Category: Wenvoe Community Hub
Volunteers Needed
WENVOE COMMUNITY LIBRARY
Tel: 02920 594176 – during opening hours or wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Like and follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/WenvoeCommunityLibrary
For general enquiries you can email us at wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Do you know where the Wenvoe Community Library is located in the village? For most people reading this, the answer will be yes!!It’s been there for years. However people are moving into the area all the time, so if you don’t know, it’s in a very old Portacabin behind the community centre in the centre of the village. The good news is that this Summer, the building is going to be replaced with a new, modern unit which will be slightly bigger than the existing one.
The library is self-funded and run entirely by volunteers which means that we have to continually fundraise to pay for all the running costs to keep it open. This will be the same for the new building. All the volunteers who are currently involved want the new building to become a central hub for the local community and a real asset to the village.
Outside the building, on the grassy area, there will be a small patio area and it is our intention to have tables and chairs on there as well as inside. We are going to install a drinks machine so that we can sell refreshments as well as wrapped cakes and biscuits and this will mean that you can meet friends there – and make new ones – and chat over a drink. The money raised by this will go towards the running costs of the building.
However, in order to provide these services, we need volunteers and we always welcome new people joining our team. We only ask that you commit to a few hours each month. You can be involved in helping to run the library or with selling the refreshments – making the drinks will only involve pushing buttons on the machine! – or you can help us with both. Please consider if you could join us by volunteering and do contact us if you’d like to know more details. We anticipate that the new library/ community hub will be opening in late September so even if you don’t have any time now, will you have a few spare hours from the Autumn onwards? Many of you will already know someone who is already volunteering, so have a chat with them about the duties or pop into the library to see us on a Tuesday or Thursday morning 10am to 12 midday or on a Saturday morning 9am to 1pm. The old building will
be open until at least mid-July. You can also e mail us on wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
We would be really delighted if you would join us
New Library Building
The library will be closed from the end of July to the end of September 2021 for the building for the new library. Our Click and Collect service will resume during this period and will operate from the Meeting Room of Wenvoe Community Centre.
Opening hours when operating from the Community Centre will be:-
- Tuesday 10 till 12
- Thursday 10 till 12.
Limerick Competition Winner
WENVOE COMMUNITY LIBRARY
Tel: 02920 594176 – during opening hours or wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Like and follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/WenvoeCommunityLibrary
For general enquiries you can email us at wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Winner of the Limerick Competition
This year’s competition attracted the most entries to date. Thank you to Alina for judging them all. Her description of the winning entry was ‘It’s got the correct number of syllables for each line; it’s witty, pithy and gives us a slightly naughty picture of what was, perhaps, going on behind the heavy brocade curtains of some of the more sedate Wenvoe houses. Especially as I feel that Thoreau could drive some of us to Bordeaux, or Chateau Neuf du Pape, or even Pinot Grigio’.
Congratulations to Gareth Stone who wins a bottle of Prosecco.
There was once a village in lockdown
Held online events to ease meltdown
Reading books by Thoreau
Drinking wine from Bordeaux
Then dancing to music from Motown.
We Want Babies, Children and Young People to Love Wenvoe Library
Our children-friendly library is bursting with brilliant books and captivating stories to spark and inspire your imagination. The library has a variety of crafts, jigsaws, Duplo, Lego, games and great reads for all ages. Look out for this year’s Summer Reading Challenge at https://readingagency.org. uk
When we have our new library (and a coffee area for mums and dads), we want to expand our services such as Baby Rhyme Time, storytelling for the under-5s, workshops and much more. We are working towards an exciting programme of activities. There’s already always something to do in the library and all you have to do is come along. Everyone is eligible for membership from the day they are born.
We would welcome your suggestions for future children’s activities.
Volunteer contribution
Alina Trigger recounts how the earliest prose stories of the literature of Britain became widely influential and remain to be actively read many centuries since they were written.
Literary Allsorts.
Whether read to, or reading by ourselves, we as young readers came across four small words that
invited us into a world of magic, mystery and adventure: Once upon a time…the quintessential ‘opener’ to a story.
Opening lines of a story or a novel can prove crucial. Many authors were, and still are, known to have spent an extraordinary amount of time giving careful thought on how their narratives should begin. Some suffer writer’s block until they have composed a suitable opening.
As the initial invitation into the world of a writer’s creation, they set the tone, be it ironic, witty, sinister, or a social comment. From Pride and Prejudice to Harry Potter ‘openers’ often become the most iconic passages in a book.
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in need of a wife. The witty and rather caustic comment indicates how Jane Austen will deal with the issues of manners, education and marriage among the landed gentry in early 19th century England. The reader is about to be treated to an elegant comedy of manners.
J.K. Rowling’s introduction to a series about a boy wizard in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is ironic and smug. Mr and Mrs Dursley of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. She is telling her readers that ‘normal’ is boring. And how right she is.
George Orwell creates the ominous and unsettling atmosphere of a dystopian society with a seemingly simple opening sentence. It was a bright cold day in April – so far so good – and the clocks were striking thirteen. Something is wrong. The reader is hooked.
Marley was dead: to begin with. Immediately, Dickens hints that perhaps Marley is not totally dead and that there is more to Marley’s death than at first appears. And a wonderful story full of social comment and redemption unfolds.
No matter how great a novel might be, if the opening lines fail to capture the reader’s imagination, there is the possibility that the book may never be read. Opening sentences not only raise questions, introduce themes and the overall tone of the novel, but intrigue their potential reader.
What about famous last words? Ah, those will be for next time.
A Jewel In The Crown Of Welsh Literature
WENVOE COMMUNITY LIBRARY
Tel: 02920 594176 – during opening hours or wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Like and follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/WenvoeCommunityLibrary
For general enquiries you can email us at wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Click and Collect
We are still operating our Click and Collect service. Order online or phone in your orders on Tuesdays between 10-12 and we will let you know when to collect your books.
New book
Local author and songwriter Philip Thomas has written two short stories in a new publication entitled Lockdown Number Two: a collection of fifteen winning short stories. These short stories, based on “Lockdown Number Two” and “General” themes, are innovative, amusing and captivating to read. It is interesting to discover, particularly, how people spent their lockdown periods during 2020 in either real or imaginary situations. You can purchase the book from Amazon.
Volunteer contribution
Alina Trigger recounts how the earliest prose stories of the literature of Britain became widely influential and remain to be actively read many centuries since they were written.
The Story of the Story
Once upon a time, Wales was a land of magic and mystery, of wizards, giants and princes. One such prince was a young man, Pwyll, who ruled Dyfed. His name means carefulness, but the prince was anything but careful. He was lively and tended to do things without thinking them over. And so, one day he rides off with his hounds to hunt…
It is his impulsiveness and its consequences that introduces readers to The Four Branches of the Mabinogi, considered one of the jewels in the crown of Welsh literature. They are a combination of heroism, fantasy worlds and magic on a par with Homer’s Odyssey or the Scandinavian Sagas.
It was not until the mid-19th century that the stories were introduced to the English-speaking world by Charlotte Guest who translated them from the original Welsh. Since then Y Mabinogi have been translated into many European languages and are firmly on the list of ‘world classical literature’, where they are revised and updated for modern readers both adult and children.
The origins of Y Mabinogi remain extremely vague. Although the first written version dates from around 1350, historians are certain that the stories already existed for centuries, being passed down orally by the Cyfarwydd, storyteller poets who would entertain Welsh princes and courtiers during banquets.
The books have formed a base for many of today’s fantasy literature, like The Lord of the Rings and not only. Tolkien’s Silmarillion was inspired by Y Mabinogi. King Arthur and Merlin make their first appearance in Y Mabinogi, long before they became heroes of the Round table.
What makes Y Mabinogi so special are the superb stories that are gripping, full of tension and action. They are a masterpiece of raw feeling: love, hate, destruction and redemption. They look at the relationship between men and women, politics and guilt, magic dreams and cruel reality. In fact everything that is still relevant today. Well worth a read.
Wenvoe Community Library ‘Browsing’ Times
During May
Thursdays 10am till 12pm
Saturdays 9am till 1pm
Research On Remembrance In Wales
POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH ON REMEMBRANCE IN WALES
Dear Wenvoe Community Library,
I read about your library from the https://libraries.wales/ website, and I hope you would not mind me asking for your help for my research. I know the importance of libraries in local communities, even if the current pandemic context makes your work and social sharing more difficult.
I am a French PhD student in history and psychology at Swansea University and I am involved in a project with a Welsh and a French research team to study the memory of disasters. We developed an online questionnaire to gain a better understanding of memory and oblivion processes involved when we are to remember past disasters. Our main goal is to progress in the understanding of individual and collective responses to these events. More broadly, this study aims to make an important contribution to ongoing scientific debates on the management of communities and territories affected by one or several disasters.
We are currently struggling to make our study known and we need more volunteers participating to be able to draw relevant conclusions.
I would like to ask for the help of your library in distributing our questionnaire, for instance by adding information about our study in your newsletter if you have one, or via your library network. Our objective is to gather the answers from a large public living in Wales, no matter the age or the background. Your help in sharing our questionnaire would also be a great opportunity for us to inform Welsh communities about our scientific interests.
A detailed call for volunteers was also published by Swansea University on its website (swan.ac/gas), and on Twitter (https://twitter.com/SwanseaUni/status/1354806627447181316). I also gave a short interview that you can find on my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/lucrece.heux.1).
We wish to communicate our results to the volunteers who participated once our study will be finalised. If you are interested, we can also work with you to inform the visitors of your library about the conclusions we will be able to draw. The link to take part in the study is: https://survey.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/formSV_cMiOQgpbmi33U9f.
I remain entirely at your disposal if you have any further questions. Thank you for your attention,
Lucrèce Heux,
Doctoral Student/ Myfyriwr Doethuriaeth,
Swansea University/ Prifysgol Abertawe.
April Quiz Answers
Library Life after Lockdown
WENVOE COMMUNITY LIBRARY
Tel: 02920 594176 – during opening hours or wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Like and follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/WenvoeCommunityLibrary
For general enquiries you can email us at wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Click and Collect
Order online or phone in your orders on Tuesdays between 10-12 and we will let you know when to collect your books.
Library Life after Lockdown
Following almost four months of lockdown, the directors and volunteers of the library are chomping at the bit to bring the virtual world back to reality. We have not been sitting quietly but have been busy planning an exciting programme of events to include trips, visits, book sales, musical evenings, workshops, talks and of course the Village Show. We are sure that you are itching to join us on a bus trip – Covid permitting, we were initially thinking of Bath and Tenby. If you have any requests, please let us know.
Limerick Competition
Competition 8 – 12 year olds
Design an illustration for a cover for your favourite book. We will print the best entry in next month’s What’s On and display all entries in the library for all to see when we are next open.
Eager Readers Some of the new titles for children
Clwb Clonc – Our library’s Welsh language group were treated on March 12th to our second virtual storytelling session. A range of stories this time from the legend of the Unicorn to classics of Welsh Culture with a new twist presented by: – Fiona Collins – a Welsh learner who has been a stalwart of the storytelling community in Wales for many years; Gwen – an accomplished newcomer; Ffion Phillips – a young storyteller from Llanrwst who has a sparkling future ahead of her as a performer. Many thanks to Eirwen Malin for organising this event.
Sylvia’s Book of the Month.
The Paris Library by Janet Skelsien Charles
This book has been recommended to me. It is based on the World War 2 story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris. Reviews describe it as an unforgettable story of romance, friendship, family and the power of literature to bring us together. I can’t offer a review as I have only just started it, does sound like a really good read. If anyone has read it, please send us your thoughts.
Quiz Time
This was written by James Harvey a sought-after quiz master from Singapore. Thirteen questions, thirteen answers, each answer begins with a letter from the words: WENVOE LIBRARY. Just to make it more challenging the letters are not in order. If an answer has more than one word, use the first letter of the first word, e.g., if an answer was William Shakespeare, you would use the W. Tip: if you don’t know an answer, move to the next questions. As you eliminate letters it will narrow down the possible starting letters for the missing answers.
1.Tom Riddle was better known as Lord?
2.Short story writer William Sydney Porter used what pen name?
3.Which writer created the Famous Five and the Secret Seven?
4.What was Zadie Smith’s multi award winning first novel called?
5.What is the family name of the writers of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre?
6.Which Brothers Grimm fairy tale was used as the basis for the Walt Disney animated film Tangled?
7.What is the name of the fantasy trilogy written by German author Cornelia Funke?
8.What is the name of the main character in the His Dark Materials stories, played by Dafne Keen in the recent Tv series?
9.In Shakespeare’s play, the title character Timon comes from which European capital city?
10.Which actor played Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter film series?
11.What is the name of the Sally Rooney novel that’s just been turned into a TV adaption?
12. What is George Orwell’s real name?
13.What colour is the road that the heroine Dorothy has to follow in L Frank Baum’s fantasy novel, declared to be ‘America’s greatest homegrown fairy tale’?
Lockdown Memory Book
WENVOE COMMUNITY LIBRARY
Tel: 02920 594176 – during opening hours or wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Like and follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/WenvoeCommunityLibrary
For general enquiries you can email us at wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Lockdown Memory Book. Many thanks to those who have contributed their Lockdown memories. Please send your contributions to the above email address.
Literary Quiz. Next month we’ll be testing your literary knowledge with a quiz written by a well-known quizmaster.
May 12 Limerick Day. Be ready for the annual library Limerick competition with a prize of a bottle of Prosecco for the best entry. The first line is: There once was a village in lockdown
Focus on our volunteers. Our volunteers are sharing their lockdown times with us. This month Sue Hoddell reflects on her Lockdown reading styles.
Traditionally we associate libraries with books but these days they offer a wide variety of ways to access our reading material. So given this wider choice, which do we go for?
For me personally I still enjoy the feel of a book in my hand when reading novels. A paper copy seems more accessible, giving me the ability to scan through, double back if needed and easily access any notes or comments placed at the end of the book. However, if you look at my tablet, you will find a number of e books sitting there waiting to be read. Perfect for holidays and travel when taking a number of hard copy books is less convenient (roll on those moments).
Being a fan of a number of crafts, talking books have been a boon. Whilst my hands are busy with a task, my brain can allow the words of a good story to flow through it. The ones I have borrowed recently from the library have been excellently narrated and thoroughly engrossing and I am pleased to see a greater variety of talking books available these days on a range of subjects.
Magazines can be a mixed bag. Craft magazines are always better in the hand for me but given how expensive they can be and that there may be only a few things in them of interest to me, accessing them electronically can be a better option cost wise. Other ‘glossy’ magazines often contain a large number of advertisements that I can happily skip through online.
So all in all, my reading styles work with all the options the library has to offer and I am very pleased that the modern library is able to provide this kind of variety. So what about you? How do you choose to use your library? Maybe it’s time to diversify.
Volunteer’s contribution. A man walked into Wenvoe Library asking the volunteer for cookbooks on Icelandic cooking. The librarian searched and eventually found some recipes; she read them out: Whale meat pie, Whale meat curry, Whale meat risotto, Vera Lyn Special. The man looked disappointed and asked despondently what was the Vera Lyn Special? The volunteer librarian looked at him and sang ” Whale Meat Again”. Jill Dupe
Book review – The Giver of Stars by Jo Jo Moyes. Jo Jo Moyes can do no wrong for me. In this novel, her latest, she paints a visual picture of life in a small, narrow-minded mining town in Kentucky in the 1930s and certainly takes library volunteering to a whole new level. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it. – Paula Johnson
Book review I have just finished Dombey and Son as an audio book. I am actually quite bereft. Sixty-three chapters, absolutely ideal for lockdown with all that Dickens detail, language and quirky characters – Sylvia Harvey
Facebook Storytime. A reminder that we are uploading weekly videos of stories, book excerpts, poems and songs delivered by our talented community members. A particular thanks to Alun Davies for being such a stalwart contributor. If you would like to contribute, please email us at the above address; we’d love to hear from you. Find us on facebook.com/WenvoeCommunityLibrary
For Young Adults. Waterstones are recommending some great novels to take to your heart:
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
When the World was Ours by Liz Kessler
Sofa Surfer by Malcolm Duffy
First Day of My Life by Lisa Williamson
Changes to the Dewey Classification system during Lockdown. Due to current restrictions, some of our titles have been reclassified as follows:
Holiday Destinations 2021 is now listed under Crime
Eating Out in the Vale is relegated to Local History
Walking your Dog is now reclassified under Thrillers
Home-schooling your Child is transferred to Horror
Surviving a Lockdown Marriage is now listed under Fantasy Fiction
Please email us with any titles you think need reclassifying.
Clwb Clonc – This Welsh conversation group is still going strong on Zoom. If you wish to join and keep up your Welsh language skills, then sign in on Mondays at 11 am. Please note that the login details are the same each week. Meeting ID: 343 147 0372. Pass code: Heulwen.
Story telling in Welsh. We are fortunate to have two evenings of Zoom presentationists in Welsh by a group of storytellers. There will be a vocabulary list for Welsh learners and an opportunity for Q&As. This was set up for Clwb Clonc members, but you are welcome to join us at 8 p.m. on Friday 26th February and Friday 12th March. If you email us at wenvoelibrary@outlook.com we will send you the Zoom details.
“Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve and contribute to improving our quality of life.”
Sidney Sheldon (1917-2007. American writer and producer)
Still Open for Click And Collect
WENVOE COMMUNITY LIBRARY
Tel: 02920 594176 – during opening hours or wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Like and follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/WenvoeCommunityLibrary
For general enquiries you can email us at wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Its Lockdown time again but we are still open for our Click and Collect service. Phone in your orders on Tuesdays between 10-12 and we will let you know when to collect your books.
Lockdown Memory Book
We are keen to maintain our links with the community by following up a suggestion from one of our volunteers. As a village, we are living through a period of history which will be talked about for decades to come. The library would like to invite residents of Wenvoe of all ages to contribute to a collection of their lockdown events and memories in the form of pictures, drawings and text. We will compile these in a format that will be housed in the Community Library and stored for posterity. We hope you will participate. Please send your contributions to the above email address.
Focus on our volunteers
Our band of volunteers continue to operate the Click and Collect service and are still busy behind the scenes with the Library. We though you might be interested in what else they do to occupy themselves during Lockdown. Each month, one of our volunteers will share their time with us.
Hi Everyone, Jack Russell dog here and this is one of my walks.
Walk along Walston Road and into the quarry. If we want to test our lungs, we turn immediate left up the quarry hill. Good fitness test. We try to see how fast we can do it. I always win; owner last!! Follow path, until we come alongside Whitehall Farm, on left, 
(where I like to leave a little wee) turn right then immediate left, fields each side, follow path to kissing gate. Bryn Lodge should be on the left. Walk through to the wooden gate and then onto Burdon Lane. My owner loves this lane, it reminds her of a Constable painting. It changes with the light, but is always pretty and tranquil, whatever time of year. Go along Burdon Lane and look out for a wooden style on the left with a gate alongside, taking us into Wenvoe Woods. The wood is peaceful, birds singing, bare winter trees covered with frost, then the spring wild garlic, bluebells, violets, a continuing changing picture. Follow the path through woods leading down, which will bring you to Pound Field Farm on the right. Go through gate and along path to come out on Pound Lane. Following lane to the bottom and you are back in Wenvoe Village. A short walk approximately 30 minutes, but good exercise. Give it a try!!
Home schooling
How are you coping with your children’s home and virtual schooling? If you visit the Vale of Glamorgan Library catalogue, you will find a wealth of relevant resources and materials which can help your child explore topics and skills which are part of their curriculum.
Facebook Storytime
A reminder that we are uploading twice-weekly videos of stories, book excerpts, poems and songs delivered by our talented community members. If you would like to contribute, please email us. We’d love to hear from you.
Clwb Clonc
This Welsh conversation group is still going strong on Zoom. If you wish to join and keep up your Welsh language skills, then sign in on Mondays at 11 am. Please note that the login details are the same each week. Meeting ID: 343 147 0372. Pass code: Heulwen
“The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.”
Albert Einstein
Tips for Online Library Access
WENVOE COMMUNITY LIBRARY
Tel: 02920 594176 – during opening hours or wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Like and follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/WenvoeCommunityLibrary
For general enquiries you can email us at wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
The Directors and Volunteers wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year.
Advent Windows
We have had a tremendous response for our Advent Windows on our Wenvoe Community Library Facebook page. Many thanks to all those in our community who read, sang and played us into Christmas.
Facebook Storytime
Following the success of the above, and the additional followers signed up to our Facebook page, we will be uploading weekly videos of stories, book excerpts, poems and songs delivered by our talented community members. If you would like to contribute, please email us, we’d love to hear from you.
Joining the Library & Ordering your Books Online
If you are unsure how to order books online or how to join if you are not yet a member of the library, then please follow the steps below.
Enter the Vale of Glamorgan web site Valeofglamorgan.gov.uk and click on Libraries in the blue box. Choose your options from the scroll down menu section on the left. The library Catalogue page option will allow you to reserve, renew or order your books.
If you are not yet a member and wish to join, scroll down the above menu to Reserve an item online, Click and you will enter a new window and see a green box Join Online. Complete and continue
If you are already a member, make sure that you have your Library ID (the number on the back of your library card) at hand and your PIN number. If you have lost/forgotten these numbers, you can ring the library between 10-12 on Tuesday morning on 02920 594176 and our team will be at hand to help you.
Click and Collect. We are still available between 10 am and 12 noon on Tuesdays to receive your book reservations and answer any queries. When your book has arrived, we will call you to make an appointment to collect the book. The return of books can be anytime between 10 am and 12 noon on Thursdays without an appointment. There will be a box in the foyer for you to drop your books into.
eAudio Books – Are you a member of the library? Do you enjoy listening to an audio book at the gym, when travelling, before bed, or even while you do the chores?
Using your library card, you now have 24/7 access to thousands of the new, best-selling and classic audio books. Download them to your phone, MP3 player, iPod or PC and listen wherever and whenever you want
Members of Vale of Glamorgan Libraries have access to online audio book providers. Enter the Vale of Glamorgan web site valeofglamorgan.gov.uk and click on Libraries in the blue box. Scroll down on the menu on the left for options.
BorrowBox– Download up to 10 audio books at a time on your tablet, smartphone, PC or Mac.
RBDigital– Download and listen to up to 10 audio books at a time on your tablet, smartphone, PC or Mac.
ULibrary -Download and listen up to 2 audio books at a time on your tablet or smartphone.
Clwb Clonc – This Welsh conversation group is still going strong on Zoom. If you wish to join and keep up your Welsh language skills, then sign in on Mondays at 11 am. Please note that the login details are the same each week. Meeting ID: 343 147 0372. Pass code: Heulwen
Your contributions – We would love to receive a review or synopsis of a book you are reading. Please email your contributions to wenvoelibrary@outlook.com.