CLOCH comes to Torfaen

Do you have an interesting story, photograph or information about the development of
Cwmbran New Town?

Read on to find out how your memories and memorabilia can become part of an important local research project...

Conserving Local Communities Heritage Project

The CLOCH project will be operating in South Wales for the next 3 years. It will establish partnerships with libraries, museums and archives and will offer 10 traineeships to unemployed young men in the South Wales area. The trainees will gain experience working in libraries, museums and archives and will hopefully gain employment in these sectors at the end of the project.

The training will cover 4 main areas:

• Digitisation
• Research and Local History
• Conservation and Collection Management
• Community Engagement

The first 3 trainees have been chosen and have now almost completed the first stage of their training at the Glamorgan Archives. They are ready to start phase 2 which will take place in Library services in Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent and Swansea.

Ben Bartlett, from Blaenavon, will be continuing his traineeship in Torfaen in April and will be based at Cwmbran Library. Ben will be gathering together an archive of stories, photographs and oral memories relating to the development of Cwmbran New Town. He would love to hear from anyone with information, photos or memories about the area. You can either send him details via post or email or arrange to come in and speak to him in person.

Please contact stephanie.morgan@torfaen.gov.uk and she will pass on your information to Ben when he joins us next month.

The CLOCH project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of the 'Skills for the Future' programme. visit the website 

Family History Day



On Wed 1st February Pontypool Library and Blaenavon Museum will be joining forces to host a Family History Day. It will be held in the new Community Room in Pontypool Library between 10.00am and 1.00pm.

If you would like help with your family tree please come along to this free event. Staff from the museum will be there to offer expert advice and tell you about the great success stories they've had in tracing the relatives of local people. There will be a display of some of the interesting discoveries they have made.

There will be plenty of information and advice from staff and FREE access to Find My Past while you are in the library. Find My Past has detailed census records from 1841 to 1911 plus Birth, Marriage and Death indexes and many local records from around the UK.

If you join the library you will be able to come in any time to use the free version of Find My Past - it is always a good idea to book a computer in advance as we do get quite busy.

We also hold a regular Family History session every Thurs at Blaenavon Library 10.30 - 1.00.
You are welcome to come along to this too!

New Year - new start

From 24th Jan Cwmbran Library will be offering Learndirect courses.

Every Tuesday between 10.00 and 12.00 there will be a tutor available to help you enrol and progress through your chosen course.

There are courses on many subjects including: Computers & IT, Maths, Languages and business related subjects.
You can start at a low level and work up to NVQ (equivalent to 2 A levels)

Have a look at the Learndirect website...

In many cases your course will be free of charge.

To find out more please come along to our

Training Skills and Information Day

Cwmbran Library

12th January

1.00 - 6.00pm

This event will be also be very useful if you are looking for work, a change of career, training opportunities or a volunteer placement.

If you can't make this event please contact the library for further details regarding Learndirect.

Christmas is almost here...


If you need some inspiration for your Christmas preparations - look no further. The library is full of fantastic cookery books including Nigella. Love or hate her she has some fantastic recipes for Christmas...

or how about Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall?

We also have lots of Christmas craft books in the adult and Junior libraries so you can get the whole family involved.

Create the perfect Christmas with a little help from us...

The Libraries will close on 

Friday 23rd Dec 12.00pm and re-open on Tues 3rd January.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our customers!

E-Books now available in Torfaen Libraries

Torfaen Libraries are now working in partnership with other South Wales authorities to provide a new free e-Book service.

Visit the new website at  www.torfaen.gov.uk/libraries and  follow the link to eBooks for Wales. You will need to be registered with Torfaen libraries, and have a PIN attached to your record. 

The service offers a wide range of titles, including biographies, travel guides, self-help books, a wide variety of fiction titles and even children’s books, and may be downloaded to selected

e-readers, as well as your computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone.  You may borrow up to four books for up to three weeks, after which they will disappear from your device.

No overdue fines, browse when the library is closed and choose from thousands of regularly updated titles.

YULE feel better...

If you need a break from your Christmas shopping, why not pop into Cwmbran Library on Thurs 8th Dec between 10.00am and 1.00pm and pick up some great ideas on how to keep healthy.

This will be a great opportunity for a bit of 'you' time.

• Stress tests 
• Blood pressure test 
• Consultations with Headstrong
• Make-overs
• Complementary therapies
• Refreshments 

and much more...

No need to book a place - just pop in.

A partnership between Torfaen Libraries and Macmillan Cancer Support

Macmillan Cancer Support has a dedicated information area at Cwmbran Library and there are now Macmillan Information Points at Blaenavon and Pontypool Libraries.
 
We provide lots of free information about anything to do with cancer. This includes books, leaflets, CDs and DVDs and some recommended websites. There is also some information to help children who are affected. All this information can be accessed during normal library opening hours.
 
We aim to provide a source of support by helping with all the things people affected by cancer want and need. It’s not only the patient who lives with cancer so this support is also available to the carers, families and friends, (& you don’t need to be a Torfaen resident to use the service)
 
We will support and listen to people affected by cancer by offering confidential one to one sessions to provide:

• Someone to talk to
• Help with finding and understanding cancer-related information
• Benefits awareness
• Sign-posting to other organisations such as self-help support groups
• Guided access of IT resources and internet sites

These sessions are accessed on a drop in basis as follows:
 

Cwmbran Library

Monday  -  9.30am -  4pm
Tuesday  -  9.30am - 12noon
Friday  -  9am - 4pm
 

Blaenavon Library

Tuesday  -  2pm - 4pm
 

Pontypool Library

Thursday  -  9.30am - 4pm
 
(Appointments can be arranged outside of these times)
 
To find out more, or if you want to talk to the co-ordinator, Norah Williams,
you can ask the library staff for further details or call 01633 647654
or email: macmillan.cwmbran@torfaen.gov.uk|
 
Further information is available at http://www.macmillan.org.uk/| or contact 0808 808 00 00
  

Macmillan Co-ordinator
Tel: 01633 647654