Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Mobile Library is taking a special visitor on tour later this month, the Bookstart Bear, and will be visiting Peasedown St John and Timsbury.
The Bookstart Bear will be on board the mobile library when it visits Peasedown St John on Tuesday 20th October, and in Timsbury on Thursday 22nd October.
There will be free stories and songs with the Bookstart Bear and goody bags for under 5s.
On those two days, the library’s timetable is being altered to give young children and their families more time to join the activities, and will include an extra stop outside Tesco in Peasedown.
You can join in the fun at the following stops:
Tuesday 20th October – Peasedown St John
9.45 – 10.45am, Beacon Hall
2.30 – 3.40pm, Youth Centre/School (stories & songs, but no Bear)
3.50 – 4.50pm, Tesco
Thursday 22nd October – Timsbury
1.15 – 2.10pm, Lansdown View
2.55 – 4.30pm, Conygre Hall
Local nurseries, pre-schools and toddler groups have been invited along to the tour and the Bookstart Bear will also be visiting Beacon Tots at Peasedown Youth Centre and Peasedown School Nursery Class on Tuesday 20th October.
Regular users will still be able to use the mobile library on those days as usual, recognising that there might be lots of young children on board at certain stops.
Councillor Martin Veal, (Conservative, Bathavon North), Cabinet Member for Community Services, said: “This is a great opportunity for young children to start develop a love of reading, which is so important to their education.
“Our libraries are a valuable resource to local families and we have more and more under 5s joining their library every year.
“The Mobile Library is a really important part of our service, serving rural communities and parts of Bath without easy access to a library building.
“Don’t forget, anyone can use the mobile library – all you need is a library card. If you don’t have a card you can easily join on our first visit to the library.”
The Bookstart programme, run by Booktrust, Britain’s largest reading charity, supports parents and carers to enjoy books with their child from as early as possible with the gift of free books to children in the first year of their life and again when they are 3-4 years old.
Regular Bookstart-supported Storytime and Baby Bounce and Rhyme sessions are held throughout the year in Bath and North East Somerset Council’s libraries.
For more information about Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Library Service visit www.bathnes.gov.uk/libraries.