Please visit your local library. Bilsthorpe library is located on the Crescent, NG22 8QX, right behind the Miner’s Welfare. It is open Wednesday from 9.30am to 1.00pm, Fridays from 1.30pm to 5.00pm and Saturdays from 9.30am to 1.00pm.
Once you have become a member you can borrow books, use computers, print and photocopy, access ancestry and join in with community groups. Keep up with the latest news and events at Bilsthorpe Library via their Facebook page.
Regular events at the Library
- Rattle, Rhyme and Roll (followed by Stay and Play): Every Wednesday at 11.00am. Friendly, relaxed song sessions for babies and toddlers. Have fun, share rhymes and meet other local parents. It’s a great way for new mums to make friends.
- Friendship and Knitting Group: Every Wednesday at 10.30am. Join the friendly group for a cuppa and a chat. Take along your knitting projects, craft projects or have a go at putting in some pieces of their communal jigsaw.
- Open Reading Group: First Friday of every month at 2.00pm. Pop in and pick up this month’s book at the library, give it read and them go along to the discussion meeting to share your views.
- Adult Art Club: First Wednesday of every month at 10.30am. Take along your ongoing art projects or even go along just full of ideas, to take part in the friendly art club. All methods and techniques welcome from watercolour, crayons to sewing. See what’s being created in the village!
- Citizens Advice: Worried about debts, benefits, budgets, housing and energy, work or relationships and family? Citizens Advice runs a drop-in advice service every Wednesday at Bilsthorpe Library from 9.30am to 12.30pm. Go along for free, confidential, impartial and non-judgemental advice. Bookable appointments are also available at The Flying High Academy in the afternoon; just ring 01623 861769 for more information.
- Job Club: Meets alternate Wednesdays at 9.30am to 12.00pm. Provides support with job hunting, including CV writing and navigating job search websites. The next meeting will be 9th and 23rd of April and the 7th of May.
Ongoing activities
The adult Jigsaw is always out and awaiting some clever visitors to have a go placing in some pieces to try and complete it.
Children’s crafts and colouring in sheets are available on the kid’s craft table.
Lego is always available and ready to be put out for kids to create their own creations.
If the weather is warm, go and have a look around our little community fruit and vegetable garden to see what they are growing and maybe lend a hand. If you have any plants looking for a new home, they can provide one!
Summer Reading Challenge 2025: In all Inspire libraries from Saturday 5th July to Sunday 7th September.
The 2025 Summer Reading Challenge will be Story Garden, inspiring children to tap into a world of imagination through reading. Story Garden will celebrate nature and the great outdoors, exploring ventures, fantasy and the magical world of storytelling.
How it works
- Children sign up at the library to start their challenge.
- Borrow books and get reading! Children then choose the books they want to read, recording what they have read along the way. Library staff and volunteers are on hand to chat to children about books they have read.
- For every book read, children will pick up stickers along with other rewards as they progress through the challenge.
- Every child who completes the challenge, by reading six library books, receives a medal and certificate.
It’s all free, fun and a great way to keep children reading over the summer holidays.