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St. Ives Library - A place for everyone

Mum and Families Squad member, Sarah, tells us about her favourite library
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If you can't remember the last time you visited your local library, you really don’t know what you’re missing!
 
Long gone are the days of stuffy, dim places with stern librarians. Nowadays they truly are a place for everyone, from the newest babies to those in their “golden years” and all in between. 
 
My local library, St Ives Cambridgeshire, holds weekly rhyme times for babies and story times for preschoolers, monthly LEGO clubs for 5+ as well as regular kids craft events and colouring competitions. There are countless reading groups as well as Knit and Natter and they regularly host talks for EngAGE as well as clinics for people with, or needing, hearing aids and I’ve even visited once when the whole library had been taken over by a showcase of local charities and organisations who help the visually impaired.

The facilities at St Ives Library

There are several computers which are free to access for members, as well as free WiFi for anyone who wants to bring their own computers. A quiet area towards the back of the library is reserved for those wanting to study whilst near the entrance is a seating area with a coffee machine and comfy chairs. 
 
The day I discovered that it is perfectly acceptable to eat and drink in the library was a turning point in my young childrens’ lives as it became our new go-to place for a rainy day to escape from the house; pack lunches clutched excitedly by hungry little hands! Not only can you purchase coffee from the library's’ own machine but our particular library is next door to a supermarket brand that offers its loyalty customers a free hot drink when making any purchase and so it became part of the Library Ritual! (It has saved me a small fortune in coffee shop prices).

The books at St Ives Library

Considering it is one of the smaller libraries in the Cambridgeshire County Council portfolio, the range of books is very good. The children’s section is sorted into different categories with board books for the tiniest people kept low to the ground in colourful boxes that are much easier to deal with that ordered shelves. Once children are ready for more exciting stories they have another section of their very own, which again has no specific order so children can browse at their leisure without messing anything up. Fictional chapter books are ordered in the same style as grown-ups books and they are opposite an extensive range of children’s non-fiction books, also ordered in the traditional style. Also in the Children’s section is a colouring table, Children’s DVD’s and books on CD.
Their is an area for teens just outside the children’s  so they don’t have to be seen with the littlies! 
As for the adults: there’s western, graphic novels, crime, romance, biographies, all manner of non-fiction, OS Maps, CD’s, DVD’s and even jigsaws available for borrowing.
 
All of this is topped off by the fact that this library now offers an Open+ service to members where you can register to access the library during certain hours when it is closed to the general public. No staff are available during these times but it feels very peaceful and a just a little bit special to be able to have the entire library almost exclusively to yourself!

Find out more about the St Ives Library by clicking here

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Publish date: 22/01/2018 09:00 AM Sarah Saggers

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