Information on Loughborough

Libraries and museums get more social

Posted on 09/07/2009

Leicestershire Councty Council Community Services

7 July 2009

Libraries and museums get more social

You can now find and connect with libraries and museums on a range of social networking sites from Facebook to Twitter - as well as two new blogs.

Leicestershire County Council has recently launched the blogs so people can easily pick up the latest news about museums and libraries online.

A blog is an online diary which includes text, photos, regular news and events updates which also enables people to keep up to date with new and exciting developments. People can leave their own comments, get involved in a debate and put their views across or just find out information.

You can now interact with one of many museums and libraries in the county by visiting the blogs to have your say and listen to others. Or you could simply log on to find out about a particular event or exhibition.

Get involved by visiting http://leicestershirebooks.wordpress.com for libraries and http://leicestershiremuseums.wordpress.com for museums.

Popular museums which are often the topic of online conversation are Bosworth Battlefield, Snibston, Melton Carnegie Museum, Charnwood Museum, Harborough Museum and Donington le Heath Manor House.

To find museums on Facebook, visit www.facebook.com and search for the museum you are interested in. To follow a museum on Twitter, visit http://twitter.com/leicsmuseums.

To find Libraries on both Facebook and Twitter, use the buttons shown on www.leics.gov.uk/library_events. Or if you just want to find out more about Leicestershire Libraries, visit www.leics.gov.uk/libraries.

Ernie White, County Council Cabinet Member for Better Places, said: “The new blog can help people find out what’s happening and enable them to discover the many activities, exhibitions, tours, classes, events and theatrical productions that are on offer in the county.”

To find out more about all museums in Leicester and Leicestershire, take a look at the Leicestershire Museums Guide at www.leics.gov.uk/museumsguide.

To find out about events in Leicestershire, visit www.leics.gov.uk/events or www.leics.gov.uk/whatson.

For media enquiries, please contact the Press Office on (0116) 305 5712.

Background Notes

Search on Facebook by visiting www.facebook.com and type in the museum as follows:

  • Bosworth Battlefield
  • Charnwood Museum
  • Donington le Heath Manor House
  • Harborough Museum
  • Melton Carnegie Museum
  • Snibston

Libraries across Leicestershire are seeing an increase in visitors as the UK finds itself in a recession. Traditionally, people turn to public libraries during hard economic times - for cheaper entertainment, to help with employment, for free access to computers and to help them save money and be ‘greener’ by borrowing free books rather than buying.

Leicestershire Libraries have seen vast improvements recently as part of the £8 million transformation programme and staff are inviting the public to step into their local library to discover all the up to date services and facilities available for no or little cost.

Visitors will be supported by libraries over the coming months in their health, wellbeing, career prospects, lifestyle and general enjoyment by:

  • Stepping up to savings and improving finances – a free internet service where all the consumer price comparison and information websites are available, there are free books to borrow and you can have a cheap night in with a DVD that you can keep for a week
  • Stepping Up to success and improving job prospects – with free newspapers, free internet facilities and a large choice of titles for all sorts of learning and development
  • Stepping Out - alone or with friends and family to free events
  • Stepping Into the library’s welcoming surroundings where you can read all the latest best sellers for free and get up to date DVDs and audiobooks.
  • Stepping Up to a challenge - train your brain with crosswords, Sudoku and general knowledge quizzes.

Details of library developments can be found on www.leics.gov.uk/libraries

Details of events can be found on www.leics.gov.uk/events

Facts and figures about Leicestershire Libraries for 2008 – 2009

  • 55 libraries
  • 92,378 hours open
  • 3,853,867 visitors
  • 6 Mobile libraries
  • 412 PCs
  • 22,205 DVDs to rent
  • 728,628 books to borrow