Final curtain call for Circus Stars

Just a quick reminder that the curtain comes down on our Circus Stars Summer Reading Challenge tomorrow when there will be a Treasure Hunt in the Orkney Library and Archive in Kirkwall, for everyone who has completed the challenge.

Solve the clues to find your way to your Circus Stars prize. You can go along anytime tomorrow (Saturday 27th August) to crack the code and collect your award.

So anyone who has read their six books, but still needs to return them and collect their stickers, can go along to the library in Kirkwall tomorrow with their books and Circus Stars record card, to complete the challenge, take part in the Treasure Hunt and collect their award.

 If you have completed the challenge but can't make it through to Kirkwall on the day please let us know and we can arrange to post your award out to you, or for you to collect it from Stromness Library.

Summer's gone

Well the summer may be nearly over, with the Shows past and the schools going back next week, but before you get too despondent just remember all the good things a change of season brings. With the nights fair drawing in our thoughts turn to how to fill those long autumn and winter evenings. The Community Learning Course Guide was published this week, as well as the perennial favourites such as yoga, cookery and various crafts, we notice some new and intriguing additions this year including Gregorian Chant for Beginners, The World of Beowulf and So you want to be a Councillor? With so many courses to choose from, at a number of different locations throughout Orkney, there's something for everyone. If you haven't already got a copy of the Course Guide they are available at both Libraries, or you can even download a pdf version from the Orkney Islands Council website.

Another welcome return for autumn is the Stromness Library Reading Group which will have its first meeting, after an extended summer break, on Wednesday 31st August at 7pm in the exhibition room of the Stromness Library. The book we will be discussing is The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and copies are available from the library if you need to borrow one before the meeting. New members are always very welcome so do come along and join in the friendly, informal discussion with fellow book lovers - tea and coffee provided!

Author of the month for August - Patrick O'Brian

Inspired by the recent visit to Stromness by the Tall Ships our author of the month for August is Patrick O'Brian, best known for his series of novels about the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, which centred on the friendship of English Naval Captain Jack Aubrey and the Irish–Catalan physician Stephen Maturin.

As well as the novels we also have a copy of Dean King's biography Patrick O'Brian: A Life Revealed which offers an intriguing portrait of the famously secretive writer.

On with the Shows

Well the sun shone for the Dounby Show and we hope all of you who went along had a great day among the animals and amusements. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and came home tired but happy, full of homebakes and ice cream and a few pounds poorer after all those prize draw tickets (all for good causes) and shots on the bottle stall - we were lucky for once and won a half bottle of gin (so that's the library Christmas doo sorted out then!).

Back to work today of course, and although the County Show  takes place on Saturday we will be open as usual. If you have had your fix of all things agriculatural and decide a quiet afternoon in with a good book is in order then pop along and see us, we'll be glad of the company.

It's often said that the County Show marks the end of the summer and the next thing we can look forward to is winter and Christmas - though with the weather we've had so far this 'summer' will we actually notice the difference?! Anyway, as well as the obligatory reminder that the "nights are fairly drawing in " we also want to point out that the school summer holidays are not quite over yet and there is still time for our young readers to complete their Circus Stars reading challenge. So visit the library, get reading and those final sets of stickers can be yours - as well as the chance for all who complete the challenge to take part in a Treasure Hunt at the Kirkwall Library on Saturday 27th August and collect their Circus Stars award.

Dounby Show

It's show season again and we are crossing our fingers that the sun will shine and the rain stay away all week. Thursday 11th August is the Dounby Show which is celebrated by a local public holiday, so both the Stromness Library and Orkney Library and Archive in Kirkwall will be closed for the day.

Instead of stamping books we'll be donning our sunhats and enjoying a day out among the livestock and stalls. This year, in addition to the usual delights of the Sheep Sheering Competition, the Highland Dancing Demonstration and of course the refreshments in the Pavilion, we are promised the Scottish Terrier Racing Team, a Quad Bike Agility Challenge and Award-Winning Chainsaw Creations!

If you would like to find out more about the history of the show, and the Orkney West Mainland Agricultural Society which runs it, then you may like to come and have a look at our copy of Showyard on the Heather by George T. Wylie. which tells of the show's development from the first "Show of Stock to be held at Dounby on Thursday 9th July 1891" to the Centenary celebrations of 1991. 

We hope you enjoy your day out at the show, just remember to pace yourself though, otherwise you could find all the excitement gets too much for you!

New email address

Having asked you to share your favourite Orkney recipes with us we discovered that you would find that very difficult as our email address wasn't working! So apologies if you have been in touch and are wondering why we haven't got back to you.

We how have a new email address stromnesslibrary@orkney.gov.uk and would love to hear from you so do please get (back) in touch, especially if you have any yummy recipes to share.