Summer Reading Challenge awards were given out at St John’s Library, where over 100 children received medals and certificates for their achievements over the summer period. They were all so keen to talk about the books they have read – and even more keen to receive their awards! I congratulate the staff and volunteers for bringing this concept together and for encouraging our youngsters to read more and to appreciate the learning, enjoyment and value that can be gained from books. Seeding for a greater future!

“Beat Street The Show”, at the Swan Theatre was a brilliant. This event came from the members and activities of the Monday Night Club, who meet at the Barbourne Ex-Services Club in The Moors. The stars of the show for me were Helen who was the Producer and the founder of the club, and Helen’s daughter Laura, who herself has learning disabilities and autism. The Club was founded in 2011 for people with similar disabilities and has some 140 attendees; between them all they brought together a show which was truly great. All those involved put on a great performance, but perhaps more importantly, they all thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Well done Helen and Laura, I greatly admire the work you are doing.

The University of Worcester hosted the opening of the Lemniscaat Worldwide Picture Book Illustration Competition exhibition at The Hive on Wednesday 14 October.  Lemniscaat, one of the oldest and most well-known children’s book publishers in Holland, took the initiative to begin a picture book illustration competition in the UK, The Netherlands and Belgium in 2014. This proved to be a great success. More than 750 young illustrators entered their work and a jury choose twelve winners.

It was particularly good to see Lauren Susman receive her award, as she is a University of Worcester student.

The Hive has achieved national recognition through many awards: there have been over 40 nominations to date. The Hive is a powerful statement of belief in learning and inclusion through social innovation, and has proved itself a successful pioneering venture. 26,775 additional people now belong to the library, including more than 6,000 extra children, since its opening in 2012.

Teenagers and young people (excluding University students) borrowed 572% more than in the final year of Worcester Library.  From 2 July 2012 to the end of May 2015 the average number of issues per year by non-University of Worcester adults was 538,129 – an increase of 96.4% over the equivalent figure of 2011/12 at Worcester Library.