Book Week

 Book Week Scotland 2013  is a celebration of books and reading and it starts tomorrow, Monday 25th November. There will be a series of events at the Orkney Library and Archive featuring local and visiting writers as follows:

Monday 25th November  - Alison Miller in the MacGillivray Room at 7pm

 Wednesday 27th November - Bloody Scotland on Tour in the MacGillivray Room at 6.30pm 

 Thursday 28th November - Denise Mina in the MacGillivray Room at 7pm

These events are all free but ticketed so please ring the Library on 01856 873166 to book a space. 

There will also be be the following free family events in the Orkney Library and Archive,  which do not need to be booked in advance - just turn up on the day:

Friday 29th November - Book Week Scotland Bookbug session at 10.30am in the MacGillivray Room - Dress up as your favourite book character

Saturday 30th November - Winter Storyblanket session at 10.30am in the Carnegie Room

In Stromness we'll be hosting our regular Reading Group meeting on Wednesday 30th November but tomorrow we'll be doing something really special by combining all our favourite things at once - we're going to have a Book Week Tea Party! 

Come along between 3-5pm and join us for tea, coffee and cake! 

There's no charge, but if you would like to make a donation to the Scottish Spina Bifida Association there will be a collecting tin on the table and all donations will be gratefully received. 

So come along to the library and enjoy a cup of tea and something yummy - Carol is bringing her famous meringues so come early to avoid disappointment!  And remember to bring your knitting so you can stay on for Yap and Yarn, which will meet upstairs from 5pm - 7pm. 

Happy Book Week to you all!

Scottish Book Trust

Orkney Digital Library

We may be the oldest library in Scotland, but Orkney Library and Archive has never been afraid to embrace modern ideas, and use technology to overcome the challenges of delivering a first rate library services to all its members accross the islands.

So it was only a matter of time before we found a way to offer our readers the latest way of accessing books via digital downloads of ebooks and audiobooks. Now you  browse our online digital catalogue from the comfort of your armchair and use your library card to download your choice of ebook or audiobook onto your computer -  from which you can transfer it to a variety of mobile devices, including iPods, iPads and e-readers.

Now that really is a Home Library Service when you can choose your books wearing your pyjamas with a cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit in hand!

It's Showtime!

Well it's that time of the year again folks when we close up the library for the day, and join the throng heading for Dounby and the delights of the Dounby Show!

Tomorrow, Thursday 9th August sees the West Mainland Agricultural Society's annual agricultural show, an event which was first held in 1891, with the usual mix of livestock, agricultural exhibits and attractions to look forward to.

If you would like to learn more about the history of the Dounby Show you can borrow our copy of Showyard on the Heather by George T. Wylie which, in the words of Bill Hewison ,who wrote the book's foreword, is:

...more than just a history of the Dounby Show - it's the story of Orkney farming over the last hundred years and in particular of the West Mainland folk themselves and how they band together in good neighbourliness to get things done.

However you'll have to contain your enthusiasm and wait until Friday to borrow the book,  as tomorrow you'll be disappointed to find the library closed while we partake of all the delights the Dounby show has to offer.

For those of you less interested in livestock and more interested in what happens to wool once it has been removed from the sheep, then there is also the 114th West Mainland Flower, Produce and Industrial Show. With classes for everything, from pot plants to clootie dumplings and a Juvenile Section which includes edible necklaces and decorated buns, the standard will be high and the competition fierce! The show, which is being held in the Dounby Centre, opens this evening from 7pm -9pm and tomorrow from 10am -5pm.

So enjoy the shows - we'll be open again on Friday 10th August as normal and will try to put up some photos, so that those of you who don't make it to Dounby tomorrow don't feel too left out.

St Magnus Festival

Tomorrow sees the start of the St Magnus International Festival 2012. With lots of exciting events, from a production of Carmen at the Orkney Auction Mart to the chance to join in with the CLIC Sargent sponsored Street Conga, as usual there is something to suit all tastes.

Festival events take place in many venues through out the islands but we thought you might like to hear about those taking place in Stromness. These begin on Friday 22nd June with an event at an exciting new festival venue,when the Ness Battery hosts It Ain't Half Cold Mum. This is the first venue on a tour by a concert party of singers, a magician and musicians who will re-visit the haunts of the ENSA troupes of the Second World War, with a show which promises to take the audience back to the 1940's.

On Saturday there is a reading by Festival Poet Alice Oswald in Stromness Parish Church at 11am, and at 2.30pm there is a Celebrity Recital by mezzo-soprano Catherine Wyn-Rogers, accompanied by James Baillieu on piano in Stromness Town Hall. Then at 5pm in the Stromness Academy Lecture Theatre there is A Johnsmas Foy entitled The Young Ones, performed by young folk from Orkney. Then on Sunday 24th June in the Stromness Town Hall the Aronowitz Ensemble will perform works by Judith Weir, Korngold and Shostakovich at 2.30pm.

But perhaps the event we are most excited about will take place on Sunday at 4.30pm in the Stromness Hotel when the participants from the Orkney Writers' Course will read from the work they have produced during the course; which starts on Thursday 21st and is directed by Pam Beasant and Jen Hadfield. The event is called "Poems with tunes, tea and cake" - how could we resist all our favourite things at one event?!

Jubilee Celebrations

Time to remind you that the Stromness Library  will be closed on Tuesday 5th June due to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations.

But never fear, for the good folk of Stromness have planned lots of fun things to fill the day, and help you to celebrate in right Royal style.

At 11am there will be a Scavenger Hunt for all ages, followed by a tea party fit for a Queen from 12 noon until 2pm. Then in the afternoon there will be two children's parties, the first from 2.30pm-3.30pm for children in nursery - primary 2 , and a second from 3.30pm-5pm for children in primary 3 - Primary 7.

All events will be in the Stromness Town Hall and folk are encouraged to wear a splash of red, white or blue for fun.

Tea, cake and a scavenger hunt? How could we resist?!