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.

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.

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.