Friends of Goring Library
FOGL News...
Library Opening Hours
Since September the Library opening hours returned to the same as before the pandemic. Monday mornings are staffed solely by volunteers so please do remember to bring your library card with you, as they do not have access to the library computer systems.
Festive Afternoon Tea & Farewell to Gill
On Wednesday 8 December from 3pm to 5pm, we will be holding an afternoon tea in the Canterbury Room, St Thomas’ Church. You might be wondering why we’re not doing one of our usual coffee mornings in the Library. Well, it’s because we’re expecting a larger than usual turn out for this event, as we’ll be taking the opportunity to say farewell to Gill Amos. She is retiring from the Library Service after many years of sterling service in both Goring and Woodcote Library as both a paid member of staff and a volunteer. I know that we will all miss her friendly face in the library on a Saturday morning and Tuesday evening.
The Advent windows have returned from 1st December
The trail map will be available from the Library from 29th November. The Library window will be no.1 and Kate will reveal the windows daily via the website. Enjoy following the trail each day.
🎄🎄 A Christmas Tree Frieze for the Library 🎄🎄
Would anyone like to make a Christmas Tree for the library? It can be knitted, crocheted, made of felt etc - NB it needs to have a loop at the top to hang it up. It should be approximately 20cms /8” tall (a knitting pattern is available at the library)
Please decorate it - and make as many as you’d like - bring them to the library by 1st December. The children will be making some at the library too. Take a look here for examples
We are pleased to let you know that Oxfordshire Libraries’ eBook short story competition is to run for an eighth year. To build on the brilliant response we had last year, we are once again including a children’s category, though the lower age limit has been raised to seven years old. Through these writing competitions, we are continuing to demonstrate how libraries support writing talent and at the same time promoting our popular eBook service.
This year’s competition will open for entries on Monday 6th December. Full details, including instructions for submitting a story, are now on the website. The closing date for entries is 27th February 2021.
If you know any budding writers, please make sure you let them know about the competition.
The prize for the winners in each category (children 7-11, young adult 12-17 & adult 18+) is to have their stories published and featured on Overdrive during 2022-23. The winning stories and runners up from 2021 have issued well and are currently featured on the Overdrive homepage.
Call for Volunteers
Residents across Oxfordshire have continued to benefit from the county’s home library service during the pandemic with 8,364 library books being delivered from April to December 2020.
Oxfordshire County Council’s home library service is offered free to users in partnership with Age UK to almost 800 residents of all ages. These residents are unable to visit libraries themselves through frailty, infirmity or a disability and have no other means of getting access to loaned products. It is also available to full-time carers and those who might need the service in the short-term following illness or hospitalisation.
The service depends on a team of around 180 volunteers who supply the users with loan items on visits every three weeks. The service matches its volunteers carefully to specific residents to allow the same volunteer to visit each time. During the pandemic the number of volunteers has dropped linked to the impacts of COVID-19.
Councillor Lorraine Lindsay-Gale, Cabinet Member for Education and Cultural Services, said: "As well as council staff, I would like to thank the dedication of our team of staff and volunteers who keep this service running and offer a very valuable resource to our residents who may otherwise be isolated. The home library service is about far more than books; it offers real and meaningful connections with residents whose needs may otherwise go unnoticed. Wherever you may live in Oxfordshire, the service would welcome new volunteers to help keep up the good work."
Home visits are supported by COVID-19 safety measures with staff wearing face coverings, gloves and/or hand sanitiser and remaining at least two metres at all times from customers to keep people safe. All items collected are quarantined for 72 hours before being allowed back into the library.
Residents can volunteer to join the home library service by emailing homelibraryservice@oxfordshire.gov.uk
or calling 01865 810259.
Oxfordshire County Council libraries are now providing home access to Ancestry Library Edition. This is courtesy of Proquest and their partner Ancestry. For licensing reasons, this is slightly different from other online services in that you will need to sign into your Library Account and click on the Ancestry link in order to gain access.
4-June-20
