Longhoughton councillor Wendy Pattison has praised an initiative to help people have access to books during the coronavirus lockdown. 

In her regular update to residents Wendy wrote:

“You may have seen some little book libraries while out and about during lockdown. There are three locations currently in our ward, North Sunderland, on the back road out towards Fleetham, Embleton which many of you may be familiar with, and also one just north of Alnmouth by the coastal footpath heading in the direction of Boulmer.

“Books by the Sea expect to be in a position to announce two further branches to the reading project in the near future with two new recruits to the project. The idea behind this initiative is to promote reading through the Books By The Sea network and create happenings connected to each branch involving local children, writers, illustrators, artists, runners, walkers, and even County Councillors.

“It is hoped that each local community will embrace their library and get involved with it. Each one really needs a steward to look after it, keep the stock presented well, rotate the stock every now and again – The books are all stamped in the library with an Ex Libris book stamp so that people can remember where they found their book.

“Every library is equipped with a spray bottle of sanitiser, donated by Seahouses Co-Op and a microfibre cloth. If people are at all wary of borrowing the books it might put their mind at ease to know that Books by the Sea are very conscious of the risk of Covid 19 and have consulted with the Little Free Library website which provides good advice. The libraries installed so far were designed carefully not to jar with their surroundings and were built with care by a local builder.”

Please do get in touch if you would like to be more involved. Wendy’s contact details can be found via the following link:  http://committee.northumberland.gov.uk/Councillor.aspx?cllrID=247