Family history event

Halton Libraries recently hosted an ‘Introduction to census and certificates’ event for people interested in researching their family tree. Linda Clarke, from Cheshire Record Office, talked to attendees about birth, marriage and death certificates and also census returns.

Family history is becoming more and more popular, with programmes such as ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ promoting genealogy. However, it is often difficult to start from scratch so this event aimed to provide an insight into how to begin your family tree.

Linda demonstrated many websites to attendees, some available free of charge and some available free through Halton Libraries, such as the popular Ancestry website. Individual questions were also answered; helping people who had begun their family tree research but had become stuck. She also demonstrated how to use the different websites to find out more information about families, using famous Widnesian Thomas Mottershead’s family.

Halton Libraries subscribe to the Ancestry and Findmypast websites, both of which contain census & births, marriages and death indexes. Visit any library in Halton today to find out more about accessing these websites.

Halton Libraries Teen Literature Festival

Why not join us at the Halton Teen Literature Festival?

Our feature event is a vote for your favourite book from the six that have been shortlisted. And just to help you, here is a bit about each book

Julie Hearn - Rowan the Strange
Rowan didn’t mean to scare his sister. He knows he’s a bit different but is he dangerous? In his right mind he wouldn’t hurt a fly. They say that there’s somewhere he can go to get his mind fixed. What experiments will he be subjected to?

Patrick Ness - The Ask and the Answer
What would it be like if everyone could hear your thoughts? Tod has escaped the nightmare of this constant noise and now he is carrying the dreadfully wounded Viola straight into the hands of the enemy. They are separated and he is imprisoned. What will he do?

Terry Pratchett - Nation
A giant wave destroys the entire nation. Mau seems to be all alone after losing his family and friends. But he meets Daphne, the daughter of a colonial Governor who has survived a shipwreck. How will they get on in this new world?

Louise Renison - Are these my basoomas I see before me?
Will Georgia escape the cakeshop of luuurve? Will the Sex God pop up again unexpectedly? And what about the accidental snogmaster? This is the last instalment of Georgia’s hilarious diary. Oh, so many boys – which will she choose?

Tim Bowler - Bloodchild
Will lies in a deserted lane. He only knows that he’s had an accident and his life is slipping away. He survives! But he’s lost his memory. He knows the truth is out there – but where?

Marcus Seddgwick - Revolver
The year is 1910 and it’s a cabin near the Arctic Circle. Sig is all alone except for his father who died earlier that day after he fell through the ice. There’s a knock at the door and a man there holding a gun. What happens next?

You can vote at here, at our online survey or why not meet our Facebook friends and vote there?

The winner will be announced at Widnes library on Wednesday 27th October at 6.00pm.

We’d love to see you there!

Pages Ago

Pages Ago is a new history promotion taking place in public libraries across North West England from May to November 2010. The promotion includes a varied range of author visits, readers’ days and events with a historical theme.

To promote reading Pages Ago has paired up fiction and non-fiction books to appeal to a wide range of readers. So, for example, Robert Harris’ foreboding thriller, Pompeii, is recommended alongside Simon Baker’s critically acclaimed, Ancient Rome, which explores the rise and fall of the first super power. Pages Ago would love to receive reviews on any of the promoted books or suggestions of other interesting pairings which could be included in the promotion.

Pages Ago also includes ‘Flashback Fiction’ a writing competition open to anyone living in the North West. Simply weave a historical tale of no more than 500 words and submit on-line at www.time-to-read.co.uk The winning entry from the region will receive £100. Budding younger writers can enter the under 16’s section to win book tokens. Local prizes will also be offered. A pick of the best entries will be published on the Time to Read website.

Read all about the launch in Liverpool at jane-time-to-read.blogspot.com

Fire Fighters in the Library

The day started with our rhymetime session but with a difference. This session was hosted with Carla Higgins from HLE library and FF Nick Bryson from our local Runcorn and Cheshire fire station. FF Nick visited HLE library with other FF members to highlight awareness of fire safety within the home. Runcorn and Cheshire FF’s visit many schools within the borough and run many projects such as RESPECT for teenagers as well as the Runcorn and Cheshire cadets and the Prince’s Trust project.

Visiting HLE is a significant integration initiative for both Library and Fire services to highlight what each service and resource provides.

The Rhymetime was a complete success; the children had a lovely time singing FF themed nursery rhymes and listening to ff books like Hugo the flying fireman and fireman sam. The children also enjoyed ff themed crafts and colouring in. FF Nick joined in with all the activities and answered any questions raised from the children.

The FF’s had a stand set up in the coffee bar for the day and gave advice to anyone with questions relating to fire safety, they also booked appointments to visit homes within the community and asses safety issues.

Two lectures were also held by the FF’s; the first was a prevention, detection and vulnerable people talk hosted by Steve Twigg who is the lead advocate for the FF service. The lecture highlighted things that are easily overlooked within the home that can become a danger to young and vulnerable people things like candles burning through acrylic baths (keep in candleholders or trays). Also materials such as oxygen in the home can have devastating impacts when mixed with flammable products, even products not considered flammable can become dangerous when combined with oxygen saturation. Steve also demonstrated Fire detectors used by people with hearing and visual difficulties called the Fire Angel. Overall this was a very interesting lecture and Steve received many enquiries as a result.

The second lecture was hosted by Kate Pope from Halton Borough Council’s environmental health department who discussed bonfires and the law both public and private. Kate also talked about the dangers of dark smoke and how to detect and report in to the department. Again another interesting lecture of great benefit to the public and FF’s.

The day lasted until 4pm with FF’s at the stand giving out valuable advice and fun FF freebies for children and informative leaflets for the public.

Children's services

Halton libraries is very proud to have possibly the world's youngest library member on it's books! Noel Harris, a janitor at Halton Lea library, signed his little grandson, Charlie Harris, up to the library services when he was just 8 hours old! In an article in The Liverpool Echo, Noel says 'My whole family understands the importance of reading and the earlier children get comfortable around books the better'.

We totally agree with what Noel says and have lots of events for little ones. 3 of our libraries hold Rhymetime events, a fun time for little tots to be read a story, sing songs and play games. Rhymetime is held at the following times:

Ditton Library - Every Wednesday, 10.30am to 11.30am
Halton Lea Library - Every Thursday, 10am to 11am
Widnes Library - Every Wednesday, 1.30pm to 2.30pm
 

Rhymetime is a free and fun time for kids from birth to 4 years to get involved in the library. For more info, visit the Rhymetime page on our website. We also work together with Bookstart to get children involved in the library from a very young age.
 

 
For older children, we have a great children's library area in each of our libraries, stocking the latest books for every age range. Visit our Children's Library page to find out before about the different services we can provide for children.

The TV book club

Last night saw the much awaited launch of The TV Book Club on More4. Brought to us by the woman behind the Richard & Judy Book Club, Amanda Ross, The TV Book Club is a weekly ten-part series that each week reviews a different book. If you missed the first show last night, you can still catch it on Channel 4 today at 12:05pm.

Yesterday's show covered The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters, which is described as a 'A beautifully crafted post-war ghost story.' Over the next 10 weeks, The TV Book Club will cover books ranging from thrillers, non-fiction, humour and everything inbetween. For a full list and more details of the books that will be discussed, visit The TV Book Club website here. Of course, all the books are available through Halton Libraries. Drop into your local library to pick up a copy of any of the books, or reserve them online at the Halton Libraries website.

Our Reading Groups

We’ve got some great books for our Readings Groups to get stuck into this year. With novels from renowned authors like Carlos Ruiz Zafon as well as debuts such as The Rescue Man by Liverpool author Anthony Quinn there's something to appeal to everyone.

The groups are proving really popular and several are now full, however, you can add your name to the waiting list and we'll let you know when a place becomes available or a new group is started. Contact Trudy Jones to find out more.

Here’s a sneak preview of what we’ll be reading;

The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Set in Barcelona in the early 20th century this macabre Gothic novel centres on a young journalist whose talent leads him to become a successful novelist. Before long it turns into an intricate tale of love, murder and obsession. With touches of Wilkie Collins, Dickens and even the Penny Dreadfuls - it’s a real page-turner.

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel – Winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize. Mantel’s retelling of English history between 1527 to 1535 with Cromwell as the hero succeeds in making this well-known subject both gripping and, on occasion, shocking to the reader. It can also be very funny at times. Read Times review.

The Boy With the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne – This simple, yet hugely affecting, tale of the holocaust is told from the perspective of the 9 year old son of a Nazi commandant who is both innocent to and ignorant of what is happening around him. The Guardian describe it as a ‘small wonder of a book' - see what you think. Read Guardian review

If you would like to start your own reading group we’d love to hear from you. Please contact Janette Fleming