More than 160,000 visits to children's library in five years since it re-opened

  • Michael Maitland-Jones reports...


Staff at the Guille-Alles Children's Library in Guernsey say it's on course for a record number of visitors.

It's been five years since the library was given a full renovation in 2018 with funding from several charities including the Sarah Groves Foundation.

Since then its platforms and passageways have captured the imaginations of many young readers.

Jodie Hearn is the head of the library's children's section. She said: “There’s a real wow factor to the new Children’s Library, and you can see it on children’s faces when they walk in for the first time."

"They love to be able to grab a book and tuck themselves away somewhere to start reading."

Over the past five years usage of the library has increased in part due to the new children's section and in 2019 – the first year after the launch – visits to the Library rose to more than 160,000.

Organisers say they are expecting to see this figure overtaken this year.

To celebrate its fifth anniversary, the library put on a host of activities including a treasure hunt, story sessions, and a chance for families to write birthday cards to be hung on the library's central tree.


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