Opening hours
Monday: 9.30am to 7.30pm
Tuesday: 9.30am to 5pm
Wednesday: 9.30am to 6pm
Thursday: Closed
Friday: 9.30am to 6pm
Saturday: 9am to 5pm
News
Unwind Your Mind
24 January 2012, 2pm to 3pm.
A free book group with a difference, for adults. Take some time for yourself, relax and listen to a good story read aloud by library staff.
WIRE Business Training
15, 22 and 29 February 2012, 9am to 3pm each day.
A 3 day Business Start Up Course organised by WIRE, Women In Rural Enterprise, will be held at the library. For full information and booking form follow the link on this page to the WIRE website.
Facilities
Oswestry Library serves the market town of Oswestry and its surrounding villages. For a location map, please follow the link on this page to Localview.
As well as an excellent book stock, there is a good range of DVDs and talking books. The Local History Centre holds the second largest collection of local studies material in the county for Shropshire, after Shropshire Archives in Shrewsbury. The collection also includes books which deal with Wales and the borders. Discover Shropshire volunteers hold drop-in local history advice sessions on Monday mornings and Friday afternoons.
Fifteen People's Network computers, with free broadband, are linked to the Internet. There is also free Wi-Fi access for members of the public wishing to use their own laptop computers.
Services
Oswestry Library is the base for Oswestry Rural Mobile Library, which visits communities within a twenty mile radius of the town on a fortnightly basis.
Other services offered by the library:
- local and national newspapers
- photocopier (black and white)
- fax service
- study spaces
- exhibition space
- meeting room
- drinks vending machine
- public toilets and baby changing facilities
- home library service if you cannot come to the library yourself
A copy of a leaflet outlining services provided can be read or downloaded from the link on this page.
What's on
Oswestry Festival of the Word 2012
10 to 20 March 2012
Oswestry's third literary festival will be providing a host of exciting events around the town to celebrate the word in all its forms - written, spoken and sung. As a Festival Partner, Oswestry Library is the venue for a number of events, details of which can be found by following the link from this page.
Work Club
Every other Friday from 13 January 2012, 10.30am to 11.30am
Drop in to Oswestry Library for a friendly and informal work club. Meet people, share experiences and get help with returning to work.
Help with IT
Wednesday mornings, term time only
Half-hour one to one sessions offering help and support with IT problems. This is a popular service, so please book a session with library staff.
Local History Advice Sessions
Mondays 10am to 1pm and Fridays 1.30pm to 4pm
Advice and help on local and family history by Discover Shropshire volunteers. No appointment necessary.
Oswestry Library Reading Group
Last Wednesday of the month 4.20pm to 6pm
Everyone is welcome. For further information on this or other reading groups in the area follow the links from this page.
Children's activities
Bookstart Rhyme Time and Story Time
Every other Monday
Children under 4, 1.30pm to 2pm
Babies under 18 months, 2.15pm to 2.45pm
Free, fun sessions for pre-school children, their parents and carers. For a list of dates and information on other Rhyme Time and Story Time sessions in the area follow the link on this page.
Help with homework
Mondays 3.30pm to 5.15pm, term time only
This popular support club runs in term time with trained staff offering extra help and advice plus access to the Internet. For a full list of other homework clubs around the county follow the link from this page.
Comments and Complaints
Here is a selection of comments, suggestions and complaints recently received at Oswestry library:
What you said The email reminder for books is a really good service.
What action has been taken This service reminds you by email when books are due back. Please ask staff for details.
What you said I love the Top Notch. It saves so much time and I have found some really good reads and some new authors.
What you said Thank you for the rhyme times. My son loves singing along.
What action has been taken There are regular rhyme times and holiday activities for older children.
What you said Thanks for the help with my local history research. Your library is obviously very well used and long may it continue.
What action has been taken Discover Shropshire Volunteers are available on Monday mornings and Fridays afternoons to help with local and family history research.
Libraries we love!
Oswestry Library was chosen by the Reader Organisation, a charity
based in Liverpool that runs read-aloud reading groups across a number of
locations within the UK, to be included on their website as one of the ‘libraries
we love’. This is a list highlighting a range of different libraries that offer
outstanding and distinctive services.
Oswestry was recommended by founder and director Jane Davis, who recently visited the library and was impressed by its atmosphere and the services it offers to the local community.
The article reads ‘We love Oswestry library because the dedicated librarians
here thought hard for years in order to make the perfect library for their
community – and the results are amazing. There’s a drop-in centre by the
entrance for picking up info leaflets and self-service book loans; as you go
further inside, book-packed shelves that are on wheels so can be rejigged as
necessary; bright, quiet corners to read on your own, a ‘reading castle’ for the
children and an amazingly lit blue staircase designed by their own electrician'.