Who do you think you are? Find out and lots more at Torfaen Libraries

We had a great summer here in Torfaen Libraries. The “Creepy House” summer reading challenge for children proved be one of our most popular ever. Don’t forget if you haven’t completed the challenge you still have until 14th September to get the last of your 6 books back to the library and be entered into the prize draw for a brand new bike and safety helmet.

We’re rounding off the summer reading challenge with a great Creepy House Fun Day for everyone who took part. This will be held at Pontypool Active Living Centre on the 21st September.There'll be lots of things to do including circus skills; space hopper races and the prize draw for the bike will be made.  Why not get in the party mood and dress up Creepy House style?

Invitations to the Creepy House Fun Day will be sent out soon.

I can’t believe it’s almost autumn and the leaves will soon be changing colour and falling from the trees. The children are starting back to school with their brand new pencil cases and lunch boxes and it’s time to start thinking about projects and homework. 

With that depressing thought in mind, remember that you can get homework help at Cwmbran Library’s Homework Room (Saturdays 9.30am – 4pm). 

All our libraries have great collections of information books to help you with your homework and that exciting school project you’re just about to start. You can also use the library computers to search the internet; use our free online resources, including Britannica Online which will have the answers to all your homework questions and also Word, and PowerPoint to create impressive presentations.

Don’t forget the younger members of the family and keep them entertained while their older brothers and sisters are in school with Under Fives Story times; Welsh Story times and Baby Rhyme times:

Cwmbran Library
Under Fives Story Time – Mondays 2 – 2.45pm
Baby Rhyme Time – Fridays 10 – 10.30am

Pontypool Library
Baby Rhyme Time – Wednesdays 2.15 – 2.45pm
Welsh Story Time – Fridays 10.30 – 11.30am (term time only)

Blaenavon Library
Under Fives Story Time – Tuesdays 2.15 – 3pm
Baby Rhyme Time – Thursdays 2.15 – 2.45pm (term time only)

For those adults about to embark on a new course, hobby or interest we've got the resources to help you get started. You’ll find books to help you learn a new language, sport, craft or perhaps improve your cooking skills. On that note the new Jamie Oliver book “Save with Jamie: Shop Smart, Cook Clever, Waste Less” has just hit the library shelves. Why not reserve it for free and be among the first to get your hands on it! 

Have you been watching BBC's " Who Do You Think You Are"? Has it inspired you to look into your own family tree? If this is an interest you would like to develop you might like to know that you can use "Ancestry", the world's largest genealogy website,  free of charge in all Torfaen Libraries and get research help at our Family History sessions in Blaenavon Library (Thursdays 10.30am - 1pm).

How Torfaen Libraries do Summer..

How Torfaen Libraries do Summer...

The first thing I would like to say is that I am loving this sunny, warm weather. When I drive to the library in the morning it feels like I am in another part of the world. (not that I would want to be anywhere else. Honest!)

At the library we are keen to help you with anything Summer might bring. For example what are you going to do to occupy the kids for 6 weeks?  The library has a lot to offer:

• SPOOKY HOUSE Summer Reading Challenge starts Sat 13th July. Come along to the library and enrol any time in the first couple of weeks. There are freebies and fun things to do all the way through plus one lucky winner from Torfaen will take home a brand new bike and cycle helmet. Fantastic!

Summer Reading Challenge information here...

• KIDS TAKE OVER THE LIBRARY event Mon 22 July 11.00-3.00. Face painting, balloon modelling, circus skills and much more...

Check out our Facebook page for more details

• STORY & CRAFT SESSIONS for 5 - 11 year olds:

Blaenavon Every Thursday 2.30pm 

Pontypool Every Tuesday 2.30pm

Cwmbran Every Tuesday and Thursday 10.30am

• RHYMETIME for babies and toddlers

Blaenavon Every Tuesday 2.15pm
Pontypool Every Wednesday 2.15pm
Cwmbran Every Friday 10.00am


...and what about for the grown-ups?

If you are not already a member of the library and you join before 8th August, you could win 2 tickets for a day at the WELSH OPEN GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP at the Celtic Manor Resort which runs from 29th to 31st August. 'What if I am already a member?' I hear you cry. Then why not get a friend to join and make them promise to give you the second ticket. Easy.

Follow this link and learn how to enter

You could also WIN A KOBO GLO! Tell us what your favourite Summer read is this year and you could win a fabulous ereader. The Kobo supports library ebooks and staff will be happy to show you how to download your first book.

Here's how to enter

And if all that isn't enough we also have a huge selection of all your favourite reads for popping into your suitcase or reading in the back garden. Choose from bestsellers, classics, books on gardening, cookbooks, holiday guides, language courses, phrase books and more.

Library website

We look forward to seeing you soon. :)

World Book Night AND Shakespeare's birthday on the same day! How amazing is that?

What do we know about 

William Shakespeare?

We know that he was supposedly born on 23rd April 1564 and died on 23rd April 1616. Rotten luck dying on your birthday, or perhaps it was a wonderfully dramatic and poetic time for him to lay down his quill on that blotting paper in the sky... 'The wheel is come full circle.'

He was born in Stratford Upon Avon, married Anne Hathaway when he was only 18 and had three children. His work as a prolific playwright took place mainly in London but in latter years he returned to Stratford, where he died aged only 52. In his will he left his wife his "second-best bed". This has sparked interesting debate ever since. Personally I would have been slightly miffed. But he must have had his reasons.  'Expectation is the root of all heartache'

During his career he wrote 37 plays that we know of. There could have been more which were either not kept or have not been properly identified as his. There are 5 narrative poems and some 154 sonnets attributed to Shakespeare. 
'Shall I compare thee to a Summer's Day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.'

As his success grew he was able to contribute a large percentage of the cost of building The Globe Theatre in 1599. His audience included people from every walk of life, right up to Queen Elizabeth I herself. 

He deliberately made his plays accessible to rich and poor alike. You didn't need to be able to read and could get cheap entry as a 'groundling' where you would stand in front of the stage in the open air. His plays were entertaining, but also explored politics, religion and morality. He 'enlightened' the playgoers. 'I say there is not darkness but ignorance'

Shakespeare was a wonderful observer of people and used his skill with words to tell wonderful stories based on human emotions and experiences: love, hate, passion, jealousy, power, betrayal and death. These topics are still evident in today's literature, film, soap operas and even cartoons.

Our tastes may have changed in some ways, but we still love a good story - particularly one about human nature. Shakespeare was a genius in his field and we should never shy away from his work on the grounds that it is difficult to understand. The language is 400 hundred years old but as relevant as the day it was written.

This is my advice if you are an aspiring, 'toe in the water' kind of Shakespeare fan: Go and see a good production of a classic such as Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth or King Lear and lose yourself in the story. You could also watch the film 'Shakespeare in Love' whilst not necessarily factual, gives an insight into the writer's life and the period in which he lived. It doesn't hurt that he is portrayed by the rather dishy Joseph Fiennes sporting a full head of hair.

Happy birthday Shakey <3

How will you be celebrating?

Shakespeare's Birthday Website

A Day in the Life of... PONTYPOOL LIBRARY

A 'behind the scenes' view of working in a public library

Monday morning - oh hang on, we're closed on a Monday. Pop over to Blaenavon or Cwmbran and I'll see you again tomorrow...

Tuesday morning - Hello! Welcome to Pontypool Library.

Croeso y  Llyfrgell Pontypwl.

If you have never been here before I will give you a quick guided tour before we get started.

 This is our lovely new computer suite before the customers arrive.

And here is the children's area before the children arrive.

All our lovely new books waiting to be read.

Blu-ray and premier DVDS for hire

Tuesdays are always busy. We have a small queue of customers who rush in as we open the doors. Lots have books to return then wander off to search for their replacements. Some want to check their emails and others start typing up cvs. A few read the morning papers and sit quietly absorbed in the day's news.

The delivery of books arrives in bright red boxes. We start to check them in and sort them ready to be shelved or put aside for a customer. The new books are tempting, but I already have 20 library books out. Some partially read, others waiting their turn. I will resist these today...

Customer enquiries are different every day, it is part of what makes our job so interesting! We have been asked many weird and wonderful things over the years. I think my favourite request to date is 'Do you have any books on hypnotism? I want to hypnotise my dog'. Today's enquiries are more straightforward and we are able to help everyone find or order books, give directions to the local museum and lots more.

At 10.00am the computer drop-in sessions begin in our lovely Community Room downstairs. Library staff and our volunteer assist learners who are either complete beginners or who have a particular topic they need help with.

In the afternoon people start to arrive for the Employment Support group which is organised by staff from Bridges into Work. They can get help with online applications, CVs and interview techniques.

On the front desk the day is spent helping customers, answering the phone, ordering books from other libraries around Wales, tidying shelves, sending emails and faxes, helping customers with computers and photocopying and dealing with general enquiries.

The library is open until 7pm tonight and we have people calling in on their way home from work to choose a new film on blu-ray or DVD. Skyfall and Possession have been popular since they arrived. I am waiting for Anna Karenina to be returned. We get the new films on the day they are released, so we are always up to the minute.
At 6.55pm the public computers automatically shut down with the familiar Windows tune heralding the close of day. Customers begin to leave. Soon it is quiet and empty again apart from staff chatting about their day and their plans for the rest of the evening. We pile on layers of clothing - there is an icy wind tonight. The library is locked up for the night and we will all be back again in the morning for another busy day

Thanks for visiting us today. Please call again soon.
xx