Archive for the ‘Adult Reading and Learning’ Category

5
Jul
2012

Something a bit different for fantasy fans

We recently had the pleasure of an evening with local author Rachael H. Dixon at City Library. She was promoting her new first novel ‘Slippery Souls’ – an urban fantasy set at the seaside in Sunray Bay, featuring a talking dog, werewolves and a vampire with OCD! Rachael read some extracts from her book then answered a number of questions from the audience. It was fascinating to hear how Rachael developed the concept and story line for her book. Some of her ideas evolve from the vivid dreams that she has! She is hoping to write another two books to complete the Sunray Bay trilogy. We hope to welcome Rachael back in the future. Reserve a copy of Slippery Souls online.

Chris
Library and Information Officer

Posted in Adult Reading and Learning, Author Events, Events, News | Comments Off

10
May
2012

What we did for World Book Night 2012

On 23 April, Newcastle Libraries celebrated World Book Night in style. This was a chance for us to share the joy of reading, both inside and outside of the library. Over one hundred staff and customers applied to be book givers, and we distributed a staggering 2400 FREE books across the city, double what we did last year.

As it was the date of Shakespeare’s birth (and death) we decided to kick start the programme with a book swap at the Theatre Royal while the unveiling of their statue ‘Mercutio’ took place. A total of one hundredbooks were given out within an hour!

Library staff, teenage ‘My Voice’ volunteers, members of our children’s reading group and our local councillor distributed books across the city centre, in coffee shops, bars and the Tyneside Cinema.

The celebration continued with a performance from Silver Linings which got the audience to dancing and singing in the atrium. The atmosphere was already buzzing when we welcomed our fabulous visiting author Adele Parks, who was excited to be involved with World Book Night, and did a fantastic ‘meet the author’ session. The audience were gripped with tales of Adele’s life and the inspiration behind her novels which included her latest title ‘About Last Night’. Our ‘My Voice’ volunteers excitedly interviewed Adele without any hesitation. Listen to this interview below.

 Standard Podcast [7:14m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We also involved talented local actors ‘Spectrum Arts’ who spent their Sunday mornings rehearsing intensely for ‘Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits’. Customers followed the group around the building enthralled in the scenes and costumes.

We were fortunate to be one of several satellite venues to live stream a World Book Night event from Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s Southbank where top authors helped spread the message of how empowering reading can be.

If you would like to be part of World Book Night 2013 register your details. From personal experience, this is a chance not to be missed!

Sharon Reeve
Reading and Learning Service Manager

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21
Oct
2011

Welcome international students!

Chris Rutherford of the Reading and Learning team blogs about International Community Day at the Civic Centre….

Chris Rutherford

Last week I was involved in the student event at the Civic Centre. The event took place in the Banqueting Suite where 36 tables were set up to accommodate exhibitors from a wide range of services from council offices, arts, health, careers and accommodation. The aim of the day was to welcome newly arrived international students. The event provides them with an opportunity to find out more about the fantastic leisure and community resources available across Newcastle.

Each year Newcastle and Northumbria Universities receive over 4,300 international students. Judith, Barbara and I set up our table with promotional material showcasing all that the libraries had to offer from author events to computer sessions. We handed out dozens of application forms and many students wanted to sign up immediately. We were kept busy for the whole afternoon signing them up. We ran out of forms and just had enough tickets!! All together between the three of us we joined 87 students to the library. It was pretty hectic but certainly a productive afternoon. We were all so busy that we missed the refreshments that were being served! My thanks go to Barbara and Judith who worked so hard and with great enthusiasm. The event was a huge success and well worth the effort.

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6
Aug
2011

Staff blog – plus choose your favorite books

An update from Kerry Bossons, Reading and Learning Service Manager

The Man Booker Prize longlist has just been announced for this year. We are working with Waterstones on a project called the Toon Man Booker which aims to get people in the North East talking about the national Man Booker Prize nominations and deciding on their favourite. There will be voting boxes around the City as well as the chance to vote online. Each Man Booker nominee will be championed by local library staff, booksellers and reading groups leading to a gala evening on the 18 October where we will reveal our winner on the same night as the national prize. Look out for more information in the September e-newsletter.

Subscribe to the Newcastle Libraries e-newsletter.

View the Man Booker longlist.

The second World Book Night will take place in April next year but readers are already being invited to submit their top ten nominations via the World Book Night website. The first World Book Night this year saw 20,000 volunteers give away 1 million specially printed books.

Nominate your top 10 titles. But hurry, as you only have until the end of August.

I made my own list and found it hard to limit myself to ten so in the end chose the ones that were ‘unputdownable’ and stayed with me after I’d finished the book. My top ten (in no particular order are):

‘My Family and Other Animals’ – Gerald Durrell
Pure escapism, I love the way he describes growing up on Corfu, the wildlife he encounter and his eccentric family.

‘The Sacred Art of Stealing’ – Christopher Brookmyre
Christopher Brookmyre id one of my favourite authors and I chose this one for the brilliant heist at the centre of the book.

‘Far from the Madding Crowd’ – Thomas Hardy
Any novel with exploding sheep gets my nomination; this is also a favourite as it shows that quiet determination wins in the end.

‘World War Z’ – Max Brooks
A novel which tells the story of a zombie apocalypse from many different viewpoints, this was so I engrossing I managed to read it in the middle of a play park in the school holidays.

‘Alice in Sunderland’ – Bryan Thomas
This graphic novel veers off on different tangents and manages to cover the history of Sunderland (yes I know, get over it!), Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland as well as featuring Sid James and Tintin (not together).

‘The Name of the Rose’ – Umberto Eco
*spoiler alert* This is a cautionary tale all those who lick their fingers before turning pages, you know who you are…

‘The Tent, the Bucket and Me’ – Emma Kennedy
This book made me laugh and cry as it reminded me so much of my childhood holiday experiences, the title says it all.

‘The Assassin’s Apprentice’ – Robin Hobb
This is the first in a series featuring Fitz who is trained as an assassin; it is fantasy and is strong on ‘Games of Thrones’ style skulduggery and intrigue rather than runes and ale quaffing.

‘Little Brother’ – Cory Doctorow
Although written for teenagers, this novel tells a tale of teenagers caught in the aftermath of a terrorist attack and how technology is used to watch us all.

‘Angela Carter’s Book of Fairy Tales’ – Angela Carter
These are fairy tales as you’ve never seen them before, wilder and more disturbing than the ones you are familiar with.

Kerry Bossons
Reading and Learning Service Manager

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25
May
2011

News and updates in our latest staff blog

Below is an update from Sharon Reeve, Adult Reading and Learning Service Manager at City Library.

I have some exciting news I would like to share with you.  You may remember local author David Williams visited Kenton Library way back in March.  I have just been notified that David has reached the semi-final stage of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award with his historical novel about the railway pioneers called ‘Mr Stephenson’s Regret’.

He has also written a short story about the Stephenson’s called ‘A Light in the Darkness’ which has won a short story competition held to celebrate the launch of Vintage Script magazine.  We send our congratulations and wish David well in the final stages of this award.  David’s other publications include ’11:59′ and ‘We Never Had It So Good’.

Author of the month for June is Bernard Cornwell and was chosen by our library assitant Helen. Bernard Cornwell OBE (born 23 February 1944) is an English author best known for his novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe which were adapted for television.

Other titles include:
*    The Grail Quest novels: a trilogy that deals with a mid-14th century search for the Holy Grail during the Hundred Years’ War
*    The Warlord Chronicles: A trilogy depicting Cornwell’s historical re-creation of Arthurian Britain.
*    The Saxon Stories: Cornwell’s latest series focuses on the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex during the 9th century reign of Alfred the Great.

View titles by Bernard Cornwell on the online library catalogue.

I’m part of a group called NEALIS which includes 12 libraries in the North East as well as partners from the RNIB, Calibre and Clear Vision.  The aim of the group is to improve library, information and reading services to blind and partially sighted people across the North East.  This month NEALIS held a consultation day in the Stadium of Light, Sunderland to speak to customers across the region and find out what we can improve.  I escorted one of our reading group members to the venue.  The day was fantastic, resulting in a lot of feedback regarding the formats we buy, the equipment we have and the general support provided by library staff, which was extremely positive. This information has led us to purchase a new set of playaways from BBC Audiobooks. These are pre-recorded easy to use mp3 players which will be available for customers to borrow shortly.

Newcastle Libraries are now in the process of planning the launch of a Reading Buddies scheme as part of ‘Make a Noise in Libraries’ fortnight (6-19 June).  This is in partnership with the Duke of Edinburgh Award.  The idea is for visually impaired customers to book an appointment with a reading buddy, who will be able to assist with reading profiles, choosing materials, reservations and basic IT support.  So if you have a relative who would benefit from this service or if you have any ideas of how we can improve this area of work, please get in touch.

Sharon Reeve
Adult Reading and Learning Service Manager
sharon.reeve@newcastle.gov.uk

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11
Apr
2011

News from the Adult Reading and Learning team

Another month has flown past and a lot has taken place.  The birds are tweeting (and so are we @ToonLibraries), the nights are lighter and we are busier!

Pamela from City Library has chosen Benita Brown as the author of the month for April as she will be visiting the City Library this month to talk about her latest novel ‘Memories for You’ which is about the Norton siblings who are tragically orphaned and forced to separate. As the thirties lead into the Second World War the four siblings face an uncertain future in this captivating novel of love, loss and the enduring strength of family.

Benita is the best selling author of many family sagas. She was born in Newcastle and still lives in the North East. Her first nine sagas were set in Victorian/Edwardian Tyneside and in 2006 her novel ‘Fortunes Daughter’ was longlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year Award.

Find out more about Benita Brown’s visit to City Library

View a selection of Benita Brown books on the catalogue

A book display to look out for on level 1 of City Library is ‘Great Ideas’.  This is a series of books published by Penguin which were chosen because they contain ideas which have changed the world and  ‘have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution…enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted” (©www.penguin.co.uk). Authors include Freud, Orwell, Woolf, Darwin, Dickens and Shakespeare. View the 100 titles on the Penguin website.

We have launched the Six Book Challenge again this year as part of World Book Day.  The challenge is (as you might have guessed!) to read six books within a given period of time.  We have a new range of ‘quick read’ materials available for loan which are written by popular authors.  The challenge was very popular last year resulting in very positive feedback.  If you have access to a group and would like to take part in this challenge please get in touch using the details below.

We’ve started to use ‘reader to reader’ cards which we hang from the shelves in the fictions areas in all libraries to suggest alternative authors and encourage you to try something new.  So if you’re looking for something different to what you usually read the reader recommendations will help and if you’ve read something good and you are dying to tell someone…tell us!  We will happily pass on a card for you to complete and will put it on display for others to read.

Sharon Reeve
Adult Reading and Learning Team
sharon.reeve@newcastle.gov.uk
0191 2774100

News from the Adult Reading & Learning Team

Another month has flown past and a lot has taken place. The birds are tweeting (and so are we), the nights are lighter and we are busier!

Pamela has chosen Benita Brown as the author of the month for April as she will be visiting the City Library on Tuesday 26th April at 6.30pm to talk about her latest novel, Memories for You, which is about the Norton siblings who are tragically orphaned and forced to separate. As the thirties lead into the Second World War the four siblings face an uncertain future in this captivating novel of love, loss and the enduring strength of family.

Benita is the best selling author of Family sagas. She was born in Newcastle and still lives in the North East. Her first nine sagas were set in Victorian / Edwardian Tyneside and in 2006 her novel, Fortunes Daughter, was longlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year Award.

If you would like to borrow any of her titles come along to Level 3 of the City Library during April and while you are there why not pick up tickets for her talk on the 26th April?

Another book display to look out for in City Library is, ‘Great Ideas’. This is a series of books published by Penguin. They were chosen because:

“Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves – and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war

and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives – and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the

great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization, and helped make us who we are.”

©www.penguin.co.uk

Pop onto to level 1 and see the range of books on offer.

Six Book Challenge logo

We have launched the Six Book Challenge again this year as part

of World Book Day. The challenge is (as you might have guessed)

to read six books within a given period of time. We have a new range

of ‘quick read’ materials available for loan which are written by popular

authors. The challenge was very popular last year resulting in very

positive feedback. If you have access to a group and would like to take part in this challenge please drop me a line.

A few months ago Newcastle Libraries subscribed to a software called SmartSM. This system allows libraries to improve the performance of stock within particular subject or genres and recommends transferring of stock internally between branches to meet the demands of the community. Thus reducing time, waste yet improving our stock performance. One of the marketing tools we now have access to is top charts, and this can be service wide, by branch and can be by author or title. Future links will be on the home page of the website, but here is a flavour of the fiction titles for February .

Another resource we have started to use is ‘reader to reader’ cards. These are in the fiction area, hanging from the shelves in all libraries, and suggest alternative authors to encourage you to try something new. So, if you are looking for something new but similar to what you usually read, we can help. In addition, if you have read something good and you are dying to tell someone…tell us! We will happily pass on a card for you to complete and will put it on display for others to read and also add to our catalogue.

Sharon Reeve

Adult Reading and Learning Team

E-mail: sharon.reeve@newcastle.gov.uk

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7
Feb
2011

An update from the Adult Reading and Learning team

The New Year party season is now over and we’re back to business!

Over the holidays we ran a competition for children to design a pantomime costume.  Thom Freeth from the Theatre Royal chose the winner of the competition who won a family ticket.  The winner is below and you can view runners up here. Well done to everyone who entered as it was a very difficult decision due to all the fabulous drawings.


To kick off the New Year we have chosen Tess Gerritsen as author of the month.  Tess is an outstanding contributor to the crime fiction genre. Her books are a treat and a thrill to read due to their heart stopping and fascinating stories and characters. Once again these are available to collect from Level 3 or reserve Tess Gerritsen books online.

For all our avid readers, we have a new display on Level 3 which ties in with the TV Book Club programme on Channel 4.  Titles reviewed include ‘Room’ by Emma Donoghue, ‘The Long Song’ by Andrea Levy and ‘The Junior Officers Reading Club’ by Patrick Hennessey. Why not reviews the titles on our online catalogue?

World Book Night is looming and several of our staff have been selected as ‘givers’ to hand out copies of their chosen book.  Areas include Northumberland Street, the maternity ward at the RVI and local hostels.  We are also exploring the brilliant idea of a ‘Modern Murder Mystery’ event.  We held a fantastic event way back in 2009 and hope that this one will be just as good, if not better.  Meetings are in place to recruit actors for the evening, so this should be one not to miss!

Plans have started for International Women’s Day on 8 March.  We are exploring possibilities of demonstrations of nail art, head massage, beauty or an afternoon dance.  Another possibility is a ‘Girls night in’ with an exclusive film showing, and also if you are feeling fit, maybe a ‘Just Dance’ session using our Nintendo Wii.  Knitting needles are also clicking as we speak for our groups to produce and item which connects to International Women’s Day, which we hope to display.  Some of these are ideas at the moment and still to be confirmed so watch out for more information or if you have any suggestions, please get in touch.

Sharon Reeve
Adult Reading and Learning Service Manager
sharon.reeve@newcastle.gov.uk

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14
Dec
2010

An update from the Adult Reading and Learning team

Christmas is coming – the decorations are up and the 15ft tree is ordered! It has been difficult to get to work this month due to the snow, but we have managed thanks to our wellingtons.

We have a new edition to the team Kim Dryden, as Library & Information Officer. The author of the month was chosen by Kim and is P.G. Wodehouse.  Kim’s favourite title is ‘Carry On, Jeeves’.  According to Kim, ”’Carry on, Jeeves’ is the perfect introduction to the bumbling English aristocrat Bertie Wooster and his astute valet, Reginald Jeeves.  All of the stories in this collection are humorous, well written and hugely entertaining. I would recommend this and all the books in the series to those who have a love of the English language and enjoy nothing more than a good read and a hearty laugh.”  Reserve a copy online.

We are currently planning a meeting with students working towards the Duke of Edinburgh award to discuss the idea of ‘Reading Buddies’.  The aim of this role will be to guide customers with visual impairment around the library, assist with the choosing of items and may include IT support.   There is still a lot of work and training to take place before this service will be launched, and more information will be published in a later blog.

A couple of unusual characters stumbled through the city and barged their way into the City Library up to level 3…

We were very fortunate to have our display of pantomime costumes at City Library officially opened by Chris Hayward (dressed as Nurse Rita) and Steve Arnott (as the Sheriff of Nottingham). The BBC and Journal were also present to record interviews for TV, newspaper and radio. You can watch them perform in Robin Hood at The Theatre Royal.

World Book Night will take place on Saturday 5 March 2011. A million books will be given away across the UK and Ireland as part of an evening of events and a chance to celebrate reading nationwide.  To enable this to happen, 20,000 people will be recruited to hand out free copies of their chosen book from the 25 selected titles.

To be a book giver, members of the public or individuals representing organisations are encouraged to describe in 100 words which book they would like to give away from the 25 titles, why, how and where they propose to do this. View the chosen titles and apply to be a book giver on the World Book Night website or call in to your local library and we can assist you with this process.  The closing date is 4 January 2011.

Sharon Reeve
Adult Reading and Learning Team Manager
sharon.reeve@newcastle.gov.uk

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23
Nov
2010

An update from the ARL team at City Library

So far in November, libraries in Newcastle have been like a fireworks display – bursting, noisy and exciting!

I would like to thank all our customers for making our first book festival ‘Books on Tyne’ a huge success by attending the author/artist sessions and supporting local publishers in the bookshop.  Staff from the Adult Reading and Learning team spent the busy weekend meeting, greeting and directing authors, artists and customers through a buzzing City Library.  The festival finale was an event with Simon Donald which meant transforming the Bewick Hall from a busy bookshop into a packed performance area where we hung onto our seats and dabbed away tears of laughter!  Simon’s life story and the history of ‘Viz’ is the content of his new book ‘Him Off the Viz’. Simon will be visiting City Library again as part of the Evolving English project in February so look out for more information coming soon.

We celebrated Dyslexia Awareness Week (1 – 7 November) with a display of books called Quick Reads which are short novels written by popular authors. We also offered books for help, support and guidance. Find out more about Quick Reads.

We are in the process of contacting local groups to take part in the national Six Book Challenge 2011. The challenge is for less confident adult readers, to read six books within a set period of time and record their progress in a diary.  There is no age limit and the rewards for customers and staff involved are staggering.  Let me know if you have access to a group you feel would benefit from this challenge which begins on World Book Day (3 March 2011).

One of the areas of work our team manages is reading groups.  So far we have 75 groups who meet every month, read a book and have a lively discussion about the author, story and characters.  We have a new MP3 audiobook group desperate to be formed.  If you would like to join, or for further information get in touch with me via the details below.

Our author of the month was chosen by one of our reading groups – ‘Mr Toppit’ by Charles Elton. The book was chosen for the exciting plot and engaging style concerning an author, Arthur Hayman, who is killed by a concrete truck in Soho. His legacy passes to his widow, Martha, and her children.  Buried within his books are secrets which could be revealed as the family begins to crumble.  Reserve a copy and discover the full story.

Christmas is looming and we’re embracing the season early.  Working in partnership with the Theatre Royal and Qdos Pantomimes we are able to display for the very first time, fabulous, extremely colourful pantomime costumes. Staff from the team had to contact nearly every shop in the city centre to find mannequins for a very special display.   We had support from Theatre Royal staff to help dress the mannequins, which is not as easy as you think, especially as the costumes were extremely heavy. I don’t know how the cast wear these on stage under the hot lights.

We had a lot of fun putting this display together and one staff member attempted to wear Cinderella’s dress, which seemed to be a size 6!

The costumes will be on display until 6 January 2011.  Our special thanks go to Fenwicks, Julia Soares-McCormick and Great North Museum for agreeing to loan out their mannequins, staff at Theatre Royal and Qdos Pantomimes for the costumes.

Sharon Reeve
Adult Reading and Learning Team Service Manager
sharon.reeve@newcastle.gov.uk

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28
Oct
2010

A busy month on the ARL team

Welcome the second blog entry from the Adult Reading and Learning team – I can’t believe it has been a month already which proves our team has been extremely busy!

To kick off we have selected Iain M Banks as October’s author of the month.  We have chosen this author for all our science fiction fanatics, including the one on our team who has worked very hard in refreshing titles and changing the look of the stock area. Iain M Banks has written several titles which include ‘Algebraist’, ‘Excession’ and ‘Matter’ which you can reserve online.

We have recently had a visit from Katrina Porteous.  Some of you may know that Katrina is a poet and historian living on the Northumberland coast.  Her publications include; ‘The Lost Music’, ‘The Wund an’ the Wetter’ and ‘The Blue Lonnen’. The poetry readings demonstrated local dialect, local history and personal knowledge regarding the coastal areas. As part of the audience I could feel the passion and enthusiasm Katrina has for her work.  I’m sure the rest of the audience would support me in saying how enjoyable and entertaining the event was especially when we all had to take part and chant our own verse to compliment a reading.  You can book now (phone 0191 2774100 or email information@newcastle.gov.uk) for Katrina’s session on Saturday 6 November as part of our book festival!  Which leads me onto…

Books on Tyne! A lot of behind the scenes planning has taken place for the Newcastle Libraries very first book festival as mentioned in our last blog entry.  We were thrilled to find out that our hard work had been rewarded recently with the success of a funding bid with ‘The National Lottery through Arts Council’.  This funding has enabled payments to authors and artists involved, the production of publicity materials and staff support.
With the added support of Newcastle College, we can now provide British Sign Language interpreters to a number of sessions held in the Bewick Hall, which is something we have been aiming to do for a long time.  We are taking bookings now for individual events but you will have to be quick as tickets are in high demand and places limited. See the Books on Tyne post for more information.

Earlier in the month National Customer Service Week  saw the launch of our new area for visually impaired customers.  Staff gave away free magnifying sheets along with a free large print newspaper and the chance to win £50 of Eldon Square vouchers.  We informed VIP customers of local history by ‘Touching the Past’ whichincluded recordings from our website, handling old books and listening to snippets of local history.  A big thank you to all our customers who visited enrolled and passed on their valuable positive comments to staff and thanks to Doug from the VIP Reading Group who very kindly posed with the equipment for publicity photos.

Another area we have been discussing is the World Language stock.  This month I met up with our Friends of the Persian Library group to discuss the collection with the aim of improving access and selection of stock.  The team are currently working on a booklet to be printed which will support customers in choosing these materials both in the library and via the website.  This will be available soon, and will then lead to further work on the rest of the world language stock, with a similar approach.  I am interested in any comments or suggestions you have regarding our world language books.

Sharon Reeve
Adult Reading and Learning Team Service Manager
sharon.reeve@newcastle.gov.uk

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13
Sep
2010

News from the Adult Reading & Learning team

The Adult Reading and Learning Team have had a busy few months.  Our author events have included Sean O’Brien, Martyn Waites, Linda France, Pete Mortimer, Val McLane, Asit Maitre, Peter Robinson, Dan Smith and Diane Janes.  All events continue to be well attended, and I hope this continues especially with the new offer of tea and coffee sales at a reduced rate along with a 2-4-1 deal on delicious homemade cakes courtesy of Stewart & Co.

Starting from September we have launched ‘author of the month’.  This is a chance for our team to recommend popular authorsto you.  September kicks off with Dan Smith.  Visit the enquiry pods on level 3 of City Library to pick up your copy of Dry Season which is the of a two book deal Dan has with Orion.  We chose Dan as a result of a fantastic event at City Library, which involved a slide show of photographs of areas in Brazil which were related to Dan’s childhood and his latest book.  Dan took us on a journey through Brazil and identified areas of significance in his life.  I thought it was a fantastic book to read and I would be interested to know what you think of it.

We are currently planning a major book festival in November, ‘Books on Tyne’ in association with Northumbria Press and sponsored by Newcastle College.  This started as a brief conversation which involved a handful of authors and publishers as a one day event to raise awareness of quality authors.  Within a matter of days as word got round, the festival grew into a three day event involving sixteen authors and a programme of entertainment.  A few details are still to be confirmed but publicity will be available very soon.

Our team have also been collating titles for a display for the start of Banned Books Week which will be launched on 25 September and celebrates the freedom to read.  There will be a display of these books which fall into this category and we will be encouraging customers to read and pass on comments, which will be published and shared on our website.  In addition, members from two reading groups based in City Library will be selecting a book from the collection, reading it and writing a short review to indicate why they thought the book was chosen and if they agree.  Look out for these on our website.

Summer is over and September indicates the start of another academic year.  In partnership with Newcastle City Learning we have organised a variety of courses to be delivered throughout Newcastle and our library venues from 27 September. We have a good choice this term and courses are available on computer skills from beginner to advanced. The ever popular “Tracing your family ancestry”, involving the internet and the vast resources at the Heritage department, will be delivered in the City Library. We have various language courses ranging from Spanish to Russian and new courses include “Counselling skills” and “Creative card making”. To enrol on one of the courses or for more information call the enrolment free phone number 08000730911.

Staff are busy preparing for the promotion of the library service at the Student’s Union Bar on Northumbria University campus.  We won’t be socialising with alcohol, but will be offering the chance for new (and old) students to become a member of our exciting library service.

Recently, we attended a Sight Loss and Advice Day on a mobile unit parked on Northumberland Street.  We spoke to fifty customers about the library service and were most impressed as they were all members.  Since this event we have been involved in consultation with customers and partners regarding a designated area to improve access to resources for visually impaired people.  Although we hold a variety of formats and tools, we felt it was time to alter the look of level 3 slightly, rearrange the furniture and bring all resources to one space  A computer will be installed together with a 22” screen. Supernova screen magnification software will be available as well as a  large keyboard and headphones to enable customers to work independently or alongside staff on a one to one basis.  A new book magnifier will be available for use and staff will provide a demonstration of this as well as the new ‘PENfriend’ to assist customers choosing library audio materials.  We are currently working with a volunteer to record the labels for this device.

If you would like to find out more about our programme of events or to subscribe to our author newsletter, please email information@newcastle.gov.uk or phone 0191 2774100.

Sharon Reeve
Adult Reading and Learning Team
sharon.reeve@newcastle.gov.uk


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8
Jan
2010

Outer West reading group Christmas meeting

For our Christmas meeting we decided to do something a bit different so (fortified by mince pies, sausage rolls and ginger wine brought in by members) we each talked about our favourite childhood book.

With one exception, everyone went for fiction and we had an enjoyable wallow in nostalgia as the choices sparked off childhood memories. A theme which cropped up frequently was the appeal of stories in which children escaped to a secret world free from parental authority. One member traced the beginning of her interest in crime fiction to her love for Emil and the Detectives. Enid Blyton was also mentioned in this context although no-one nominated her as their absolute favourite.

The books selected as our favourites were:

The Water Babies (Charles Kingsley)
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (Jules Verne)
Emil and the Detectives (Erich Kastner)
Where the Rainbow Ends (Clifford Mills)
Puck of Pook’s Hill (Rudyard Kipling)
The Story of Helen Keller (Lorena A. Hickock)
The Little White Horse (Elizabeth Goudge)
The Silver Chair (C S. Lewis)

We all agreed that it had been a successful experiment and we are looking forward to trying new authors in 2010 and looking at new ideas for our meetings.

Liz, Outer West library

See the reading group page for more information on reading groups in a library near you.

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