Yes, what a day we had yesterday at our Library Service Open Day - incredible, overwhelming, amazing...awesome...it's difficult to find the right word.
In the space of 20 mins we from this
to this
and then after another 10 minutes it went to this (below)
and stayed like it for most of the day!
Hilary and Kim did a fantastic job and kept the counter going all day, with the help of Helen and Sarah, and brilliant assistance from Annabel Corlett and Sahana Balakhrisnan (we'd have been smothered by returned stock without them). For a few minutes it was all the library family together when Kath Garrett made an appearance (what a wonderful surprise for everyone) rolled up her sleeves and got behind the counter too.
We had lots of activities for people to enjoy. Nicki Gaskell (who deserves a medal) spent most of the day face painting - helped for a few hours by Nicola Watson, who saw the queues and just rolled up her sleeves too (a theme for the day). Mr Gaskell and Mr Watson get a huge thank you hug from the staff too.
Nicki also showcased a short Sing and Sign session. Nicki runs this brilliant signing for babies sessions at the library on Tuesday mornings.
Rosie Allen (also medal worthy) hosted a Busy Bees. I'm sorry I didn't manage to get any photographs on the day because they are fantastic sessions Rosie has at the library on alternate Wednesdays, children have a story read to them, there is lots of action involved and a gorgeous craft activity too. Thank you Rosie.
We had badge making and bookmark colouring in activities too. Huge thanks to David Johnson, Sarah Kermode and Issy Johnson for supervising this activities.
We had a couple of quizzes too - now everyone knows the name of the Mobile Library Driver and favourite things librarians like to eat (slugs, chocolate and fish and chips to name a few). I don't have photographs of these activities because it became so busy I didn't get a chance to pick up my camera. I'm hoping others will provide more pictures I can add to the blog.
Samba Mann. What can I say? Well, they are part of our family now - well and truly. Samba Mann played at the end of our 2011 Summer Reading Scheme carnival and everyone just loved them. They kindly came to the library to launch our Open Day with infectious Latin rhythms and had everyone loving them even more. THANK YOU Samba Mann, one and all!
We'd like to thank Mrs Pontee (for delicious chocolate cake), Mrs Corlett (for the delicious muffins), James Corlett for his fantastic support and Mr Hartley. It was lovely to have our old line-manager Mike Clague visit and our present line-manager Graham Kinrade too - great to see you both.
We had a lot of visitors on the day and we'd like to thank them for taking the time to see what we do best. In order of appearance -
John Shimmin
David Callister (and lovely wife)
Dudley Butt
Brenda Cannell
Phil Braidwood
Phil Gawne
Steve Rodan
David Quirk (in between football matches!)
Alan Crowe
Geoff Corkish
Kate Beecroft
We had visits to from Howard Quayle , Tim Crookall, Laurence Skelly and David Anderson before the event, and Alex Downie sent a message of regret that he wasn't on the Island and able to attend.
Who do I need to thank most of all? Who made the day such an incredible success? You. Our wonderful and lovely members, parents and friends. THANK YOU for making our Open Day so brilliant!
Saturday, May 12, 2012 
