Libraries across the country are facing cutbacks or closure, so National Libraries Day on Saturday (February 8) offers a welcome chance to celebrate your ‘local’ – in our case with cake, refreshments, a children’s book swap* and more.

Luckily Cobbett Road Library is still going strong, despite another round of cuts to its opening hours in 2013.

Not only is it a local library – and a rather lovely one at that with its art deco features – but it also serves as a base for a wide range of community groups throughout the week, from a toddler group to a Towns Womens Guild Craft Group, and from home educators to an art group.

There’s even a regular Tai Chi session, and you can attend a surgery with your local city councillor – although not necessarily at the same time!

Cobbett Road Library also has an active ‘Friends of’ group, which always welcomes new members, which works to protect the library, and which promotes events such as this one. Their website is here.

So if you haven’t visited your local library for a while – or maybe even ever? – then why not come along and say hello on National Libraries Day (Twitter hashtag: #NLD14), from 10.30-12.30pm at Cobbett Road Library.

* Book swap for children: children can bring one or two of their own books they no longer want but have looked after well and swap for a book another child has loved and looked after.