Coming on Friday 4 April – a Special event with Swansea story teller Nigel Little

Carmarthen Library Opening

27 March 2014

Carmarthen’s newly refurbished library opened its doors to around 1,300 people on its first day.

The official opening by Carmarthenshire’s leisure executive board member Cllr Meryl Gravell was celebrated with a bagpipe player, Superbook and Richmond Park School Choir.

The first 100 people through the doors qualified for a free CD or DVD, and free tea and coffee was provided throughout the day.

It followed a £55,000 investment in the library which included self service RFID machines with hundreds of new books, DVDs and CDs available, along with free access to an online newsstand.

A new e-zine service allows users to view a collection of popular digital magazines titles with no holds, no checkout periods, and no limit to the number of magazines that can be downloaded.

The opening is being followed by a series of events throughout this week, including talks from authors; story time for toddlers, a family history demonstration, visits from local schools and a presentation on E-books and E-zines.

 

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Schools

Did you know that children who read for pleasure do better at school?

Welsh libraries and schools are joining forces to provide every primary school child with a FREE library card – starting with children aged 8/9 in six local authorities: Blaenau Gwent, Merthyr Tydfil, Powys, Swansea, Flintshire and Gwynedd.

This card will allow children to borrow two books straight away. Once proof of address is provided, they can then have access to thousands of free books as well as many more resources to help improve their school work and enhance their leisure time, including:

• FREE computer use and internet access
• FREE fiction, non-fiction, comics, graphic novels and talking books
• FREE homework help – online and in the library
• FREE e-books and e-magazines
• Clubs, games, events, activities and classes in the library
• Friendly, helpful library staff
• Somewhere safe to meet friends

To find more information about your local library visit the Find a Library page.

Reading books at home will help you enjoy reading and do better at school. And this project also compliments the Welsh Government’s ‘Make Time to Read’ campaign, just 10 minutes reading a day can make a big difference. Find out more about the ‘Make Time to Read’ campaign’ at Better Reading.

This project is led by CyMAL (Museums, Archives and Libraries Wales) and the Welsh Libraries Audience Development team.

via welshlibraries.org: Schools.

Automatic library card for every child in Wales

Wednesday 19 March 2014
New initiative launched to raise literacy levels

Automatic library card for every child in Wales

Welsh libraries and primary schools are joining forces to provide every primary school child with a free library card – starting with children aged 8/9 in six local authorities – Blaenau Gwent, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Merthyr Tydfil, Powys and Swansea.

Launching the initiative today in Tredegar Library the Minister for Culture & Sport, John Griffiths, said:

“The link between library usage and literacy levels is well documented – over 42,000 children in Wales took part in last year’s Summer Reading Challenge which ran in 245 libraries across the country.

“Those children that took part maintained or improved their reading levels and we are hoping to build on this by giving every child the opportunity to use their library to borrow books and access all the other services available to them.”

Also attending the launch is Dr Rhys Jones, best known for his hit BBC series including ‘Rhys to the Rescue’ and ‘Dr Rhys Jones’s Wildlife Patrol’.

As Patron of this new initiative Dr Rhys Jones said:

“Libraries are such an important resource – they are a great place for children to let their imagination grow and to develop and it is vitally important that we encourage our children to read more not only to improve their literacy levels but also to help them with life skills and future opportunities.”

Year Four pupils from Bryn Bach Primary School will be attending the launch event and their teacher Sam Jones commented:

“Getting the children out of school and into the library enabling them to pick their own books and hearing them discuss their favourites is wonderful. And if we can encourage all children to use the library it will no doubt have a beneficial effect on how they perform in the classroom too.”

This library card will allow the children to borrow books straight away and get a free goodie bag to carry their books home with them. Once proof of address is provided, they can then have access to thousands of free books as well as many more resources to help improve their school work and enhance their leisure time, including:

FREE fiction, non-fiction, comics, graphic novels and talking books
FREE homework help – online and in the library
FREE e-books and e-magazines
FREE computer use and internet access
Clubs, games, events, activities and classes in the library
Friendly, helpful library staff
Somewhere safe to meet friends

This project also compliments the Welsh Government’s ‘Make Time to Read’ campaign, just 10 minutes reading a day can make a big difference. Reading books at home will help you enjoy reading and do better at school.

For more information please visit: www.welshlibraries.org/schools