Quiz & Chip nights, BIG book sales, pop-up libraries, children’s activities, tea and talks with our famous cake!..
2020
January 2020
Sewing Bee ……. Doing something a bit different.
Yesterday some of us abandoned our projects to start making some ‘ Marsupial Pouches.’
We heard that Tapnell Farm is collecting pouches to be taken out to Australia at the end of the month, following the devastating fires. We are going to make some more and take them across to Tapnell Farm before the end of the month.
For the animals of Australia…….Hello Crafty Friends!!
I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who contributed, by sewing or knitting, to our ‘Australia’ collection of Joey Pouches, liners, hangers and bat wraps which I picked up from the library this afternoon. I counted 55 pieces in total. This was fantastic!!!
I will be taking these across to Tapnell Farm tomorrow.
If they require any more,once they have done their audit, I will let you know via this page.
If anyone still has any more items, please do take them into the library and I will see that they are delivered to one of the collecting groups.
It has felt really heartening to do something useful for such a worthy cause. We cannot begin to comprehend how many lovely creatures have been injured or traumatised by the recent wildfires in Australia. These pouches will go some way towards aiding their recovery.
You should all give yourselves a pat on the back for wanting to help.
So, once again …..THANK YOU!!! Xxx Jenny
Two Joey hanging Pouches and a set of lined Pouches.
14 bat wraps. They feel really soft and squishy!!!
Another collection of sewn and knitted Pouches and liners.
Lovely, big pouch liners.
All boxed up and ready to go!!!
February 2020
Over twenty teddy bears and assorted mythical creatures came with their owners for a sleepover.Stories and craft a lovely picnic all helped make everyone sleepy. Their friends were left for a sleepover in the library and all they got up to sorts of mischief !
March 2020
Look at the results from the wonderful pastel art workshop run by local artist Rai Baker. The group who came along were all beginners and they had a lovely time. Look out for more introduction to art and craft workshops in the future.
2019
Fun in the Childrens Library Easter Holidays 2019
How many carrots did you find?
Two lucky winners have been picked from all the correct entries
The correct answer was 29 carrots. Well done to our winners!
Fabulous Easter Lego models from our Easter Special
Over 60 and their parents and grand parents are all enjoying Huxley Magic show . Very excited children Huxley needs a medal !!
Thank you Friends of Ryde Library funding this event!
Successful Teddybear Sleepover!
We had 22 bears (and owners) come to make eye masks, have a midnight feast and listen to stories before the bears were left overnight in the library.
When they were collected in the morning, they had photos of what the bears got up to in the night along with a certificate! Did we have some naughty bears?
Blast off Saturday 13 July! – Summer Reading Challenge
Here’s some great ideas for the summer holidays – all free events
Fantastic rockets and spaceships made at Lego club on 6 August. Impressive selection! Congratulations to the winners and a big thank you to all the children taking part in the challenge.
The rockets have blasted off and are in orbit! – all made from recycled materials by lots of keen children!
Fabulous time with our Friends from Ryde Carnival. Thanks guys for your help with the musical instrument activity!
A big thank you, from Ryde Carnival for organising such a fun activity. All the children there were really enjoying it, can’t wait to hear the maracas and tambourines they made along the route.
Out of this world special planetary art with Rai Baker. Look at our amazing results
Packed room for our 16th Quiz and Chips fantastic fun. 4 October.
The Gruffalo is 20 years old! Over 40 children attended our celebration on Tuesday 22 October making Gruffalo head gear and spinners. Fantastic time, wonderful creations.
Look at all these events in Ryde Library in 2018.
JANUARY
Ryde Junior library is getting a makeover!
Thanks to funds raised by the Friends of Ryde Library, the children’s library was painted during the week beginning 8 January. It gave a rare chance to see the commemorative plaque for the opening of the School of Art on this site in 1874 (usually hidden behind the book cases!)
FEBRUARY
Suffragette spotted in Ryde Library! Canvassing for votes to celebrate the 100th anniversary.
The results of the LEGO 20 brick Challenge look at what was made!! Well done Lego engineers !!
Teddy Bear Story Time at the Library meet Henry’s polar bear!
MARCH
Tea and Talk with cake of course!
Wonderful talk from Ryde Cats Protection thank you so much the room was packed with cat lovers.
Lovely Mothers Day craft at the Ryde Library . Planting Sunflower seeds! Enjoyed by all the children taking part.
Hogtastic time had by our hog craft crafters.
We are egg ready for Easter! Stained glass eggs crafted by our Story time children!
APRIL
Ready for our 13th Quiz and Chips!!!
Lovely fish and chips and Emu is not a country but it should be! You had to be there!!
Join us for the 14th Quiz & Chips in October but don’t forget to get your tickets early to avoid disappointment. We have to limit numbers as we can’t fit any more teams in! Watch our events page for details.
Ready for our Tea and Talk – Yarmouth Pier lt’s History. Packed junior library eagerly waiting for it to start. Tea and Cake to follow! Yum.
Ruth giving her talk to a packed room. Brilliant and very interesting ! We are so lucky on the Island to have access these very talented people. Thank you Ruth.
Great turnout for our book sale, lots of money raised for future projects.
MAY
On Tuesday 22 May 2018 The Friends of Ryde Library hosted an ever popular Tea and Talk afternoon, the penultimate before the break for childrens’ summer activities.
An enthusiastic group of listeners were entertained with an interesting talk on old Ryde Carnivals 1888 – 1988 given by Malcolm Ross with accompanying photographs, newspapers, programmes, slides and old film of some of the processions.
The talk covered the evolution of Ryde Carnival from processions to celebrate local events, such as the opening of Ryde Waterworks in 1847 and Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887, to the first real carnival procession in 1888 and up to the shorter but no less colourful parades of today. The audience asked questions and enjoyed trying to identify long gone buildings and recognising characters from past processions.
Time went far too quickly and we could have gone on all afternoon watching the old films but we had to stop to make way for Lego club. The afternoon concluded with tea and lots of home made cake accompanied by continued lively carnival chatter.
The last Tea and Talk of the season is on Tuesday 19 June at 2pm entitled ‘Down the Pit’, an amusing account of the musical highs and lows of a plucky musician, given by Jane Pelham. Hope to see you there.
Half Term Fun!
The Friends AGM took place on 26 June where the revised constitution was adopted and new committee elected. New furniture for the children’s and teenage sections of the library is on order and will brighten up the library. We look forward to another successful year starting with our book sale on Saturday 14 July.
AUGUST
Keeping the children entertained through the summer holidays while they were completing the summer reading challenge.
SEPTEMBER
The return of the now famous Tea and Talks
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
FIRST WORLD WAR CENTENARY COMMEMORATION
An exhibition ran from 3 November until 16 November to commemorate the fallen men and women from Ryde and its neighbourhood.
The staff and about 70 volunteers have made paper poppies and grass fields to represent each one of the 665.
Watch the video below
2017
Get Creative Weekend 7 – 8 April 2017
Lots of people joined us at the weekend to make inches (an inch square of fabric decorated any way you like).
All the finished inches will be mounted to make a collage and the displayed in the library.
Here are some of the inches in production
and some finished inches!
Over £200 raised. Fantastic effort!
Lots of superheros invaded the children’s library and made masks and wrist bands.
Fun sewing event raising money for Age UK.
New book club for 2017 celebrating the Jane Austin Bicentennial.
Look for further dates on our Events page.
Fun games and crafts followed by stories and pirate tea.
Learning new skills on a sewing machine proved a popular course.
The team from the IW Records Office were on hand providing expert help and advice on everything to research Island history.
Members of Ryde Social Heritage Group brought some of their extensive archive of Ryde’s history and were on hand to help answer questions.
Christmas 2016 at Ryde Library
Some of the Christmas jumpers designed by the children in Ryde Library 10 December 2016 for Save the Children Jumper Day.
10th Quiz and Chips Friday 28 October 2016
17 teams took part in a fantastic quiz night at Ryde Library
Summer 2016 in the Children’s Library
Over 700 children took part in the Summer Reading Challenge this year. As well as reading their six books through the holidays and getting certificates and medals, the children enjoyed lots of craft sessions, a character hunt, colouring competitions and completed weekly activity sheets.
Richard Smout gave an interesting and informative talk about the work of the IW Record Office and some of the vast collection of records available for Ryde at the 2nd Tea and a Talk afternoon on Monday 23 May. Over 30 people attended the talk and, after a question and answer session, refreshing tea and home made cakes were served. Donations from the event will go to the fund for a defibrillator to be sited outside Ryde Library where it will be available for emergencies 24 hours a day.
The exciting news is the fund has reached the £400 mark already! We need to raise £1500 so some way to go yet.
The first Tea and a Talk afternoon was a great success. Over 20 people listened to a very interesting talk given by Estelle and were able to handle original and replica WW1 artefacts including letters and diaries. One lady brought her grandfather’s original WW1 diary (in near perfect condition) and allowed everyone to read it. She has kindly let Estelle scan it for the Gallipoli archive. Tea and wonderful cakes were enjoyed by all afterwards.
World Book Night 23 April 2016
On a chilly Saturday morning staff and Friends from Ryde Library Isle of Wight gave away over 100 World Book Night Books plus over 150 other fiction books (donated by members of the public). Giving books away amongst the carrots and cheese of the Saturday Farmers Market outside the local supermarket was an ideal spot to catch the Saturday shoppers.
It was a very busy morning many people trilled to receive a book for free! This was also an excellent opportunity to tell people all about what their local library has to offer. We received many, many positive comments.
The quick reads were particularly popular with people who were a stranger to reading regularly. One lady said she was just going on holiday and her book was just what she wanted she hadn’t read a book for many years.
Others were very interested in applying themselves and could not believe you would get a box of books to give away! One lady said she had first received a World Book Night book two years ago and is now a steady reader using the library of course!
The evening got off to a relatively easy start with the first round answers being nursery rhymes (apart from the questions were all cryptic!), lots of teams wishing they had played their jokers. The second round was much harder – Shakespeare 400 – and if you’ve been to the quiz before you’ll know Jonathan finds some strange and odd facts so not at all straightforward. The music round was back this time where we see Jonathan working the technology to stop the music just before the answer is revealed. Perfect timing! The sports round was quite hard with some unusual questions and we found out how little we knew about America.
Thanks to everyone for taking part and to all the staff and volunteers for making the evening run smoothly and staying afterwards to clear up and make it look like a library again ready for Saturday morning. Special thanks to our quizmaster Jonathan.
See you all again in October for the 10th Quiz and Chips.
National Libraries Day Saturday 6 February 2016
Wow! What a fantastic day, the library was so busy. The volunteers could hardly keep up with demand for tea & cakes (who made the lemon drizzle cake? – it was scrummy!)and the book sale was another huge success.
Angie held Family History taster sessions for beginners and helped those who’d hit the ‘brick wall’ in their searches. Ryde Social Heritage Group members were on hand all day with part of their extensive archive and to demonstrate the new features on their website including the ‘all’ website search allowing more extensive searches of the whole database – this searches the grave database and all attached pdf documents. Instead of just surnames you can now enter first name and surname to limit the results or enter specific words e.g. fireman to se any grave record or document containing the word.
Richard, Simon & Jo from the IW Record Office were kept busy answering queries and showing some of their collection of records for Ryde.
Thanks to all the volunteers, staff, members, friends and visitors for a great National Libraries Day.
Remember a library is not just about books (but there are lots and lots of them and DVDs too!), it’s a great community hub and friendly place to be. Please visit us soon.
To read Ryde Social Heritage Group’s report on the day please click here
“We had a brilliant day tea, cake, coffee , book sale, family history sessions ( thank you Angie! ) and of course Ryde Social Heritage Group with their amazing archive. The library was packed you sometimes had a job to squeeze through – thank you to everyone who helped including the dedicated Friends Group who did all the tea and washing up.” Jo Dodd
Christmas comes early! – The Christmas Craft Market Saturday 21 November 2015.
The wind blew and it was a very cold day, not the best conditions to entice people out, but, despite the elements, people came to buy the lovely handmade crafts and Christmas gifts in Ryde Library.
18 stall holders set up early Saturday morning with a varied range of gifts. The tombola stall was a popular addition with a 50/50 chance of winning a prize donate by the stall holders and local businesses. The raffle was drawn at 3 o’clock, again all the wonderful prizes donated for the occasion. Congratulations to all the winners.
Refreshments were available all day served by the Friends of the Library volunteers and library staff.
Many thanks to everyone who helped make the day a success.
8th Quiz and Chips quiz night Friday 9 October 2015
13 teams took part in the 8th quiz night held at Ryde library. Jonathan was Quiz Master and set some challenging questions (again!). For the first time there was a tie for first place and congratulations go to 3’s a Jolly Good Fellow and The Balch 6 teams with 84 1/2 points. The lead changed several times throughout the evening with all teams performing well. Half-time was eagerly awaited – fish and chip time. Delivered freshly-cooked and piping hot from our local shop, this is one of the highlights of the evening and again they did not disappoint. During the break there is always an extra fun round worth 20 points, the Balch 6 scoring a massive 18 1/2 points. Going in to the final round, several teams were still in the running for the title with 3’s a Jolly Good Fellow ahead by just 1 point. The Balch 6 scored 9 points to 3’s a Jolly Good Fellow’s 8 points to tie the competition. A great fun evening was enjoyed by all.
Volunteers at the Massive Book Sale 12 September 2015
The Massive Book Sale was a Massive success. Thanks to everyone for supporting the Friends and buying lots of books, dvd’s, cd’s, jigsaws and games.
Teddy Bears Picnic 15 August 2015
Fun in the library when the bears came out to play! Volunteers and the library staff helped the children (and adults) make teddy faces, teddy ears and ice gingerbread men. Jo and Jonathan read teddy stories, we played name the bears, hunt the bears and coloured lots of teddy pictures. Oh! don’t forget the picnic too!
Great afternoon with the Rainbow Wight Singers on Thursday, part of Ryde Arts Festival 2015. Lots of songs, tea, cake and chat. Thanks to all the Friends who served the teas.
Meet the Friends 22 May 2015
The ‘Friends need Friends’ event took place in the library on Friday evening and gave people the chance to find out who the friends are, what they do and what is planned for the coming months. Ideas put forward for future events included a writers club, tea and chat afternoons, musical evenings and a photography competition. Great to see new people coming into the library and several new volunteers signed up to help at the events. Refreshments were served by the committee. Thanks to Jo and her staff for helping The Friends stage this get together.
Quiz and Chips 24 October 2014
This is now a traditional twice a year quiz night – an entertaining quiz with a delicious fish supper in the middle and raffle. The next one will be in April 2015.
Short Story Evening 26 September 2014
Poetry Evening 11 July 2014
World Book Night Pop Up Library 26 April 2014
Quiz and Chips at Ryde Library 11 April 2014
Pop-Up Library April 2014
November 2013
Friends of Ryde Library 