Welcome to the Hayridge Hubbub

Well, Christmas is behind us, and now it’s time to look forward to the New Year. It’s traditional to start the year with a resolution to do something new or different, and in that spirit our resolution at The Hayridge was to start a blog – and this is it! In each post, we plan to bring you news about the events we’re planning, and to talk about the things that make working here so special – reading, learning, and helping people in whatever way we can. So let’s dive straight in by talking about our January programme, before looking ahead to February and beyond.

Get your Gadgets in Gear!

Did you get a gadget for Christmas – a new tablet PC, or a smartphone? If you did, look out for a couple of events we’ve set up this month. We have a free session on 20th January in which we will show you how to connect gadgets to our e-book and audiobook service. Downloading e-books is completely free, you can set up your reader to display the perfect text size to suit you, and of course you can access our download service from anywhere in the world – ideal if you’re planning to catch some winter sun and don’t want to weigh down your luggage with books. Downloading audio books is another free service you can access anywhere in the world, so if you’d rather just close your eyes and let someone read a book to you, we’ve got that covered too.

The other gadgety event we have for you is a 3-part course starting on 21st January to help you set up and manage your new device. We’ll show you how to access the web, manage your e-mails, and stay safe while online, so if you’ve been given a gadget but can’t get past the “on” button, this is just the job.

 It’s Time to Get Knitting…

We are launching a knitting club for beginners, meeting every Tuesday morning in the Library. If you’ve ever wondered what the difference was between knitting and purling, been bewildered by buttonholes, or find that your gloves always end up with six fingers, then you’re in for a treat. Let our staff lead you gently into the wonderful world of knitting – you’ll never be short of scarves again.


And by starting now, you’ll be amongst others starting at the same time, so there’s no reason to feel shy!

Is your Reading Stuck in a Rut?

If you’re anything like us, you have a small list of favourite authors that you’ve read and read over and again. Re-reading a book by a favourite author can be a great comfort – like going back to a favourite place, or visiting a friend to talk about old times. But sometimes you need to throw caution to the wind and try something new; finding a new author whose style you like can be a true pleasure. And while trying new authors by working through the bookshelves of a library or a bookshop can be a long-winded and frustrating business – getting distracted by the cover artwork or the blurb on the back – we’ve come up with a great way to short-cut the process.

We’ve put together a list of things that can be used to describe a book: long/short, happy/sad, funny/serious and so on. Just come in and tell us four things off our list that are important to you when you are reading, and we’ll reserve four books from the library catalogue for you to try.

Hopefully you’ll find something that tickles your reading buds in the four that we choose for you, but if not, don’t worry – just bring them all back and we’ll try again with four more. And if we have to, four more after that – you get the idea. Why not give it a try? And if you find a new author you love, why not tell us all about it by using the “send” button at the top of this post?

And Speaking of Favourite Authors…

Our centre manager Darryl Harrison talks about his favourite author elsewhere on our web site – check out what he has to say about spy story writer Len Deighton. We’ve selected a number of Deighton books from the library catalogue to put on special display this month, so if Darryl’s enthusiasm rubs off on you, there’ll be a few titles for you to try. Who is your favourite author? Tell us, and we’ll incorporate them into our plan for other special displays through the year!

And there’s more…

Our full January programme can be found here – check it out for details of our fantastic Snowflake Trail for tots, a storytime and our community cinema for children, a special film show for teens, support for people whose New Year resolution was to lose weight or give up smoking, a brilliant craft fair in the lobby featuring local produce, cake icing in the café, and a presentation by Involve, our local charity specialising in volunteering opportunities.

Looking Ahead

We’re already hard at work planning more events for February and March.
February is the month of love – and at the Hayridge we love reading, writing, learning, and supporting Cullompton! We are lining up some exciting author visits – including a virtual visit conducted over Skype – as well as writing workshops, a reprise of our book dating session, a “books you love” wall, and more.

We’ll keep you posted on our February programme right here, so do bookmark us and check for our latest posts!

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