Our Opening Hours

What do you think about us opening Tuesday and Thursday afternoons?

We want to know. It's always been a bit of an oddity that the Library is closed on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, when the rest of the Hayridge is open. Lots of you have said that it would be much better if we could open those afternoons, so we've been looking to see whether we could make that work. We've worked out that if we open the Library and the Centre from 9-5 every week day, we can rework our staffing rota to make that happen. And we've also got access to some new technology that would allow the Library to stay open longer in the evenings and at weekends, so if you can't get in to the Library during our normal opening hours, you will still be able to use it even when there are no staff on duty - how good is that?

The way that the out-of-hours access will work is: anyone who wants to access the library out-of-hours comes first to the counter during normal opening times and asks for access to be set on their library account. You can then use your Library card and PIN code to open the main doors (there will be a schedule when this will be possible, so we can fit in routine cleaning and maintenance work). The Library will be unmanned, but the self-service terminals and all the PCs will be turned on, so you can use it just like you can when staff are around. Children under 17 will need to be accompanied by an adult, and we will have CCTV working through the building to make sure it's kept safe. And that's it.

So what do you think? Let us know if you'd like the Library to be open Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, and whether you'd like to use the Library outside of normal opening hours. You can fill in a form at the Library counter, or fill in our online survey by clicking here.

If a majority of people think it's a good idea, we could get the new opening times in place by the summer.


Our Lego Club is on the Launchpad...

Stand by - the Lego Club is ready to launch. Starting Saturday 29th March at 9:30, we'll be putting out a load of Lego bricks and seeing what creative things you can do with them. We'd like children to be accompanied at all times while using the Lego Club, so if you're thinking of coming along please do take that into account. We've got a massive load of brand new bricks and play sets for you to try out, so it should be fantastic fun. All we have to do now is to get the Hayridge staff to stop playing with the Lego so you can have a go!


The April event list is almost ready!

You can get a sneak preview of what we've got in mind by checking our event listings here. Expect lots of eggs, bunnies, and something a bit different besides!








Calling All Silver Screen Lovers

Our Silver Screen film club - open to all senior members of our community - is starting to take shape. Once a month, on a Friday evening, we will be showing a film chosen by club members. The film will be completely free. After the showing, you will be able to talk about the film you've seen, and (if you like) write a short review which we can keep here on our blog. There will also be the chance to have supper in the upstairs dining area. So if you like to watch and talk about a movie, in the company of other people who love films, this is the place to be!

'Gutenberg'