Events at Central Library in May-June 2012

Family History Workshop  15 May 2012, 10:00 – 12:00 hrs.
A chance to use the Ancestry website and other resources at Great Yarmouth Library to find out more about the history of your family. Booking essential on 01493 844551

Jubilee Garden Party, 25 May 2012, 15:00 – 17:00 hrs
Please come along to this garden party. There will be: a West African drumming performanace by Dumisani a plant stall to raise funds for Growing Together sow a seed activity with the Happi Project children’s craft activity with Norfolk Wildlife trust light refreshments. Hosted by Growing Together Community garden group and Great Yarmouth Library.

Author Event, Terry Tarbox, 06 June 2012, 10:30 – 11:30
Terry Tarbox will be reading from his new childrens book The Willigrews along with art activities and question and answer session.

Volunteers Celebration, 06 June 2012, 15:00 – 17:00 hrs
A celebration event to recognise the contribution volunteers have made to the Great Yarmouth Library service

For more information about what is available at the  Central Library go to the website by clicking here

July Events at Gt.Yarmouth Central Library

Free Environmental Art Workshop, Saturday 2 July, 12.00noon – 3.00pm

Work with a professional artist to make willow sculptures for the library garden

Circus and Performance skills, Saturday 23 July, 1.00 – 4.00pm

Join up for the greatest show on earth with the Circus Stars Summer Reading Challenge launch.  Come and have a go at general circus skills like:clowning, juggling, stage make up and face painting, tightrope walking, juggling, Diablo, devil stick, spinning plates , balance poles etc

Circus Stars Storytime, Friday 5 August, 2.00 – 3.00pm

Roll Up! Roll Up! Circus stories and activities. All welcome. Free. Children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult

Regular Events

Happy Hour on Sound and Vision. Every Friday 12.00 noon – 6.00pm and Saturday 9.00am – 5.00pm. 2 for 1 offers on all S&V items except Top Title DVDs and Games.

Bookstart Bounce and Rhyme Time. Songs and rhymes for babies, pre-school children and their parents/carers. Every Monday 10.30 – 11.00am

Great Yarmouth Lunchtime Book Club

If you like reading and would enjoy talking about books in a relaxed and informal atmosphere, join us at the new Great Yarmouth Lunchtime Book Club!  Meetings will be held in Great Yarmouth Library on the first Wednesday of each month from 1.00 – 2.00 p.m.  Free tea and coffee will be served.  If you are interested in joining, ask any member of staff for further details, or come along to the first meeting.

Information from NCC Library Services.  Click here for more information.

Public Art Commission at Central Library

The medallions that Charlotte Howarth has created for the public art commission at the Central Library have now been installed.   For futher information on this site about Charlotte click here. 

The installation will be officially ’unveiled’ at the Central Library’s Celebration Day on Saturday 26th February, 2011, 11.00 -15.00 hrs, when there will a full programme of activities to mark  the conclusion of the refurbishment programme:

Fancy Dress (as a Children’s Book Character), Shanty Singing, Theatre Group Performance,  Wii Tournament,  Free admission to the tolhouse with activities, Cinema Club showing short local themes, Head Massager, Family History Taster Sessions, Art and Craft Sessions, Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Instant Takeaway Gardening, plus free refreshments!

One of the medallions created by Charlotte Howarth for the Central Library public art commission.  Designs for the medallions were inspired by ideas created in the community workshops which Charlotte led last year. Click here for more information on the workshops.

Sculpture for Community Garden

Local sculptor Jason Parr  has been commissioned to create a sculpture outside the library on Tolhouse Street as part of the community garden project. He has carved a 4.5 metre totem pole decorated with rows of bloaters at the top, a wave and a sun design and  below  initials and names carved by residents under Jason’s supervision.  The sculpture makes a very pleasing visual transition from the severe architectural columns of the library building to the  trees growing along Yarmouth Way.

The community garden has been designed with plants and trees, places to sit, a vegetable patch and apple tree orchard. The project, called ‘Growing Together’, is funded by £50,000 from the Working Neighbourhood Fund and aims to give local people the chance to come together to create a community space and at the same time have the chance to learn about gardening, construction skills and healthy eating among others. The garden will be officially opened on the 30th October, 2010, with a day of gardening-themed activities.

Local film-maker Matthew Harrison has also been involved,  assisting a group of young people in filming the work being done in the garden as part of a project run by the library and Great Yarmouth Museums with support from BBC Voices. Around a dozen young people aged between 16 and 25 and who aren’t currently in education, employment or training were offered a day’s training at the BBC in Norwich and were then taught film-making techniques as they filmed the creation of the garden.

Here is the link on Youtube  to the Growing Together Film. Feel free to add comments or just say ‘like’ if you like it and forward round your networks. Enjoy ! It’s 14 brilliant minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNwkpuoEq-8

Jason helping Shirley to carve her mother’s name Rose

Priory Gallery Group visit to Art Collection

Members of the Priory Gallery Group, led by Mary Spragg, were the first to take part in the Transitions Project, with a visit to the Art Collection Store on the 26th March, 2010.  The visit was supervised by Emma Davison, Curator at the Great Yarmouth Museums Service (NMAS).  Jean Fisher, Susan Hacon, Kathleen Hewitt, Gillian Southgate,  Jean Stacey and Mary met up with Bridget Heriz and Emma in the Charles Dickens room at the Central Library to discuss the project and to learn about the art collection and were then able to enjoy perusing rarely seen works at close quarters.  Everybody found something to inspire them and will go on to develop some work of their own towards the exhibition which will take place in November 2010. 

The Priory Gallery Group came together two years ago when the National Gallery offered an outreach programme offering access to the collection and talks to members of the community in Great Yarmouth.  Those people who took advantage of this wonderful opportunity have now stayed together to form a group which meets on a monthly basis to share their interest.  A number will be able to study further with the National Gallery programme later this year.

Yarmouth Community Homepage

A new website initiated by Norfolk County Council was launched today (23rd March 2010) at Great Yarmouth Library.  The library has been chosen to become a pilot for this new  initiative which aims to put all relevant information about Great Yarmouth and Gorleston  into one place.  The website will achieve this by having live feeds from other local websites to showcase the latest news, blogs, forums and events across the borough.  All local residents and workers will be able to upload information, photographs and supply live feeds from their own websites.

Already there are some interesting posts about St. George’s Chapel Plans and Local Government Review.  Take a look by clicking on the following link:  http://yarmouth.norfolkhomepage.org.uk/

Awards for All Funding

Could your organisation do with some extra funding? The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) wants to spend more money in Great Yarmouth from its Awards for All programme (which can make grants from £300 to £10,000 for a range of activities and items).

For more information about Awards For All click here.

New Great Yarmouth Community Library Celebration Open Day

Come along to enjoy free drop in activities for all the family at  Great Yarmouth Community Library on Saturday 3rd October 2009.  The official opening is at 11am then there are free drop in activities until 4pm.

Relax with an Indian head massage 1-4pm, try new Nintendo Wii and DS games 11.30am – 3pm (bring your DS console), get advice from the CAB, travel back in time by visiting the Tolhouse museum, watch cookery and dance demonstrations, try your hand at origami, sign up for a free IT course, children can get creative with craft, design and calligraphy workshops, have a go at DJ mixing 2-4pm, young children can enjoy stories, play activities and have their faces painted, plus much, much more.

Also a number of activities, exhibitions and lectures have been arranged for the day by ‘East Meets East’ an organisation celebrating the culture of East Anglia and Japan.

Great Yarmouth Community Library, Tolhouse Street, NR30 2SH  Tel 01493 844551. 3 mins walk from Town Centre, free limited parking at the library and on the South Quay, pay and display car parks in King Street and Town Centre.  Baby changing facilities available, children under 8 years must be accompanied by an adult. Visit www.library.norfolk.gov.uk  for all drop in activity and event details.

The refurbished library now has meeting rooms, workshop rooms wtih sinks and a large activity room with a sprung floor and stage, all available for use by local people and communtiy groups.  The library successfully bid for a £1.4m Big Lottery grant towards the improvements to the libary, a process that  involved local people in making design decisions.