Shows Over

Here we are, the week after the Shows and the weather already thinks it is winter. Our feelings could perhaps be summed up by this Giddy Limit strip by Alex Leonard.

No.207. The Orcadian 13th August 2009   http://www.giddy-limit.com/Year4Archive/no.207.html

But with a week to go before the schools go back we are determined to squeeze ever last drop of fun out of the summer, so even if the weather is less than sunny you'll still get a warm welcome at the library. 

There is still time to complete  the Mythical Maze Summer Reading Challenge, so get reading and come along to the library to exchange your returned books for stickers, a bookmark, wristband and fortune teller. All those who complete the challenge will also get an invite to our award event, which will take place in Kirkwall library on Saturday 23rd August with special guest, local writer and storyteller Fran Flett Hollinrake, and a presentation of certificates and medals. 

We also still have our holiday reading display up, with books to keep you and your little ones entertained, whatever the weather.

Mythical Maze

It's the first day of the school summer holidays and of course it's raining! But never fear the library is here to save the day, with the launch of this year's Summer Reading Challenge Mythical Maze!

For children aged 4-11 this free scheme will keep you reading all through the holidays as you collect stickers to complete your Mythical Maze poster. For every two books read you will receive a set of stickers and a special gift, and if you read six books and collect all three sets of stickers, you will be invited to a special closing event which will include an author visit, crafts, and a presentation of certificates and medals to all who complete the challenge. 

Visit the Mythical Maze website to find out more about the challenge and share book reviews and recommendations with other readers. 

Creepy House

Apologies for our extended silence, some of us have been on holiday and with the excitement of the St Magnus Festival, June just flew by.

Here we are in July and the start of the school summer holidays can only mean one thing - the start of the  library Summer Reading Challenge 2013.

This year young readers are invited to join a gang of explorers as they discover the secrets of the Creepy House - collecting stickers as they read books from the library and adding them to their own special Creepy House fold-out poster. 

There are three floors of the house to explore and for every two books read there are stickers to complete one of the three stages:

Stage 1: The Awful Upstairs, 

Stage 2: The Gruesome Ground Floor 

Stage 3: The Spine-tingling Cellar. 

Read six books over the summer to collect all the stickers and complete all three levels -  you'll also get a certificate at the closing event in Kirkwall Library on Saturday 17th August. 

The stickers have special codes which will unlock extra features on the Creepy House website www.creepy-house.org.uk  . On the website you can share your favourite books, send messages, meet some famous authors, and even enter a competition to complete a short story started by a famous author  and win fabulous prizes.

Are you brave enough to enter the Creepy House? Beware -  those stinky stickers really are smelly!*

* No really, they are. We have to store them in a special sealed box and wear hazmat suits to handle them**

** Okay we may be exaggerating a bit -  but they are really pongy

Story Lab Treasure Hunt

Just a reminder that you still have a couple of days left to complete this year's Summer Reading Challenge and collect your Story Lab stickers.

All those who successfully complete the challenge will be eligible to take part in a Treasure Hunt, on Saturday 18th August at the Orkney Library in Kirkwall. You can take part anytime between 9.15am and 5pm, so come along and crack the code to collect your award.

If you can't make it along on Saturday but have successfully completed the challenge please let us know and we will arrange to get your award to you.

Holiday Reading

A week into the school holidays and the weather is proving to be as reliably unreliable as ever, yesterday we were swimming in the sea at Birsay, today we are shivering in a woolly sweater. But whatever the weather we have a book to suit.

If the sun shines we have paperback bestsellers to read lounging on the beach, gardening books to help you pick the perfect plant, and numerous guides to help you enjoy the outdoors. If rain stops play then we have books of indoor activities for all ages, guides to help you decide what to read next, and of course children can take part in our Story Lab reading challenge. We can even lend you a copy of The Met Office Book of the British Weather so you can console yourself with how much worse the weather could be! Visitors can also join the library and take out up to four books at a time, so bad weather is just an opportunity to find out more about Orkney's history or wildlife.

So no matter what the weather has in store for us this summer the library will help everyone have a happy holiday!

Story Lab - Summer Reading Challenge

Well that's the schools finished for the summer which means it's time to launch this year's Summer Reading Challenge!

Children can sign-up for free and receive their own 3D Story Lab model where they can keep track of their progress. Help the Story Lab characters find the three lost items, by collecting stickers for every two books read, you will  need to read a total of six books to find all three items and complete the challenge.

As well as the stickers to collect you can join in the fun on the Story Lab website, where you can create your own profile; take part in the competition to win a lap-top computer by finishing a story started by top authors Jacqueline Wilson and Andy Stanton; use the Book Sorter to help you decide which book to read next; share book reviews and recommendations with other readers; and meet the Story Lab characters and find out more about their adventures.

To find out more about the Story Lab Challenge and the characters, take a look at the Story Lab trailer

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.