At Your Local Library

As you may recall the Basinga Art competition had an exhibition at the library at Chineham shopping centre. The Basinga was recently invited back by the staff to learn more about what goes on there. The picture to left shows the members of staff that were on duty when I visited once lunchtime. They are, from left to right, Inga (standing), Jen (seated at desk), Jan (the supervisor) and Pat.

The library was opened in 1984 by Councillor White, MBE. Although it looks quite nice from the outside, once inside you can see that it was built on a budget. But don’t let that put you off, because once inside you will find there are lots of things to see and do, and the staff try their best to hide the concrete by putting up many colourful displays. See the examples below:

As with any library, it contains a vast array of books, fiction – non fiction and reference. If the book you want is not on the shelf, then don’t be afraid to ask one of the very helpful staff members who will be more than pleased to order it in for you. They have a collection of books in Bengali, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, French and German, including some children’s books.

For those of you interested in finding out more about the local towns and villages, there is also a local history section. The library does also have access to census information on the internet and sell census vouchers for the 1901 census and has family history vouchers for £5 each.

You can also read a number of current magazines, such as Eve, Garden Answers, PC Adviser, Practical Photography, Hampshire Magazine and Homes and Gardens, as well as a few others. There are also some periodicals and newspapers.

The library also has a good selection of music CD’s and DVD’s to suit all tastes. And again, if you can’t find what you are looking for, don’t be afraid to ask one of the staff if it is possible to order it for you. They are currently promoting their collection of Bollywood DVD’s, so if you have ever wondered what they were all about now is your chance to find out. DVD’s can be hired for as little £2 a week.

The library also provides free internet access. If you possess a borrower’s card then that is all you need to get you going. When you use the computers for the first time you will be allocated a username and password, and once this is entered you are up and running. There are 9 pc workstations from which you can browse the internet, which is becoming a very popular reference tool these days. Have you Googled yet! You can print any information from the PC to the networked printer, and it is even possible to scan a document too!

The library is also used for a number of activities such as

Children’s Story Time for the under fives Fridays 11 to 11.30 am
Baby Bounce and Rhyme First Tuesday of the month, 11 to 11.30 am
They always have lots of colouring sheets for children
There will be some reading games with an Olympic theme during the school summer holidays
There are occasional computer courses run for the over 60’s So, if you always wanted to know how to surf the internet or use e-mail this is a perfect introduction. If you are interested please ask a member of staff for more details.
This year is the National Year of Reading, and the library will be staging some special events for this.
There will be an Art Exhibition by Kay Na from Farnborough who will be showing 6 paintings.

The Library opening times are as follows:

Monday	Closed	all	day
Tuesday & Wednesday	9-30 am	To	5 pm
Thursday & Friday	9-30 am	To	7 pm
Saturday	9-30 am	To	4 pm

They can be contacted on the following phone number 0845 603 5631 and don’t forget there is the Mobile Library too, the times and places are published every month in the Basinga magazine.

The Basinga Reporter.