I heart libraries…

Apologies for my little rant last night. Possibly should have just ranted as a word document, and then deleted it, but it’s out there now!

Normal service is now resumed…

Aren’t libraries BRILLIANT..?!!

I LOVE them.

Jam-packed full of beautiful, informative, fun, absorbing, mind-expanding books.

And it’s free!

This is my haul from our latest trip to the library:

This book is fantastic! Not only does it have some great recipes and ideas form homemade gifts, but also tells you how to make the boxes and bags for them to go in-Make Do and Mend heaven! I love this book, and am going to try and track down a copy of it secondhand. That is the beauty of libraries-you can ‘try before you buy’-if it’s fab and you want to do loads of the projects, and can’t cram them all into 3 weeks, then you can always try and track down your own copy, and if it’s rubbish, then it cost you nothing!

Another great book, for my newfound addiction love of crochet. It has projects using things like garden twine and string!

This is a gorgeous book, with lots of ideas for applique and sewing and some great templates to use.

Another one to peruse for crocheting inspiration!

Can you sense a theme here at all..?!

I love a bit of chick-lit and often need a bit of non crafty reading at night to encourage my brain to switch off!

Our local library seems to have regular buy ins and clear outs (and sells off books for 50p), so you can usually find some pretty up to date books-I tend to frequent the crafting and cooking sections, and am always impressed at the selection-their buyer must have their finger on the pulse…! They will also order in nearly anything you could wish for, for a small reservation fee.

As well as free books, libraries are also a great place to go to get online (again, for free) if you need to, to sit and read the paper, to learn to use the internet, and to rent DVDs and CDs.

The Smalls love the library too-we will often while away an hour or two (especially if it’s raining!) in there-reading, and picking out books, while SmallSmall does his best to re-categorise the entire children’s section….

Our library run a free rhyme-time session every week (I think most libraries do something similar), for pre-school aged children to attend, and sing and dance and read the odd book.

And at Christmas, they ran a really lovely Pyjama Story-time, where all the kids wore their PJs, bought teddies and torches, and ventured out after dark for Christmas stories and singing-it was fantastic, and FREE!!

I am also VERY excited that the Upcycling workshop I am running for the Wiltshire Waste Watchers campaign will be held in my local library! Libraries are amazing, and even more so when they can get involved in the local community too.

So we should all support our local libraries, it would be a travesty if we were to lose them through a lack of funding-they are so important for our children, and our communities.

Libraries-what’s not to love?!