Burgess Road Library celebrates its 80th birthday on Saturday (June 19) from 11am, with a day of activities for all ages. Luise Pirie looks forward to the celebrations, and reflects on the librarys key role in the community.
The fun starts at 11am on Saturday and continues all day. There will be a visit from the County Sheriff, and local poet Rob Casey is coming along too; portswood.info understands he has even written a poem for the big day! There will the judging of the competitions for pictures and poems and 1930s music will be playing. A craft event is planned for the afternoon, and of course there will be the obligatory birthday cake and refreshments.
Burgess Road Library was purpose built in 1934 and opened in May 1935 to serve the local community and newly built housing estate we now know as the Flowers Estate. It was the first library in Southampton to house a dedicated childrens section, and to this day it welcomes a diverse community of local people. In fact, theres is so much more to this place than its title suggests: the notice boards offer a wealth of information on anything from up coming local events, to helpful organisations. During the week a health team member is even available for anyone to see in a relaxed atmosphere.
Managed superbly by Cath Brear and her team, you are guaranteed a warm welcome, and if youre stuck for something to read you can be recommended a variety of titles and authors, whatever genre you prefer. Cath, who is also a brilliant child entertainer, has a puppet called Jasper, who often tries (in vain!) to lend a hand. The library is also always beautifully decorated in various themes, all hand-made by Cath and her team. She also is rather adept at circus skills which keep even the most restless of children entertained! During any school holiday you can be sure that she has a variety of events planned in the library to keep the children amused. This years summer reading challenge is called mythical maze and takes place from July 12 until September 6; its free to register at any of the citys libraries.
A toy library is also based at Burgess Road and is celebrating a birthday this year too: it turns 40!
It opens:
Wednesdays 3:15pm onwards
Fridays 11:00am 12:30pm
Saturday 10:30am 12:00pm
Regular groups held at Burgess Road Library:
Mondays 5.30pm is the Spanish language café
Wednesdays (every other) 10:00am 12:00pm is the local reading circle
Fridays 10:45am is rhyme time for all preschool children
Saturdays 11:15am (every other) is story time and craft
Words and pics: Luise Pirie
