Having a yarn

We are always delighted to welcome visitors to the Stromness Library, and even more delighted when they come back for a return visit.

In the last couple of weeks we've had visits from two former writers in residence at Stromness Library, Jan Natanson, and Nalini Paul , as well as our Ravelry friend Westendangela.

While Jan and Nalini shared news of recent writing projects - Jan has a community play in production, and Nalini has a poetry book coming out soon - when knitters get together the talk soon turns to work in progress and recent projects on the knitting needles. 

We were rather pleased to be able to show off our library cushions, and Becky even posed for a photo beside the windows which were the inspiration for the design. 

photo by Westendangela

Watch this space for news about the date of our move to the new building, but in the meantime here is a sneaky preview of the cushions in their new home.

Now doesn't that look comfy?

Just perfect for relaxing with a good book, or even a bit of knitting!

Bookmarks and biscuits.

As we continue our preparations for the move to our lovely new building, we've been reflecting on our favourite memories of Stromness Library, and we would love to hear yours. 

Perhaps you remember coming to the library as a child and have memories of previous librarians, or you visited us while you were in Stromness on holiday. We would love to hear your stories, memories, favourite books and encounters with the library cats. 

Do please get in touch, either through the comments below or by dropping us an email. We are gathering all these stories from and about the library for our New Chapter exhibition which will celebrate the history of the library in Stromness when we move to the new building. We want to capture as many stories as we can from the most important part of any library - you, the people who visit it. 

Over the years we have worked here there have been many memorable moments, some funny, some sad, and some unrepeatable! 

Today we were recalling the many items we have found inside returned books. Along with the more predictable discoveries of bookmarks, letters, bills and the like, we can reveal that we once opened a book to discover a custard cream biscuit between the pages. Whether this had been inserted as makeshift book mark, or left behind by accident during a particularly exciting reading-while-biscuit-eating-session, we will never know. 

When we mentioned our find to a colleague in Kirkwall library, he claimed to have once come across a rasher of streaky bacon being used as a book mark. While we were unable to verify this claim, we would strongly discourage our readers from reading while eating a fried breakfast  - just in case.

If you are in need of a bookmark we have lots here to choose from, including our very own Orkney library bookmarks -  save the custard creams to go with your cup of tea!

Spring Forward!

Don't forget to put your clocks forward tonight as we 'spring forward' to lighter evenings and the promise of warmer days to come. 

On a day of rain and wind we thought it might be good to share the reassuring opening stanza of George Mackay Brown's poem for Robert Rendall, Chorus: ' Soon Spring Will Come': 

Soon Spring will come, and then the thrifty crofter Must yoke an ox, and drive his eager plough Through the wet mould. the sower will follow after,  And cast the good seed, rhythmical and slow, Along the furrows fringed with April snow. 

After a generally rather mild winter, will April be the month that brings us snow?

Painting Challenge

If you're wondering what to do on a miserable Saturday afternoon why not pop in to the library for a bit of inspiration?

Stromness is of course a community full of creativity, and as regular readers will know there are often exhibitions of the many talented artists in the town.

But for those of us for whom a paintbrush is more of a DIY tool than a means of self expression, the recent BBC television series The Big Painting Challenge may have sparked an interest in exploring our own inner artist. 

If you're looking for a bit of guidance then we can help, we may not be able to offer artistic advice but we can certainly find you a book that can. With titles from 'Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Oil Painting' to 'Reader's Digest Guide to Drawing and Painting' there should be something to help you choose the right materials and tackle your first masterpiece. 

While you're in the library you can also pick up an entry form for The Little Painting Challenge. Create a drawing or painting on the blank side of the postcard and then send in your entry for the chance to win a prize and perhaps even see your work exhibited in the newly refurbished Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester from the 4th of May 2015. 

Entries close on April 2nd so you still have plenty of time to find your muse and get creating. 

Cushions

We thought you might like to see what the Yap and Yarn group have been working on in preparation for our move to the new Library. 

We decided it would be nice to find a way to make something for the new building which reminded us of the old library, and came up with the idea of cushions for our lovely new comfy sofas. 

As you can see, the design is based on the coloured glass windows in the old library.

We decided to make 6 cushions and here we are working on the final one!

Advent Quiz - Day 25

Merry Christmas to all our readers! 

Wishing you all a joyful festive season and many happy hours of reading in 2015.

The Stromness Library is now closed for the holidays but will re-open on 5th January 2015 at 2pm.

Just to clarify that we are still in the old library at Hellihole Road for the moment and will give you plenty of warning when we know the date of our move to the new library building at the Pier head. 

In our final question of our Advent Quiz we want to take you back to a time before even this library was built and let you see how the view up Hellihole Road looked then.

Question 25


In the photo the two children are standing where the library is now, and the camera is looking up Hellihole Road. The building furthest away with its gable end facing us is no longer standing, having been demolished in 1937, but can you tell us what it was?

(hint - the photo is taken from the book Stromness Late 19th Century  Photographs, or if you walk up Hellihole Road there is a plaque marking the place where the building stood.)

So ends our Advent Quiz for 2014, we hope you've enjoyed it as much as we have. 
Don't forget to go back and work on any of the questions you might have missed, there is a fabulous prize for the person with the most correct answers. 
You have until 31st December to submit your answers as comments below each day's post. 
The answers will be published, and the winner announced on 5th January 2015.

Good Luck!

Answer: The Subscription School

Advent Quiz - Day 21

Question 21

What is the name of the knitting group that meets in Stromness Library on alternate Monday's from 5-7pm?

Post your answer as a comment below. 
Entries close on 31st December.
Answers will be published and the winner announced on 5th January 2015.

Answer: Yap and Yarn

Advent Quiz - Day 20

Question 20

Can you tell us the title of the novel by Fiona McInnes published in 2014, which is set in Stromness?

Post your answer in the comments below.
Closing date for entries is 31st December. 
Answers will be posted and the winner announced on 5th January 2015.

Answer: Iss

Advent Quiz - Day 19

Question 19

How many books can an adult member of Stromness Library borrow at one time?

Post your answer in the comments below.
Closing date for entries is 31st December. 
Answers will be posted and the winner announced on 5th January 2015.

Answer: 12

Advent Quiz - Day 18

Question 18

Who was the last writer in residence for George Mackay Brown Fellowship, who was based at Stromness Library?


Post your answer in the comments below.
Closing date for entries is 31st December. 
Answers will be posted and the winner announced on 5th January 2015.

Answer: Nalini Paul (2009-10)

Advent quiz - Day 16

Question 16

For many years George Mackay Brown wrote a weekly column for the Orcadian, and a selection of these were later published in a series of volumes. On 26th October 1972 he wrote about 'The Public Library':

Stromnessians, it seems, are not making full use of their Library. The number of borrowers is only about half of Kirkwall's. It is not that the folk in the west are more uncultured than their fellow-Orcadians; but perhaps over the decades they have fallen out of the habit of reading.

Can you prove GMB wrong by naming the book in which this was published in 1975?

Post your answer as a comment below.
Entries close on 31st December.
Answers will be published and the winner announced on 5th January 2015. 
Don't forget there is a fabulous prize for the most correct answers. 
If you're stuck on any of the questions then a trip to the library, a look back through this blog and a visit to the Orkney Library and Archive website may help!

Answer: Letters from Hamnavoe

Advent Quiz - Day 15

Question 15

The Stromness Library Reading Group meets on the last Wednesday of the month from 7-8pm in the exhibition room. This month we meet on 17th December to discuss The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford. 

But which month and year did the group first meet?

(hint have a look at the Orkney Library and Archive website)

Post your answer as a comment below.
Closing date for entries is 31st December so you still have lots of time to go back and catch up with any questions you might have missed.
Answers will be published and the winner announced on 5th January 2015.

Answer: April 2005 

Advent Quiz - Day 14

Question 14

Can you name the artist who painted this portrait of George Mackay Brown which hangs in the Stromness Library?

Post your answer as a comment below.
Closing date for entries 31st December.
Answers will be published and the winner announced on 5th January 2015.
Don't forget there is a fabulous prize!

Answer: Fred Schley

Advent Quiz - Day 13

Question 13

Can you name the collection of Orkney books bequeathed to Stromness Library in 1928?

Post your answer as a comment below.
Entries close on 31st December.
Answers will be published and the winner announced on 5th January 2015.

Answer: The Garson collection

Advent Quiz - Day 12

Question 12

Although now stored in the Orkney Archive, the Stromness Library for many years had an original 1725 copy of -  An account of the conduct and proceedings of the late John Gow alias Smith, Captain of the late pirates, executed for murther & piracy committed on board the George gally, afterwards call'd the Revenge; with a relation of all the horrid murthers they committed in cold blood; as also of their being taken at the Islands of Orkney, and sent up prisoners to London. 

Can you name the author?

Post your answer as a comment below. 
Closing date for entries is 31st December, so don't forget to go back and answer any days you may have missed. If you are stuck then a look back throught the blog and/or a trip to the library will help!

Answers will be published and the winner announced on 5th January 2015.

Good Luck!

Answer: Daniel Defoe

Advent Quiz - Day 11

Question 11

The picture above, from the Robertson collection in Orkney archive, is on display in Stromness Library. It shows a tinker family camping in Stromness, but can you identify where in Stromness this is?

Answer: The stone building at the rear of the picture is the old slaughter house, and the area pictured is now the site of the new Stromness Primary School.

Advent Quiz - Day 10

Question 10

Can you name the Orcadian artist who painted the 'Portrait of an Old Woman' which hangs in the Stromness Library?

Post your answer as a comment below. 

Entries close on 31st December. 

The answers will be published, and the winner announced, on 5th January 2015. 

Good Luck!

Answer: Stanley Cursiter

Advent Quiz - Day 8

Question 8

Can you name each of these cats who were once library regulars?

1/

2/

Please post your answers as a comment below. 

Answer: 1. Bubbles  2. Seamus

Advent Quiz - Day 7

Question 7

If you borrow one of our older books you might have noticed a library end plate on the back cover with the following inscription:

"It is time for you to send the book back; if you liked it, you must have had enough of it by now; if you dislike it, more than enough."

But who wrote this?


Answer: Sidonius

Advent Quiz - Day 6

Question 6

Today we are getting the Christmas Tree and decorations out, which means that George Mackay Brown will be getting in the festive spirit by donning his Santa hat and tinsel. 

But can you name the sculptor who created this bronze bust of the poet?

Post your answer in the comments below, and if you are only just joining in then don't forget to go back and catch up with the previous questions. 

Closing date for entries is 31st December and there will be a fabulous prize for the most correct answers. 

Good luck!

Answer: Tuck Langland