This has been a very busy week for me. On Monday I visited the brand new Thame Library, near Oxford, on their opening day. I had a lot of fun telling stories an getting people to draw pictures. I had family close by, so I was a bit inundated with grand nieces and nephews, which was quite interesting! I managed to frighten my grand-nephew, Bobby, so much he had to leave! That’s the power of my Little Horrors stories, I suppose!

The Library is squeaky new and had loads of people waiting for it to open. I believe 1 in 10 people in Thame visited!

Thanks for looking after me and good luck to you all and I hope you enjoy the Library after you have all settled down from the move

Quite a few people are being sent over to this post by the wonderful Peters Library Service Newsweaver, so I feel I should perhaps say some more about the new Thame library. It wonderfully open and light and airy and, most importantly, it has a really good position, a few metres away from the top of the High Street and very close to abundant parking, so it really is at the heart of the community. This is one asset that is going to be so important for individual libraries in the chilly economic future. Footfall and usage will count so much in the struggle to keep libraries open, so please make sure you go through your library’s door and take something out – preferably a book.

I only have one complaint! Gasp! There are no posters on the walls or even a noticeboard. I didn’t quite understand the logic for this as I was interrupted during the explanation and didn’t get to follow it up. The children’s section has a small noticeboard hidden where it won’t offend or be found. It seems odd that a centre of information would want to avoid posting local information, but I suppose there’s a good reason behind it.

The staff are all very hard-working, friendly, welcoming and very pleased with their new home. The shelves are all nicely spaced, allowing free room to wander and browse. The mezzanine floor is set up as a teen and study area and all in all, the citizens of Thame should consider themselves very lucky to have a wonderful new, throbbing heart at the centre of their community. Good luck and enjoy!

Here is a little video I did on the day with my new iPhone. It’s a bit jerky as I was the first video I did with it. They should get better!

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