Slowly but surely, all the schools in the local area are breaking up for the summer holidays. Teachers will have a rest, children can look forward to fun times ahead and parents must keep their little ones occupied. I’m really looking forward to hanging out as a family and not having to do the school run for six weeks, but I do recognise this period isn’t about taking it easy. We’ve already planned our days to the max to keep everyone active and busy. Yes, there’s go-karting on the list, cinema trips, trampolining, visits to the park to play football to name but a few of the things which have been requested by my children, and the list goes on.

One suggestion that sprung to mind, was visits to the local library. My other half agreed, especially now my little ones can read. I have fond memories of going as a child every Saturday to renew my fiction books or would spend hours looking through reference books for projects that had been set for homework. Looking back, it was like a second home as we just didn’t have any space in our house to do our homework and have quiet to study. So, this week we set off to the Tudor Drive library to get enrolled.

As soon as we walked in, the children couldn’t believe how many books they had to choose from. We sat looking through, reading together and then had about half an hour deciding which books would be taken home. What really struck me, was how important libraries are as a community resource. In the short time we were in there, it reminded me how they are a vital asset for people of all ages, allowing us to experience new ideas, be immersed in wonderful stories and provide a space for gathering. The children loved scanning their own books on the computer and have been reading and discussing them ever since. The only thing they have to work on now is learning to remain quiet in a library so we don’t get told off!