20/3/2006 - Lucky lender wins prize for book borrowing

The Whitehaven winner of a county-wide competition to encourage young people to use their libraries will be presented with his prize today.

Five-year-old Ben Massey will be given a Playstation Portable (PSP) and games package in the Daniel Hay Library, Whitehaven, today at 3.30pm. 

The competition was held in libraries across Cumbria last month. Entrants had to borrow at least five books from a library in any one visit to be eligible for the draw.

"This is another of the innovative ideas that Cumbria's library service has come up with to encourage children and young people to read.  It is helping us buck the national trend of a decline in people using their library, " said Councillor Roger Bingham, cabinet member responsible for library services.

The competition ran in conjunction with a 'smart card' competition that is operating in all libraries in the county until March 31st.  All 11-to-18 year olds collect a stamp on their card for each item they loan. Once they have collected six stamps, the card can be entered in a draw to win an iPod Video. There is no restriction on the number of cards that can be entered.

The competitions are part of a countywide drive to increase the number of under-19s joining libraries and increase the number of items they loan.