The Arty Month of May

April seems to be racing away in a flurry of ducklings and blossom, and May is beckoning with fresh green leaves and a spattering of arty events at the Hayridge.

If you like art, (and even if you don't, we hope to persuade you otherwise) we've got a host of fun activities for you to get stuck into during May. Do have a good look and see what might suit you, or your family and friends.

To start it all off, from the 1st May. we will be testing your knowledge of famous painters and their work, with a free Art History Quiz. It will be available to pick up from the front desk for the whole month, so you can take it away and mull it over before it needs to be handed in by 1st June. The lovely people at The Crediton Community Bookshop have promised us a copy of a beautiful new book about the history of art, to give as a prize. If we have more than one correct entry we will draw a winner on 2nd June.

If you're feeling nosy (like me) then you'll love the chance to peek inside the studio and sketchbook of professional children's book illustrator Nick East. Nick has just finished the artwork for a brand new picture book by Amy Sparkes, The Mouse who Sailed the Seas, and will be appearing on our blog in a special interview. He'll be answering all the questions we could dream up including, most importantly, what is his most favourite cheese.



We're delighted to welcome Amy Sparkes to the library again. She'll be visiting us to meet with local pre-schoolers on Tuesday 12th May and Foundation Primary School children on Tuesday 19th May. Children attending these sessions will hear The Mouse who Sailed the Seas, read by Amy herself. They will have the chance to ask Amy questions and buy a signed copy of the book at a discounted price. There will also be a fun craft activity. If you're interested in bringing children along, either as a group or an individual, we still have spaces at our earliest preschool session so give Susie a ring on 01392 388400 to book a places.



For those of you whose fingers are twitching to get something down on paper, we have some great opportunities for you to share your creativity. Every day throughout May there'll be a big flipchart standing in the foyer. The early bird gets the worm, or the pens, and can draw to their heart's content to fill the sheet as much as they would like. We'll be photographing the doodles and sharing them on facebook and twitter. We'll also feature a round up of some of our favourites on the blog at the end of the month.



If you'd like a little more guidance to your doodling, we have a special, free Oil Pastel Workshop, with Artist and Teacher Annie Tildesley. It's on Wednesday 13th May, from 4-6, and is suitbale for adults and children over 11. Places are booking up fast, so do come and register your interest if you'd like to join in. Materials are provided, so what's stopping you?



Come and listen to a story after school, on Monday 18th May, at 3.45. Susie will be reading Picasso and the Girl with the Ponytail, an inspiring story about creativity and confidence, based on a true story, written and illustrated by Laurence Anholt. After the story we'll all have a go at drawing faces, with a demo by Susie.  No need to book.




You may prefer to be drawn on. In which case, Emma Cutland will be delighted to help you out. She'll be here on Saturday 16th May from 10am, to paint faces, charging from £1-£3 depending on the complexity of the design. There's no need to book, so you can just pop along on the day.







Finallly, after all this creative activity, let yourself sit back and enjoy a brilliant, classic movie. How to Steal a Million, starring Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole, is an absorbing and charming story of an eccentric old art forger and his honest, chic daughter. Join us for a zany caper round Paris with Police, Museums, Thieves, Cute Cars and Boomerangs. It's completely free and you're welcome to bring your own refreshments or buy them from our excellent Café.

Thank you for your Input!

Our Public consultation has now closed. We are busy assessing the results and we will publish the outcome on our blog in two weeks time.

Spring...

Spring has Sprung!

Well it certainly feels like spring is here with the lovely sunny weather we've been having this week! We're celebrating spring with a lovely collection of gardening books ready for you to take on those outdoor chores that will have built up over the winter. There's a large selection of "grow your own" titles, and we'd love to see any produce that you grow after reading any of the titles we've chosen - just bring something in later in the year and we'll put a photograph on the blog to inspire others to do likewise next time round. And if you're in the mood for planting your very first seed, stop by at the Library on Saturday where you'll be able to do just that - we have everything you need to plant your very own flower and take it home to watch it grow. Lovely!


Cloth Trade Trail

With the weather finally starting to warm up, now might be the perfect time to have a go at the Cullompton Cloth Trade trail, which starts here at the Hayridge. We have a brilliant touchscreen display about the history of the cloth trade installed in our lobby, thanks to the tireless work of Penny Bayer and the Cullompton Town Team, which you can use to bring the town's history to life. And there's a selection of leaflets and activities you can use to follow the trail and find out more about Cullompton's fascinating past. Pop into the library to pick up a leaflet and you'll be all set.


World Book Night

A gentle reminder that it's World Book night on April 23rd, and as usual we have linked up with the Reading Agency to hand out special editions of top titles completely free! So if you fancy picking up something new to try, or want to spread the joy of reading to friends who don't normally visit the library, come along between 10 and 12 on the 23rd to collect your copy. It's first come, first served...





Our Opening Hours Consultation Ends This Week

If you've not told us what you think about our proposals to open the library on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, and possibly later in the evenings and at the weekends, you've got until the end of this week to do so. Our earlier blog post explains what we're doing and why, and you can give your feedback either by dropping into the library in person and filling in a form or by accessing our on-line form by seeing today's facebook post. We'd love to have input from everyone who uses the Hayridge, so if you've not been in touch yet, please try and spare a moment to do so. Thanks!

Bunnies and Chicks

Have you had a go at finding the bunnies and chicks lurking in the library? They keep moving around, so we need all the help we can get to keep an eye on them. Stop by any time to track them down.



Sophie's Choice - Part 2

In our staff picks section, Centre Assistant Sophie Ross continues her account of her search for a good passionate read. Click here to see what she has to say about Jane Gardam's take on passion.






Lego Creations

Our Lego club continues to thrive, and now that it's moved upstairs it has the space to breathe! Photos of the Lego models built at the last session can be found by clicking here. We're still looking to develop the club for older children, but we need someone to volunteer to help us with that. So if you feel up for helping out, or know someone who might be interested, please do let us know!




Coming in May...

May at the Hayridge will be devoted to all things arty, with workshops, displays and activities aplenty. We'll have more details for you in the next post so watch this space!




And Finally - Wanna Winna Raffle?

The Friends of Cullompton Library have organised a brilliant raffle to generate funds to support the activities we run here at the Hayridge. First prize is a brilliant basket of produce organised by the Farmers' Market, with other super prizes too. Tickets only cost £1 each, which is an absolute steal. To get your ticket, just pop along to the Hayridge counter - it's a bit of fun and all the money you spend goes towards keeping the Hayridge the vibrant and fun place you expect it to be. Go on, you know you want to!

'Gutenberg'

Easter Treats

We're open on Easter Saturday

Hard to believe that Easter is with us already, it hardly seems like five minutes since we were taking down the Christmas decorations. But Easter it is, so here's a gentle reminder that although the Hayridge will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Monday, we will be open as usual on Easter Saturday - hoorah! And there's a special activity for children and parents on Saturday too - make a lovely Easter Egg Flower together. Lego club will be back too, so don't forget to pop by and see us this Saturday.


Talking of the Lego Club...

The inaugural meeting last Saturday was a riot, with everyone having a ball. We have a page of photographs taken on the day which you can see by clicking here. All the models built on the day are on display in the library children's area, where they will stay until Thursday, when we will dismantle them to get ready for next week. Because the club was so popular, and the space in the library got a bit crowded (to say the least), we'll host it in one of the rooms upstairs next week! We'd like to say a big thank you to all the sponsors who contributed funds which allowed the club to buy so many lovely Lego sets - so take a bow Devon County Councillor John Berry, Cullompton Town Council, and Tesco Cullompton. We'd also like to say a special thank you to William Gillings who donated several bags of Lego bits, which proved to be essential on the day!


Easter Biscuits in the Café

If you'd like to have something special for Easter, why not come in and decorate your very own biscuits? We have an Easter biscuit decoration workshop in the café this Thursday, April 2nd, between 11 and 12. There are limited places for the workshop, so we suggest you book with the café on 01392 388402. It only costs £1 per child, which is great value for the fun you'll have  - and you get to eat the biscuits afterwards!


Our Other Easter Events

All our other Easter activities can be found by clicking this link, but there's a few things to look out for: entry forms for our Easter Egg design competition are now ready at the counter, we've got a brilliant Spring trail in the library with artwork by our very own Susie Tyler, a special story time on Saturday April 11th, and on Saturday 18th you'll be able to plant a seed at the library and take it home to watch it grow.


More Tasty Goodies in the Foyer

The Tiverton and District Country Market stand is back in the Hayridge foyer, loaded with tempting tasty treats and craft ware, just the thing to put the finishing touch to your Easter weekend.  Come along and have a look - you'll be delighted with what's on offer.


World Book Night

It's World Book night on April 23rd, and as usual we have linked up with the Reading Agency to hand out special editions of top titles completely free! So if you fancy picking up something new to try, or want to spread the joy of reading to friends who don't normally visit the library, come along between 10 and 12 on the 23rd to collect your copy. It's first come, first served...


Opening Hours Survey

Our opening hours survey runs until April 18th - you'll find all the details on our previous blog post. If you've not filled in a form, or had a go at our online survey (available by clicking here), we'd be really grateful if you could do so. We want as many opinions as possible, so we can be as sure as we can be that any changes we make to our opening hours are the best choice we can make.


And Finally...

Under the new European rulings on Crocodiles in the Workplace, we are sorry to have to announce that Cedric, the library crocodile, is going to have to be rehomed. A place has been found at TARS, the Tiverton Abandoned Reptile Society. Cedric, who has been doing sterling work for several years during performances of "Row, row, row your boat" during Bounce and Rhyme sessions, will be leaving this Wednesday (1/4/2015) to meet his new friends, including a Caimen called Cyril from Crediton and twin Alligators Alice and Alistair from Axminster who are also caught up in all the red tape. We think that a few crocodile tears will be shed when Cedric leaves the library for the last time. If you'd like to come along and say goodbye in person, try and arrive before twelve - but you'd better make it snappy.

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'

Taking to the Hair

The Hayridge goes Hair-Brained…

Well, we promised that March would be a bit bonkers - this month’s activities are all as Mad as March Hair! There’s a display of a hundred years of hair styles in the lobby, with some decidedly dubious looks that you might find all too familiar. We’ve also put out a display of hair-themed books in the lobby, so do check it out. Then we’ve got a hair-themed quiz, with a hair-related prize for the most correct answers, and for our younger visitors we’ve hidden in the library a number of film characters you need to identify just from their hair styles. The Children’s Storytime this month features - naturally – Hairy Maclary, and we’ve got a cracking craft event to go with that; check out our full events list for the date and time.

 

Crafts in the Lobby – Alison Whateley

For the next two weeks, we’ll be hosting the beautiful crafts of Alison Whateley, who has brought along some samples of her work – including a generous helping of Mothers’ Day gifts, ideal for that certain someone. You can buy any of the items on display, or if you’re looking for something just a little different, contact her directly at alison.whateley@btinternet.com .

 

Gadget Day Revisited

Our January gadget day was a big success, so we’re repeating it on Monday March 16^th at 11:00. If you want to know how to connect to our e-book service, or would like some informal help with your smartphone or tablet, just bring it along and we’ll do what we can to help! We can’t promise to sort out every problem, but we’ll have a go at whatever you throw at us...

 

 

 

 

Calling all Programmers

We’re still looking for a volunteer to look after our coding club, our out-of-school computer programming club. The club would most likely meet on a Saturday morning in our computer training room, and we’ve got some lovely programmable Lego lined up to make it a bit more fun. If you’re a programmer with some time on your hands, or if you know someone who fits that bill, do get in touch with us, we’d love to get this up and running to support the next generation of Web billionaires!

 

 

Fancy a Game of Scrabble?

 

A couple of weeks ago, we featured an article about Connected Communities, a charity that is helping lonely or vulnerable people to meet up or get help. They have helped two of the people in Cullompton to get together at the Hayridge to play Scrabble. Fancy joining them? If so, drop by on a Tuesday afternoon (around 2pm) and we'll sort something out. And we'll gladly buy any extra Scrabble sets needed to get you going, so there's no excuse!

 

Your Comments Appreciated!

Thanks to everyone who responded to our call for comments on the last blog post. We found out that we hadn’t correctly set up the Comments facility, and had to change the settings on Blogger to make it work properly. It’s still work in process, mind you, because the comment box doesn’t show unless you click on the link that says “2 comments” (or however many there happen to be) at the bottom of each post; we’d like to get it set up so the Comments box shows all the time. So if you know how to set up Blogger to do that, why not leave us a Comment…