“Our pre-Easter Cake Sale and Café in the Library is coming up on April 12th 10am - 1pm  and we are looking for volunteers to man the café and to bake some cakes.  These sales are a regular source of income for the Friends and we use the money to keep the Library’s stock of books updated.  Horizons Bookshop in the Village are really great, they get the books for us and let us have them with a reasonable discount and it keeps the business in the village – so Burnham wins all round.  If you are not a baker, do come along and sample and buy, and even borrow a book, CD, DVD or two!

I was talking to somebody in the village this week who was asking about the children’s activities in the Library and was pleased to tell them about the wide range of things which our staff and volunteers offer for children of all ages, both paid and unpaid activities.  I was reminded of the conversation yesterday morning, when I was in the Library  and listened to the Bounce and Rhyme session and heard some rhymes and tunes from my own childhood (and some new ones!).  I wondered how many of those babies giggling with their mothers will take those rhymes on and be teaching them to their children, in the Library, in years to come.  It made my morning!”

For our very popular Annual Quiz
 
We'll  be holding our annual quiz on Friday May 23rd at the Library starting at 7.30pm. Doors will be open from 7.00pm.

Teams of up to eight people can enter and the entry fee is £8 for non members and £6 for members. The price will include a light supper during the interval. (Please bring your own drinks). A 50/50 raffle will be run during the evening and the prize for the winning team will be a £10 book token for each team member.

We hope to finish by 10.30pm. To enter a team please call Philip Everitt on 01628603930/07966040776 or contact us

A big thank you to our sponsors:

Burnham Garage the main event sponsor.

The following have sponsored a question round.

Thay are,

Glenn Flegg Estate Agents

Sherriff Mountford Estate Agents

Nisa Supermarket

Oberon Art

Josephines Beauty Salon

Horizons Book Shop

The Pines Hotel

We've had quite a few requests for the recipes from our recent Dickensian Evening.  Pat Hayman has kindly put some together for us. Click the page symbol in the bottom right corner to view and download

The Friends of the Library are now working with the Culture and Learning Department of the County Council in a partnership arrangement for the Management of Burnham Library.  The County will continue to maintain the staff, buildings and facilities, whilst the Friends will be seeking to offer as much financial support as is needed to maintain services at their present level.  This includes increasing the revenue of the Library from the organisation of events.

In connection with this, some good news!  We made an application to the Parish Council Community Fund for a Grant of £2000 towards the funding of children’s activities for the coming year, given that funding from the County is under great budgetary pressure and I am pleased to tell you that our application was successful.  As a result, we will be able to assist the Library to purchase much of the renewable material that they require to continue to provide the high level and quality of the activities which are offered for our children in the Village.

The Dickensian Fund Raising Evening on Friday, 28th February was attended by 53 Friends and friends!  The evening, compered most ably by Sue Mackenzie, had contributions from Christine Webb, who read some humorous passages from Dickens’ work and gave a short history of his life, whilst Darryl Boot (as Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a fellow Portsmouth lad and friend of Charles Dickens) talked about the exciting environment in which he and Dickens worked.  This was interspersed with a very entertaining and participative musical contribution from Sally Sharp with songs from “Oliver”.  With excellent food and wine, it proved to be a very successful evening, which raised some more money for the FoBL funds to support the Library.  Big thanks are due to the organising committee and Pat Hayman, aided by Barbara Rosenberg, who provided the catering.  As always we must acknowledge the invaluable contribution from the Library Staff without whose efforts, this would not have gone so smoothly.

Do have a look at our “Burnham Library in the Press” page and see what good coverage we have been getting in our local paper.

With the tremendous input of the Burnham Health Promotion Trust, we ran a very successful Healthy Living Week in the Library from the 4th to the 8th February, photos of which can be seen in the press links mentioned above.  As it was such a success, in response to demand from both attendees and exhibitors, we will be running another Week in 2015, slightly later in the year, to take advantage of what we hope will be better weather.  So watch out for further information.

Along with Healthy Living Week, a recruitment activity was run for Volunteers in the Library, firstly to help in the Library itself,  as well as in the Village Information Point and for the Police.  There is a decision that the police will have a presence in the Library in the next few months and will be using an office at the rear of the building for a daytime base for the Neighbourhood Officers supporting Burnham. 

We are looking at registering for Gift Aid and several other avenues to increase our income, so we can ensure that the library is able to continue its level of service and where possible improve it.  If you can persuade your friends and family to join the Friends of the Library, there is a membership application here which can be downloaded and handed in to the Reception Desk in the Library