All Libraries and Library Access Points will be closed for the Early May Bank Holiday and the Spring Bank Holiday. The closure dates are:

• Monday 6 May
• Monday 27 May

To help give you some ideas of what books to read, and what and who is a popular read why not have a look at our April list of Hot new books, the author profile of the month and the Top 100 Popular Authors.

Visit our Reading website, and why not join a reading group too?

Taster session with the Archives Conservator

All are welcome, free of charge, as John Lambert, Archives Conservator, is opening up the newly relocated conservation studio to demonstrate paper repair at Shire Hall, Cambridge, Friday 3 May, 12pm. 

Come see and explore the skilled art taking place at the studio. Work includes the delicate repair of irreplaceable historical documents so that they become strong enough to be consulted. John also makes tailor-made folders and boxes for historic documents, carries out emergency repair work on documents damaged in accidents, and gives advice on emergency document protection.

Contact us to book a place or call Cambridgeshire Archives on 01223 699399.
 

Cromwell Museum - new Friends group and volunteer project

The Cromwell Museum in Huntingdon, would like to invite you to join a new Friends group, to meet on Thursday 9 May, at Huntingdon Library, 7pm. The Friends will help promote the Museum and fund raise to assist with specific activities, as well as providing a forum for social activities. After the formal business has been concluded there will be a talk on Oliver Cromwell and the defences of the Eastern Association by Dr Mike Osborne. Please contact the Museum for further information.

A group of volunteers has started work in Huntingdon to pull together information about what remains in the town from the early 17th century, when Cromwell lived there and when the first map of the town was drawn and published. That first map by John Speed is the basis of the research and will be used as part of an exhibition that the group hopes to complete and open at the Museum in October. If you would like to become involved and develop some new skills - or use existing ones, contact the Museum.

Martin Gurdon author talks

Journalist and author Martin Gurdon will be talking about his new book "Doing Bird" in Cambridgeshire Libraries in May. After fourteen years of garden chicken keeping, he and his wife thought adding some ducks and doves to his flock would be harmless fun.

They didn't realise what they were letting themselves in for. "Doing Bird" charts a full year's experiences, and introduces ducks who think they're chickens, a hen called Ann Summers, doves needing parenting classes, Bombay the drake with an unrequited love for Bella the chicken, Dill the duckling with a fear of water and Barry the drug-taking cockerel. It's a "fowl story of a man, a woman and a load of feathery trouble".

Author Midge Gillies to visit Ely Library

 We are very pleased to announce that our celebrated local author Midge Gillies  is giving a talk on her latest book "The Barbed - Wire University" on Thursday 9 May, in Ely Library's meeting room.

For those of you who know and have heard Midge speak at other book events, will know that the evening will be extremely interesting. Tickets are on sale at the Library and cost £4 for members of the "Friends of Ely Library" and £5 for non-members. The library is open on Thursday evenings so please come along at 6.30pm for a 6.45pm start.

 Jane Wilson-Howarth author event at the new Sawston Library

 Jane Wilson-Howarth mother, zoologist, GP and author, is an authority on travel health. She has lived in the East for long enough to be able to say diarrhoea in nine Asian languages! So far five of her books have been published as well as innumerable articles.
 

She will give an illustrated talk at Sawston Library on Thursday 2 May, 2pm - 3pm, mainly about her book "A Glimpse of Eternal Snows: A Journey of Love and Loss in the Himalayas"

Friends of March Library quiz

Friends of March Library have produced a Quiz Sheet with the theme of "Spring". The sheets cost £1 each and are available from the Library Counter. The winner will be awarded a mystery prize at the friends Coffee Morning on 29 June.

Excelr8 Learning work hard to encourage children to write more often, to be creative, to write for an audience and especially to enjoy writing. Due to the popularity of our annual Writing Competition event, Excelr8 Learning is again promoting children's writing in Cambridge and surrounding areas in 2013.

To encourage as many children as possible to participate, we are giving away three brand new bicycles and six Go Ape Junior Tree Top Adventure experiences at Thetford Park Adventure Centre. The three winners' schools will also each receive a £200 donation to help purchase new writing resources. Children are very welcome to enter as many pieces as they like. Entry is free.

A prize giving event will be held at Cambridge Central Library on 8 June at 3:30pm.

Do you need CAB advice or information?

The Advicehub touchscreen kiosks at Chatteris Library, March Library, Whittlesey Library and other community locations across Cambridgeshire offer advice on all kinds of issues including benefits, housing, employment, family and relationships debt and money. The self-help kiosks provide an alternative way for people to find solutions to common problems without leaving their own area.

We are constantly trying to improve the Advicehub kiosk service to meet your needs. If you use one of our kiosks, please remember to fill in the short survey and give us your feedback. It's available through the kiosk pages and you could be in with a chance of winning a £50 supermarket voucher.