Once upon a time the sounds of a library would be hushed voices and just a murmur of turning pages. At times, it felt respectful and at other times oppressive. Especially when I’ve just found my favourite author and there’s a title of theirs I haven’t read. I’ll squeal in happiness and immediately want to tell someone, but the closest person is too far away to whisper to, so I’d have to hold in my joy until we were outside.
These days, things are very different, take for example the sounds of Bream Community Library on a typical Saturday morning.
There is the throw of the multifaceted dice and a table wide groan as the young men of the Dungeons and Dragons group puzzle their way through another adventure. The click of the mouse as someone works away on the library computers. You hear conversations at the reception desk as a customer is helped with renewing their books and is helped to reserve a book they’re interested in reading.
The children’s library is awash with children’s voices as they sound out words in a brightly coloured picture books. A mum and her children crowded on a bean bag reading a story together. There is the unmistakable sound of Lego being built at the child sized table, and stomping little feet as they scamper about picking up some pieces that fell off.
Gone are the days of quiet libraries….but in their place is something way better, in my humble opinion. The whispers have morphed into joy and colour and thewide happy eyes of little ones having fun at the Library. It’s beautiful thing.
Once we knew this we set about creating activities based on this theme. So what did we come up with? Beano bingo, DIY comic strip characters, charades, joke telling and lots of other Beano related activities. I think the Bingo went down best with prizes of Whoopee Cushions, sweeties and classic Beano comics! Completion of the challenge (which means 3 visits and 6 books read by parent/child) ensured a place at the award giving which meant each child got a gold Mischief Makers medal as well as a certificate and a little pack of goodies. They also enjoyed a story time provided by the Dogs Trust as a special treat.
