Derbyshire Libraries eNewsletter

Have you downloaded BorrowBox yet? It's the perfect place to find all your latest amazing eBooks and eAudiobooks in one handy app! You can visit the website here to browse all the titles available to you, or download the app from your device's app store. Whatever you like to read or listen to, BorrowBox is guaranteed to have plenty to entertain you. 

For more info on our eLending platforms click here, ring 01629 533444, or contact ask.library@derbyshire.gov.uk.

Matinee

Following the success of Arts Derbyshire’s arts and health project ‘Matinée Outreach’, an activity book has been produced to encourage people to explore a range of creative activities from the comfort of their own homes. The book, ‘Creativity at Home’, includes visual art, crafts and creative writing activities and has been inspired by the project’s work with people living with dementia, but is suitable for any adult who wishes to explore their creativity.

The book can be downloaded, for free, from Arts Derbyshire’s website.

A Necklace of Stars

Arts Derbyshire’s embroidery and creative writing project ‘A Necklace of Stars’ engaged with adults who were socially isolated throughout the pandemic, resulting in the creation of a beautiful quilt, a catalogue of poems and a soundtrack of lullabies. The work is currently being exhibited around Derbyshire’s cultural venues and has so far been seen by more than 25,000 people.

The exhibition is on display at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery until 6th December, and will be at Chesterfield Library from 8th December - 31st January 2023.

For more information, including future exhibition dates, click here.

Chesterfield Christmas Tree Festival

Staff at Chesterfield Library were delighted to be invited to take part in Chesterfield Parish Church Christmas Tree Festival which was from 17^thNovember to 27^th November. The tree was themed on Quotes from Christmas books and pictures of old Chesterfield from Local Studies, and we're sure you'll agree it looks fantastic!

Derbyshire Record Office

The Record Office is home to lots of old family recipe books dating back to the 1600s. We love experimenting with historical cooking, and you can have a go yourself by following one of the recipes taken from our archive collections on our blog. Our latest success is this delicious 17^th century Orange Pudding which uses straightforward ingredients to make an indulgent dessert.

If you’re saving energy this winter and want to spend the day in a warm space, why not come to the Record Office in Matlock?  We have cosy spaces, free hot drinks, free wi-fi and baby changing facilities. There’s plenty to do, whether you’d like to use the computers, read a book by a local author, or keep the children amused with our stock of books and toys. Plus, of course, you can always start delving into your family tree, the history of your house, or any number of other topics. There’s no need to make an appointment – just pop in. You’ll find our opening hours on our website.

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Buxton Museum and Art Gallery

Buxton Museum & Art Gallery is free to visit and open at the following times: 

• Tuesday to Saturday: 10am to 5pm, last admission 4pm.
• Sundays (Easter to end of September): 12pm to 4pm, last admission 3.30pm.
• Bank holidays: 12pm to 4pm, last admission 3.30pm.

You can also follow their blog here to see their latest amazing stories, including a feature on a postcard held by the Museum, of Snake Pass, sent on 22nd August 1939, before war broke out.

Ring 01629 533540 or email buxton.museum@derbyshire.gov.uk for more information.

Adult Community Education- Make a Difference to your Life in 2023

Derbyshire Adult Community Education Service’s January to April course bookings open on Monday 5 December at 9am.

In the meantime, you can check the new brochures to see what courses will be available to help you. Whether you want a new career or you are taking small steps into activities that can help you meet people and improve your wellbeing, see what courses can support you.

Qualification and Skills Courses - covering the whole of the county here 

Derbyshire Dales Community Learning Courses - covering Ashbourne, Matlock, and Derbyshire Eco Centre here

East Derbyshire Community Learning Courses - covering Alfreton, Chesterfield, Bolsover and Shirebrook here

High Peak Community Learning Courses - covering Glossop, New Mills and Buxton here

South Derbyshire Community Learning Courses - covering Cotmanhay, Long Eaton and Swadlincote here

These files may not be suitable for users of assistive technology, so please email adult.education@derbyshire.gov.uk to request an accessible format.

Multiply - Brush up your maths skills and become more confident with numbers

Launching this year across the UK, Multiply will offer easy access to free numeracy courses and initiatives where you can gain a qualification, and build your confidence in using numbers at work or in everyday life.

Derbyshire Adult Community Education Service are pleased to be supporting local people with free numeracy courses and activities.

If you’re aged 19+ and do not already have a GCSE at grade C (or equivalent) in maths, Multiply is available to you. Sign up to the Multiply Derbyshire email newsletter to find out more or follow Multiply – Derbyshire on Facebook.

Multi-Use Titles

Every month we get a new selection of titles on our BorrowBox app of both eBooks and eAudiobooks that can be taken out by multiple users at one time. These stay multi-use for 60 days, so if you have a book club and you're looking for your next title then one of these could be your next choice! 

You can find these titles on the main BorrowBox page, identified as a collection with 'No Waiting!' or 'Available Now!'

Titles available from December are:

In eBook and eAudiobook format:

• A boy called Christmas – Matt Haig
• The wild laughter – Caoilinn Hughes
• Christmas in the Snow - Karen Swan
• The remains of the day – Kazuo Ishiguro

In eBook only:

• The crane wife – Patrick Ness
• Beneath a frosty moon – Rita Bradshaw

In eAudiobook only:

• The party crasher – Sophie Kinsella
• Oh Williams! – Elizabeth Strout

New Adult Fiction Books Coming in December

Here are three titles published in December we hope you’ll enjoy.  You can reserve them on our online catalogue:

Our first choice is ‘Red Winter’ by Marc Cameron/Tom Clancy. The latest Jack Ryan novel is set in 1985. ‘A top secret F117 aircraft crashes into the Nevada desert. The Nighthawk is the most advanced fighting machine in the world and the Soviets will do anything to get their hands on its secrets. In East Berlin, a mysterious figure contacts the CIA with an incredible offer - invaluable details of his government's espionage plans in return for asylum. It's an offer they can't pass up - if it's genuine, but the risks are too great to blindly stumble into a deal. With the East German secret police closing in, someone will have to go to behind the Berlin Wall to investigate the potential defector.’ That man is Jack Ryan.

Secondly, we’ve chosen ‘Three-edged Sword’ by Jeff Lindsay.  This is his third book featuring master thief, Riley Wolfe.  This heist is his biggest yet. But if anyone can get away with it, it's Riley Wolfe. His list of powerful enemies grows longer, and more dangerous, but that won't stop Riley. He's always liked a challenge.

Our final choice for this month is ‘Death in Tokyo’ by Keigo Higashino.  ‘In the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo the statue of a mythic beast - a kirin - stands guard. Late at night, the body of a murdered man, stabbed in the chest, is found under the statue of the winged beast. However, that was not the crime scene - the man was killed a few hundred feet away and his body moved to that position. The same night, a young man named Yashima is injured in a car accident attempting to flee from the police. Found on him is the wallet of the murdered man. The two have no known connection. Tokyo Police Detective Kyoichiro Kaga is assigned to the team investigating the murder.’

Here are some seasonal titles for you to relax with over the festive season.  All of them are available from Derbyshire Libraries:

• The Secret of Angel Cove by Sheila Norton
• The Christmas Wish by Lindsey Kelk
• The Christmas Spirit by Debbie Macomber
• The Railway Detective’s Christmas Case by Edward Marston
• Ghosts in the Gloaming by Denzil Meyrick
• Christmas on Quality Street by Penny Thorpe
• Christmas at the Keep by Marcia Willett

This Month We Recommend You Read

One of our favourite things to do is recommend amazing books to you! This month we recommend you check out these titles:

Tiny Reindeer - Chris Naylor-Ballesteros

Meet Santa's smallest helper: Tiny Reindeer! He doesn't quite fit in, but when a very special letter arrives before Christmas Eve, he embarks on a mission to find his place in the world. Tiny Reindeer just can't find his place in the busy North Pole. Being much smaller than the other reindeer, he's not very good at any of the jobs Santa gives him. But when a letter comes from a little girl with a Christmas wish to help keep the memory of her grandfather alive, Tiny knows exactly what he needs to do.

Operation Nativity - Jenny Pearson & Katie Kear

When Oscar and Molly rush outside to investigate a crash in the night, they're not expecting to find a dazed Angel Gabriel wandering around their grandparents' back garden. And they're certainly not expecting to find themselves in a race to save Christmas. But if they don't track down a missing shepherd, wise man, donkey and the actual Mary and Joseph, who've all crash-landed in Chipping Bottom, not only will Christmas cease to exist, but they will too. Operation Nativity is on.

Humbug: The Elf who Saved Christmas - Steven Butler & Kenneth Anderson

There are no chestnuts roasting on an open fire or carol singers skipping merrily around the snowmen in Gristle P. Humbug's life: Gristle and his fellow elf family run the Reindeer Poo Disposal department of Santa Claus' Christmas Workshop. But a glimmer of hope arrives when Gristle finds a lost note from a little girl who is very worried that her Christmas won't be magical this year. Her nurse mum is working an overnight shift on Christmas Eve, and has been too busy to post her Christmas list to Santa. That's it - a plan is formed. Gristle & co head to the little girl's house to make this the Best Christmas Ever, including bringing some festive cheer to patients and tired medical staff in hospital.

Order your copies of these fantastic books on our online catalogue.

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