25/7/2006 - Boredom-busting help from Cumbrian libraries

There is no excuse for children around the county to get bored over the summer holidays.

Cumbria County Council’s libraries have arranged a host of activities over the summer aimed at taming tantrums and turning even the most holiday-weary youngster into a budding super-sleuth.

Based around the spy theme of this year’s summer reading challenge, children of all ages can enjoy a huge range of special activities at their local library over the next six weeks from cracking clues to creating dastardly disguises.

Younger children can take part in story-time sessions which are running throughout the summer holidays and follow clues to help track down kidnapped teddy bears.

For older children, there is the chance to get involved in some super-sleuthing activities centering on this summer’s British blockbuster film Stormbreaker which is based on the first of six novels by multi-million selling author Anthony Horowitz.

County councillor Roger Bingham, Cabinet member responsible for the Library Service, says all the events planned over the summer holidays are designed to help children develop a love of reading. “Parents and carers struggling to entertain children over the summer need look no further than the county’s libraries where a whole range of free activities to suit all ages are taking place,” he said.

People can find out more about what is going on in their area by contacting their local library or visiting the Library Service’s website at www.cumbriacc.gov.uk/libraries