Thursday 30 August 2012

Runcorn 'then and now'




Would you like to join us for a Slideshow of local photographs with commentary and discussion from local historians Charles Ford and Alex Cowan?  The event is at Halton Lea Library on Wednesday 12 September between 2 and 4pm.  It’s completely free and refreshments are provided.

Admission is by ticket only – to book your place please call Halton Lea Library on 0151 511 7744 or email Sally. 

Wednesday 29 August 2012

Hogwarts Hysteria at Halton Lea library



Families enjoyed, colour, cut and stick activities based on Harry Potter characters, adding their own innovations such as a very woolly-faced Crookshanks the cat. Fun was had with some games, pin the tail on scabbers, Ron’s musical chess board (variation on musical chairs), and team game of keeping the golden snitches (golden balloons) in the air. 

Friday 24 August 2012

Reading Families - The Davies Family


Meet the next of our Reading Families The Davies family from Widnes :John,Hazel,Steph,Jonathan and Ruby.
The family gave us a list of their thirty favourite reads and these are now on display in Widnes Library.

DAVIES FAMILY BOOK CHOICES

Frances Hodgson Burnett The Secret Garden
Victoria Hislop  The Island
Jane Eyre         Charlotte Bronte
Jodi Picoult Perfect Match

Kim Edwards Memory Keepers Daughter
Joanne Harris Chocolat
Charles Dickens Bleak House
Thomas Hardy Tess of the D'urbevilles
Louisa May Alcott Little Women
Phillips         World Atlas
Rudyard Kipling Just So Stories
David Attenborough Life on Earth
Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice
David Guterson Snow Falling on Cedars
Kathryn Stockett The Help
Gabriel Garcia Marquez Love in the Time of Cholera
Salman Rushdie Shame
Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest
Oliver Jeffers The Heart in the Bottle
Julia Donaldson Room on the Broom
Sam McBratney Guess How Much I Love You?
Michael Morpurgo Why the Whales Came
JK Rowling Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
JR Tolkein The Hobbit
Terry Pratchett The Colour of Magic
Robert Louis Stephenson Treasure Island
Charles Darwin On the Origin of Species
Margery Williams The Velveteen Rabbit
Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe
Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales

Thursday 23 August 2012

Summer Reading Challenge


Here is a picture taken at the latest Summer Reading Challenge event. This one was at Ditton library on Friday 10 August.  The theme of the event was 'Around the World'.  The children (and adults!) had lots of fun making fans, totem poles and peacocks.

Thursday 16 August 2012

Reading Families Project - The Rosneys


The Rosney family's collection
Meet the first of our Reading Families The Rosney family: Mark, Michelle and teenager Tom who signed up for the project. The family gave us a list of their thirty favourite reads and these are now on display in Halton Lea Library. When we asked then what reading meant to them Michelle said:

"I find it expands the imagination by transporting you to different times and places, it takes you to different worlds, places that you would never normally go, and with a good author you can picture their words in your head and see what they are describing. I love reading."

Mark added:

"Words on a page are like paints waiting to form pictures on the canvas of the mind. Reading makes us all artists, shaping our own internal landscapes in order to know ourselves better."

 Here are their choices for the Rosney collection:

Michelle
  • Scepticism Inc - Bo Fowler
  • The Waiting Room - G Cottham
  • The Tooth Fairy - Graham Joyce
  • The Beautiful Dead (1-4) - Eden Maguire
  • Vampire Diaries - L J Smith
  • On the Edge -  Richard Hammond
  • Anything Goes - John Barrowman
  • The Colour Purple - Alice Walker
  • Forrest Gump - Winston Groom
  • Gump & Co - Winston Groom
  • The Savage Garden - Mark Mills
Tom
  • Holes - Louis Sachar
  • Mass Effect: Deception - William C Dietz
  • Mass Effect: Ascension - Drew Karpyshyn
  • Mass Effect: Revelation - Drew Karpyshyn
  • Of Mice & Men - John Steinbeck
  • Star Wars: Imperial Commando - Karen Traviss
  • Watchmen (Graphic Novel) - Alan Moore
  • Halo: Ghost of Onyx = Eric Mylund
  • Nerd Do Well - Simon Pegg
  • The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S.Lewis
Mark
  • The Chrysalids - John Wyndham
  • Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
  • Cannery Row - John Steinbeck
  • The Technicolour Time Machine - Harry Harrison
  • Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C Clarke
  • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -  Douglas Adams
  • The Song of Phaid the Gambler - Mick Farren
  • The Forever War - Joe Haldemann
  • Radio Romance - Garrison Keiller
  • The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon




                                        Crafts around the world at Widnes library

                                        Around twenty people joined us for another fun day at Widnes as part of the Summer Reading Challenge.  Activities included colouring, making fans, totem poles, Indian headreses and peacocks.

                                        Children and staff were all excited and a bit tired by the end of the event, but everyone agreed they wouldn't have missed it.  We hope you were there.

                                        Book sale at Halton Lea library


                                        Our next book sale will be at Halton Lea library.  You can buy used books from just 20p.

                                        The sale is on Friday 24 August from 9am to 6.30pm and Saturday 25 August from 9am to 12.30pm.

                                        Summer Reading Challenge


                                        How have you been getting on with the Summer Reading Challenge?  Here is a picture of two of our readers who are amongst first finishers to receive their certificate for reading six books during the holidays.

                                        Wednesday 8 August 2012


                                        Reading Families

                                        Does your family love reading?

                                        Halton Libraries are looking for families to take part in an exciting new project which will allow you to share your family’s favourite books, not only locally, but with the online reading community.

                                        The project is part of a national scheme supported by The Reading Agency and the Publishers Association who are working with a number of different library services to explore creative ways in which to pass on our passion for reading to other readers via digital platforms such as websites, Twitter and Facebook.


                                        We are working with Lancashire library service, Time to Read and three publishers, Faber, Harper Collins and Raintree.

                                        As a family we’d ask you to choose 30 books to comment about and we will be highlighting these through displays in our libraries and as recommended reads on the library catalogue, blog and Facebook page. All three publishers will be supplying books for you to read and pass comment on as well.

                                        To nominate your family please contact janette.fleming@halton.gov.uk

                                        Friday 3 August 2012

                                        Digital job hub @ Halton library


                                        Fancy brushing up on your IT skills to help your job search? The digital job hub is every Friday at 10am at Halton Lea Library in meeting room 5. The job hub will help job seekers use the internet to search for jobs, apply online for benefits and create CVs using the National Careers Service website. Places are limited so you will need to book a place.  Call us on 511 7744 or email Helen.

                                        Thursday 2 August 2012

                                        Volunteer Ryan meets Malorie Blackman



                                        One of our MyVoice volunteers, Ryan Burns, travelled to London recently with Maria who is one of our librarians.  They joined other volunteers at the ReadingAgency headquarters and Ryan was lucky enough to meet Malorie Blackman who is the author of the popular Noughts and crosses series of novels.  Ryan joined a debate about how historic riots have affected the image of young people and, during the course of the day, joined a discussion on how volunteers are contributing to the work of public libraries around the countries.

                                        Ryan is a regular and much appreciated volunteer at Halton libraries and has helped us with the Summer Reading Challenge for younger children and with other events.  After Malorie gave him some valuable advice about writing, he took home a book that she signed for him.