Ceredigion Library Newsletter
September/October 2011
The little month that disappeared
What happened to September?
Keen readers might have noticed that September did not get its own issue. It was a busy time
and got neglected but not forgotten! This does mean that October’s Llais y Llyfrgell is a
bumper edition full to burst with news and features. So let’s get started
GB Rally Wales
Calling all rally fans or anyone who enjoys a bit of luxury:
October is your chance to join the library and be entered into a
prize draw to win two VIP tickets to Wales Rally GB. The 2011
Wales Rally GB (10th – 13th November) will see competitors
making their way through some of the most exhilarating
scenery in the world, and for your chance to get hold of two
VIP hospitality places you simply need to join a library in
Wales.
If you’re already a member, don’t worry, you can always
recruit some friends and make them promise to take you with
them if they win
Libraries are free to join and there’s something for every
member of the family from free books, newspapers, e-books
and magazines, to free internet access and family history
resources plus free activities for children, audio and large
print books and expert friendly staff on hand to help. Join in!
Man Booker Prize
If you’re reading your way through the shortlist and eagerly anticipating the announcement
of the winner, keep up to date with the happenings before the winner is announced on 18th
October
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jul/26/man-booker-prize-2011-winners
OU’s 20th Century Authors
Take some time to visit this fascinating and interactive Open University guide to British
novelists which explores the connections between the 20th Century’s most well-known
authors. You’re guaranteed to discover something you didn’t know
Ceredigion Library Newsletter
September/October 2011
Nobel Prize for Literature 2011
Swedish poet Tomas Transtromer has been awarded 2011’s Nobel Prize for Literature. Let
us know what you think
Awful Library Books
Awful Library Books (http://awfullibrarybooks.net/) is a fascinating and
frequently hilarious blog compiled by librarians across the world. The
blog features pictures and descriptions of the most out of date,
inappropriate, funny or downright awful items found on library shelves.
This book from 1987 Unplugging the Plug-in Drug gives readers advice
on how to quit a TV addiction and “save the next generation of minds and
imaginations.”
The blog is an interesting time capsule of our rapidly changing societies
and attitudes and the challenge to libraries to keep up
Found a bad book? Let us know
Reading Roadshow
The Libraries Together Reading Roadshow kicks off in style on Halloween with the
successful Tregaron-based author Mari Strachan.
Mari is the author of the popular The Earth Hums in B Flat – a tale of madness and mystery
seen through the eyes of a young girl, Gwenni, growing up in a Welsh village. The novel has
been described by writers, reviewers and booksellers as “extremely compelling” – “an
impressive and wonderfully absorbing debut” and was read for Radio 4’s Book at
Bedtime in 2009. Mari’s new book, Blow on a Dead Man’s Embers, is set in the
aftermath of the Great War.
Non Davies wakes one morning to find her husband crouching under the kitchen table in a cold
sweat and with fear in his eyes, shouldering an imaginary rifle. During the intense heat of that
summer she forces herself to sit and watch him, knowing she has to discover what has changed her Davey
so completely.
Information provided by the publisher
Ceredigion Library Newsletter
September/October 2011
Follow the link to Mari’s website to find out more: http://www.maristrachan.info/index.html.
You can also read Mari’s Life in Books at http://www.bookbite.org.uk/reading/my-life-inbooks/mari-strachan
And come along to the Roadshow on the 31st October to meet the
author herself
The next stop along the road is an evening in the company of Aberaeron-based writer Cynan
Jones. Cynan is the author of the highly successful The Long Dry which won a Betty Trask
Award and has gone on to be translated into four languages and the film rights sold .
http://www.parthianbooks.co.uk/news
Everything I Found on the Beach is Cynan’s second novel set in the murky world of drug
smuggling
In the aching cold where night bumps into day, Hold hears noises that indicate he isn't alone. Out
at the edge of his nets a rudderless dinghy is thumping against the rocks, prey to the ebbing tide.
What he finds there changes everything.
Description from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council
Cynan will be interviewed by Gwen Davies, editor of the literary magazine New Welsh Review
http://www.newwelshreview.com/ on the 7th November as part of the roadshow
Following along the way is Parthian Books founder, writer and
and publishing director for the flagship Library of Wales series
Richard Lewis Davies
Richard has brought work by Welsh authors to a UK and international audience translating
work into nine languages across the world as part of Parthian’s 200-print book catalogue
and with the Library of Wales series, bringing Welsh classics to a modern English-language
audience. He has admirably combined this with an award-winning parallel career as a
creative writer publishing novels such as Work, Sex and Rugby, which went on to win a
World Book Day Award, and as a playwright. Richard will be calling into the Morlan Centre on
the 14th November
The last stop on the journey will be in the company of the former keeper of Maps
and Pictures at the National Library of Wales, D. Huw Owen. Huw will be talking
about his recently published volume The Chapels of Wales.
Come along for the ride – it’s free for all and everybody’s welcome
Ceredigion Library Newsletter
September/October 2011
NewsBank & iPad 2
Win an iPad2!
NewsBank is one of the free eresources available at the library or from home with your
membership details. You can search and browse thousands of full-text articles from more
than 20 Welsh and over 350 U.K. daily and weekly newspapers, including the North Wales
edition of the Daily Post and the Western Mail.
To demonstrate how easy it is to use we have a challenge for you: call into your library and
pick up a competition form, answer the 3 easy questions on the challenge sheet and return
the form to Ceredigion Library for your chance to win an iPad 2!
Please check the terms and conditions for full entry details or contact staff for more information. The closing
date for entries is Monday 31st October 2011.
Keep up to speed with Roadshow across the country with the blog
http://readingroadshow.wordpress.com/
Libraries Fortnight
1-14th November is Libraries Fortnight and there are lots of events
and activities taking place around the country to celebrate. Find
out more at http://library.wales.org/libraries-fortnight/
Ceredigion Library is joining in the festivities with Active Library.
During Libraries Fortnight all new library members can receive a
free voucher to a fitness class or go swimming for free at
Aberystwyth University Sports Centre or Ceredigion Leisure
centre.
With Zumba classes, Pilates, Yoga, Core Stability, Boxercise and
weight training, you’re bound to find something to fit. And it’s free!
Take a look at what’s on offer at Aberystwyth University Sports
Centre and Ceredigion Leisure Centre (participating centres only,
whilst stocks last)
Ceredigion Library Newsletter
September/October 2011
Have fun, meet people, try new things and get active for free with Active Library. Library
membership is free and easy and brings a wealth of benefits.
If you’re not already signed up, now’s your chance to race down to the library, and bring a
friend!
Rhannu Geiriau
The library’s Welsh language reading groups in association with the Mid Wales Welsh for
Adults Centre ‘Rhannu Geiriau’ are currently reading:
Gwyn Eu Byd by Gwen Parrot
There are meetings twice a month and all are welcome. Join in! Contact the library or the
Welsh for Adults Centre for more information
Welsh Books of the Month
The Welsh Books Council’s books of the month for October are The Loneliness of
The Long Distance Book Runner by William Rees and Y Daith by Lloyd Jones
Ceredigion Library Newsletter
September/October 2011
Story Session
Remember the story session at Aberystwyth Library on the first and third Tuesday of every month at
2.00.pm. The sessions are free of charge and open to all, so pop in
What’s On?
Look out for these at the library:

Halloween: fancy a spine-tingling read? Come and browse a selection of chilling
tales

World Vegan Day: as World Vegan Day (1st November) approaches, come and
check out our selection of alternative living and cookery books and get inspired
for your sustainably, compassionately and environmentally-conscious lifestyle

Man Booker: read the shortlisted books

Quick Reads: short, snappy and utterly absorbing stories on a range of subjects
by a host of authors and well-known celebrities. From fiction to fact, crime to
romance and biography to history; there’s a Quick Read for everyone
Suggestions Box
There is a feedback box by the catalogue machines for you to let us know what you want
from the library. Your feedback will improve the library
Contact us:
[email protected]
01970 633717
Call in to see us at Aberystwyth library
9.30 until 6 pm Monday to Friday
9.30 until 5 pm Saturdays
get involved