Library events for adults in the pipeline
Broadmoor Revealed: the Victorian Asylum – Tuesday 11 January at 7pm (online)
Join Mark Stevens for a virtual glimpse behind the walls of Victorian Broadmoor, England’s first criminal lunatic asylum.
Mark is county archivist for Berkshire and the Broadmoor archive is one of the collections in his care.
Authors Online with Elizabeth Okoh – Tuesday 22 February at 7pm
Our popular Authors Online series is back! Join us for this interview with Elizabeth Okoh, who is a British Nigerian writer, creative director, content creator and photographer.
Okoh’s work is inspired and influenced by social justice, Nigerian culture, immigration and living in the diaspora. Her debut novel The Returnees was published in 2020.
To sign up for either of these events email libraries@wokingham.gov.uk
Mini winter reading challenge for youngsters
The 2021 Winter Mini Challenge, run by The Reading Agency in partnership with WWF, is on!
The Summer Reading Challenge this year saw thousands of children reading and exploring nature and action for the environment as part of this year’s Wild World Heroes theme. Now things have started to get chilly and the winter holidays are coming, children can join the Wild World Heroes as they embark on an Arctic adventure.
They can find out about the creatures that live there and the environmental issues facing this precious, remote place. They might even spot a narwhal or two! The Challenge started on Wednesday 1 December 2021 and ends on Saturday 15 January 2022.
Visit the Winter Mini Challenge website to find out more about this year’s booklist and how you can get involved. All you have to do to complete the Winter Mini Challenge is choose a reading goal (we recommend three books) and then read that many books before the end of the Challenge.
For inspiration, why not visit our virtual library for books to download and read or listen to or visit one of our libraries (opening times in the story above).
Drop into any of our libraries during December and pick up a free Winter Activity Booklet while you choose your books!
Illustration: © Heath McKenzie, 2021
Holocaust memorial Day – 27 January 2022
Holocaust Memorial Day is the international day on 27 January, to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, alongside the millions of others killed under Nazi persecution and in genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
The day marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. ‘One Day’ is the theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2022.
Visit our blog for more information about Holocaust Memorial Day. For books available in our libraries on the topic visit our blog for recommended titles for adults and children and young people.
Costa Book Awards shortlist available at our libraries
The Costa Book Awards shortlist has been announced. The awards were launched in 1971 and represent the most enjoyable books by authors resident in the UK and Ireland.
Spanning five categories – First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book – one of the five winning books is then selected as the overall Costa Book of the year.
The category shortlists were announced on 23 November, with the category winners being revealed on 3 January and the overall winner on 1 February. Read about the books that made the shortlist on our blog at and the books can be borrowed or reserved using our libraries webpages.
What you might have missed
- Struggling for ideas on what to read? We have online resources to help suggest authors you might like or a next step for young readers. There’s more details on the service on the Wokingham Borough Libraries blog
- Our book groups loan service relaunches in January, where Book groups in the area will be able to subscribe to this service where they can borrow 15 copies of a book title each month throughout the year. To make a booking, email bookgroups@wokingham.gov.uk
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Don’t forget about the online library service
You can access a range of online resources via our Wokingham Libraries webpages, including books, newspapers, magazines, music, and family history resources.
For more information on how it works, read the guide to our online library services on our blog.
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