We meet regularly providing an opportunity to network and share best practice in support of one another and in celebrating the love of books and reading.

New members are always given the warmest of welcomes at any of our events and if you have any enquiries please feel free to contact us.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Committee

Chair: Cathi Woods 

Secretary: Frances Stanbury

Treasurer: In lieu Cathi and Frances

Committee: Ruth Cornish, Sally Perry

Contact us

Contact the committee at [email protected]

Upcoming events

 

We’ve lined up what will hopefully be an informative and social meeting for the summer term.
Date: Thursday 27th June, 4.30 – 6.30pm. 
Venue: Dorking Library, St Martin's Walk, Dorking RH4 1UT 
Topic: New Look for Surrey Libraries!
A chance to hear about the latest news: 
‘Super Access’ libraries allowing use beyond normal hours, community hubs offering a range of services and group activities, 
and services available to support school librarians.

Rounding up with a bit of fun – tell us about your favourite book of the year so far!
A good read for adults, children or teens, newly published or an old favourite.
You can use the template here by inserting the cover and publishing details and then pop in 3 words that best describe the book. 
Bring the print-out with you for display and be prepared to do a brief ‘sell’ of the book!
We’ll collate all the recommendations and produce a list to share.

From 6.30pm onwards -
After the meeting, we’ll go to a nearby café for tea and cake (not part of main meeting)

Hope you can come along.

ULEZ
Our Branch includes Richmond, Kingston, Sutton and Croydon as well as the county. We realise that the ULEZ policy could put members off driving
to meetings in the ULEZ area if their cars aren’t compliant and they come from outside Greater London. 
So, for the time being, we think it best to keep meetings in the Surrey County area; your views would be welcome.

Tom Palmer Newsletter
Popular author Tom has sent us his latest news – lots of information, new titles, school visits, free resources and more.
Full details are on his website

Recent Training

Spring 2024 Meeting: Wednesday 20th March

Topic: The ReadingZone
Supported by The Arts Council, the ReadingZone offers a wealth of ideas and support to schools and libraries, all for free!
Our March meeting in Redhill was most enjoyable and we shared brilliant ideas on promoting books and making reading fun. 

Caroline from The ReadingZone talked about her company and the project she’s working on in some Surrey schools to engage reluctant readers. 
The Zone website is a treasure trove of useful items, such as 3 minute videos of authors talking about their new titles, which some members
say have already inspired students to try the books.
 

Autumn 2023 Meeting, 21st November

Keeping One Step Ahead - Reading Framework, recommended online resources, organising pupil librarians, and more.

Thank you to The Howard of Effingham School.

The meeting included our Minutes and Annual Report: Surrey SLA Branch Annual Report 2022-23.

CWIZZ Literary Quiz for schools, 24th November

Some schools at the London end of Surrey may already know about the CWIZZ, which has run in South London for some years. I was delighted that RGS Guildford hosted the first Surrey CWIZZ on Friday 24 November 2023.

For the benefit of those who don’t know, the CWIZZ is a fun literary quiz for Years 5-8, run by CWISL (Children's Writers for Stories and Literacy). Schools enter one or two teams of four students, who work together to answer book and story-related questions in themed rounds. Between rounds there are chances to win prizes, and mini-talks and readings from the authors.  There is a free raffle for all entrants, a bookstall and the chance to meet the authors and get books signed in the refreshment break.  The event will last no longer than 2 ½ hours, including the break, and will end with the presentation of the CWIZZ Shield to the winners. There is also a special trophy for the highest placed KS2 team.  The cost of this brilliant afternoon is £25 per team.

Summer Meeting, June 2023

An enjoyable visit to RHS Wisley. This was so interesting and enjoyable – where can we go next year? Let me know if there’s somewhere library-ish that would be good to visit!

We learned about the services they offer schools from the librarian and the Education Team 

Spring Meeting, March 2023  

Held in March. Booksellers Elizabeth Perry, Manager of Daunt Books, Summertown, Oxford, and Pat Freestone-Bayes, owner of the Regency Bookshop in Surbiton, joined us for an informal session to share their insights into the worlds of publishing and book supply.

News from Surrey Libraries

Reading Well for Teens is a useful booklist developed with experts by The Reading Agency with a range of titles to support mental health. The selection includes books to help promote wellbeing and break down barriers around mental health issues and topics such as body image, neurodiversity, sexuality and gender identity, and difficult experiences including bereavement and bullying, as well as social pressures. 

Details - Young adult well-being and support in libraries 

Surrey Libraries have a wide range of author talks coming up too, details on the website: Events and activities in libraries 

 

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