2008 Time: 2.30pm

• 'Bug Man' Roger Swailes will bring a selection of creatures to
  show to children aged 5 and over.

Blow away the Cobwebs
Date: Thursday 31 July 2008 Time: 10am - 12 noon

• Learn how to use the internet for family history.
• To book a place, ring the library or speak to a member of staff.

Rhythm and Rhyme
Date: Thursday 31 July 2008 Time: 2.30pm - 3.30pm

• All under fives and their mums and dads, grannies and grandads are welcome.
• Sing along to all your favourites.

Teenagers Internet Quiz
Date: Friday 1 August 2008 Time: 1.30pm - 5.30pm

• Book a 15 minute internet session and ask for a Quiz sheet.
• You could win a £15 Voucher for WH Smith's.
• Refreshments provided.

A day of poetry celebrating Friendship, Love and

Times: Workshop: 11am , Poetry reading: 2.30pm

Anjum Malik returns to Rochdale to read a selection of her wonderful poetry in both English and Urdu. For all you Rochdale writers, there will be a creative writing workshop with Anjum on the theme of Friendship, Love and Food. The workshop starts at 11am.

For more information and to book your free place for the workshop please contact the Reader Development Librarian at the Wheatsheaf Library on 01706 924941.

Meet the authors!

Date: Saturday 5 July 2008 Time: 2pm - 4pm

Everyone is welcome to come along and meet local author Pamela Hill, who will be at the Wheatsheaf Library on Saturday 5 July between 2pm and 4pm to talk about her new novel "A Sense of Belonging".

Date: Wednesday 30 July 2008 Time: 7pm - 9pm

Spotland Library is hosting an evening evening in the company of local author Shirley Wells from 7pm to 9pm on Wednesday 30 July. Shirley will be talking about her Lancashire-based crime novels featuring Jill Kennedy and DCI Max Trentham.

Both events are free. More details of these events are available from the Reader Development Librarian on 01706 924941

Memories of Langley

We are inviting local people to attend a ‘Morning of memories’ on Friday 29 February 2008 at the new Langley Library in partnership with Cartwheel Arts. The library, now part of the Langley Children’s Centre on Windemere Road is hosting the event to capture memories from those who have lived or worked in Langley over the years.

Maria Payne, one of our librarians working in Middleton Library, and Kim Haygarth from Cartwheel Arts will be happy to note your memories whilst you enjoy a cup of tea or coffee and a chat. Don't worry if your memory is less than perfect, we will have photographs to spark your recollections! Kim will also help put your memories into poetry or prose.

We are also asking for you to bring your photographs of life on the estate. Cartwheel Arts are producing a book around ‘Life on Langley’, so if you are a budding writer this is an opportunity to get your words in print, although everyone is welcome even to just listen and see the new library for yourself.

The ‘Morning of Memories’ is between 10am and 12noon on Friday 29 February 2008. Anyone not able to attend can write their memories and send to Langley Library, Windermere Road, Middleton, M24 3PY or to Kim by email.

More events planned!

The event is the first of many at the new Langley Library. On 3 March 2008 the monthly Reading Group will meet between 2pm and 3pm to discuss ‘Lancashire Legacy’ by local author Anna Jacobs. Complimentary copies of the book are available from the library, so collect yours from Langley library now!

The National Year of Reading

2008 is The National Year of Reading, a celebration of words and reading in every form: from novels to song lyrics, from poetry to film scripts.

From April to December events and activities linked to The National Year of Reading will have a monthly theme:

• April: Read all about it!
• May: Mind and body
• June: Reading escapes
• July: Rhythm and rhyme
• August: Read the game
• September: You are what you read
• October: Word of Mouth
• November: Screen reads
• December: Write the future

Look out for National Year of Reading events in a library near you!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Booked up

Booked Up is the new national programme which encourages Year 7 children to read for pleasure. This autumn every 11-year-old in England will be able to choose a free book from a list of 12 specially selected titles.

The Reading Agency is working in partnership with Booktrust to promote the Booked Up programme to public and school library services in England. The aim is to provide children with the opportunity to read all the Booked Up titles for free at their public library; to encourage and promote opportunities for joined-up working between public libraries, school library services and schools and to give positive library messages through the programme and its website.

To support this programme we've added more copies of the Booked Up titles to our library stock. You can check the Library Catalogue to see whether or not a copy's available at your local library.

Book Crossing on World Book Day: 1st March 2007

To celebrate World Book Day this year we joined in with the Book Crossing initiative, leaving books in public places throughout the Borough.

The idea behind Book Crossing is that people can find books they haven't seen before in places where someone might have the time and curiosity to pick them up and have a read.

• Find out more at the Book Crossing web site...


• Find out more about World Book Day