Roll up, roll up, the circus is in town!

So the summer holidays are here at last, hopefully to be accompanied by the summer weather we have all been patiently waiting for!

For our younger readers the start of the summer holidays also means the start of this year's library Summer Reading Challenge and this year we are off to the circus with Circus Stars.

The challenge is to read six books during the holidays.  For each two books you read there is a set of stickers to collect which you can use to decorate your very own circus stage and help the Circus Stars to progress  through Practice and Rehearsal to their ultimate goal – Showtime!

Visit the Circus Stars website at www.circus-stars.org.uk to join in the fun with games and activities. Register with the site and create your own avatar, keep track of the books you are reading and share your thoughts about them with other Circus Stars, you may even meet some famous authors.

So come along to the library and pick up your Circus Stars joining card and stage set,  get practicing those circus skills - and enjoy reading some great books this summer.

Open Windows

You may have noticed something a little different about us recently as we are delighted to be part of the Open Windows exhibition currently running along the street in Stromness. This exciting and inovative project has placed work by 45 artists in 45 windows along the street, from The Pierhead to The Museum. Each of the participating windows is marked with brightly coloured streamers attached outside - just so you know which windows you are supposed to be looking in!

As you can see we got two works to display, making use of our large windows looking down the street. The works are:

Nousts  by Yvonne Gray - a limited edition digital print on hand made Japenese paper.

Nousts by Yvonne Gray    

and

Poems  by Pamela Beasant & Alex Ashman

Poems by Pamela Beasant & Alex Ashman  

The exhibition runs until 26th June so you still have plenty of time for a wander along the street - what better way to pass the time between festival performances? The isle may be full of noises but the street is full of art.

the isle is full of noises

Today sees the start of the St Magnus International Festival which begins with a production of The Tempest including local performers. This year the festival takes its title from a line in The Tempest and a look at the events for festival goers in Stromness suggests that amongst the "noises" will indeed be "sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not".

On Saturday 18th June Festival Poet Don Paterson will give a reading at the Pier Arts Centre at 11am; pianist Alessandro Taverna will perform works by J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Debussy and Stravinsky in the Stromness Town Hall at 2.30pm; and at 5pm in the Stromness Academy Theatre there will be A Johnsmas Foy entitled "The Inter-County".

On Sunday 19th June at 2.30pm the Badke Quartet will perform works by Tomkins, Peter Maxwell Davies, Beethoven and Ravel, in the Stromness Town Hall; while at 4.30pm you can enjoy Poems with tea and cake in the Stromness Hotel when poets Pamela Beasant and Jen Hadfield who will be joined by participants from the inaugural Orkney Writers' Course to read some of the works created during the course.

So a full weekend of events to be enjoyed, and if you need somewhere to collect your thoughts, send a hasty email review, or read some more poetry (we have titles by Don, Pamela and Jen in stock) then pop in and tell us what we have been missing!