Oxfordshire County Council has moved Charlbury Public Library to this smart and much larger new venue, allowing it to offer more books, a third PC, improved WiFi connection, better disabled access and extra activities, some specifically designed for young families.
The community centre is open from 9am to at least 6pm on weekdays and from 9am to 4.30pm at weekends and Bank Holidays. The library has open access from the café and a self-service machine enables any member of the library to borrow, renew and return books whenever the centre is open, including outside library opening hours. You will need your library card to borrow books, but not to return them. The library itself will be accessible unless it has been booked for another event. Please note that the photocopier and library computers will not be available for public use outside of the staffed library hours below.
The new Charlbury Library is available for hire outside staffed hours (see below). Please contact the centre manager jenny@charlburycommunitycentre.org.uk for further details. Charges can be found here and the library space can be booked through our Booking link.
Below are the times when library staff or library volunteers are present:
Monday: 9.30am-12noon and 2-5pm
Wednesday: 2-5pm and 5.30-7pm
Friday: 9.30am-12noon and 2-5pm
Saturday: 9.30am-12.00
Further information about Charlbury library can be found here: https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/charlbury-library
The library telephone number is 01608 811104. There will be an answerphone outside of the above opening hours.
To search for a book use the library catalogue: https://libcat.oxfordshire.gov.uk/web/arena. If you have your library pin number and library card you will be able to use this link to renew and reserve books as well as checking whether they are available in the Oxfordshire County library system, or in Charlbury specifically.
The library is partly staffed by volunteers; we are always ready to welcome new people to go on this rota just once or twice a month. Please contact Rosalind Scott if you may be able to help: rosalind.scott@hotmail.co.uk or you can find out more and register as a volunteer here: https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/becoming-community-library-volunteer (choose Charlbury Library from the list)
The Library Manager is Julie Ward. She will be in the library on a Wednesday afternoon and evening, Friday afternoon and alternate Saturday mornings.
These free, fun sing-along sessions for babies and toddlers (0-5 years) combine music and rhymes, helping children to listen and concentrate, develop their language skills and learn to join in with others.
Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Do you enjoy a game of Scrabble? Would you like some new people to play with? We have an afternoon once a month where people can come and play.
The next session is on Tuesday 8th Oct 2.30-5pm. Cost only £2.
In the meantime there are two Scrabble sets at the Centre, which you can use at any time for a game with friends.
Congratulations to Anna Cherry, who recently won gold medal in the English Open Pickleball championships in Nottingham, over 50s category - (though dare I say she could have been entered in a higher age group!) Anna said: "This win was only possible because [a] Charlbury Community Centre was built, [b] Vijay started the Pickleball sessions and [c] many people give their time to help run the centre!"
Like most of us she had never heard of Pickleball a couple of years ago, but it's a great game for people of all abilities and ages. If you fancy giving it a go, find out more here.
We are very proud of our champion!
There will be a series of 3 talks on Tuesdays 22 & 29th Oct and 5th Nov 2-4pm by Juliet Heslewood entitled "Gauguin - An Adventurous Life". Click here for more details. These talks were very popular last year. Don't miss them!
The gym now opens at 8.30am, rather than 9am on weekdays. The rest of the centre won't be open until 
9am. Remember also that on Wednesday mornings there is a class in the gym between 9 and10am, so it's best to avoid that time. Weekend opening remains 9am-1pm.
Thanks to our staff (espeically Jenny and Jason) for getting in extra early to do this - it takes quite a while to get the gym set up.
We'd love to reunite you with your possessions!
Most items will be kept for 14 days. Valuables such as watches, jewellery and expensive sports equipment will be kept for 28 days.
Each Wednesday between 1 - 5pm unclaimed items will be displayed in the centre and can be purchased for a nominal amount. After this, they will be given to charity.
There will be no quiz in August - too many people are away. The quiz night is back on Wed 25th September, set by Rob Hemingway. The café and bar open at 7.15pm for a prompt start at 7.45pm. Priced only £5 per player. More details here. Many thanks to Gordon Cutting for doing us an excellent quiz in July!
To find out about volunteering in the library please click here.
