Long gone are the days of stuffy, silent libraries with a strict librarian giving a stern “shush” when anyone spoke above a whisper. Fines for overdue library books are also a thing of the past. So if this is your outdated view of libraries, it’s time to return and discover the full range of activities and services on offer.
High Life Highland carried out a survey earlier in the year of non library users to establish why some people don’t use their local library with results showing a variety of reasons from people simply not having time to visit a library, lack of parking in some cases and people also preferring to buy their own books.
Julie Corcoran, Head of Libraries at High Life Highland commented: “We want to encourage more people through the doors of our wonderful libraries and to do this we need to understand why they’re not using their local library. We had a great response to our non-user survey with well over 700 submissions. This has given us a far greater understanding of the reasons why some people don’t currently use their library and their feedback will inform what steps we will be taking to attract more people to the service in future.”
High Life Highland operates 44 public libraries across the Highland region – some are stand alone libraries while others are operating as part of a community centre or school. They attract almost two million visits per year, with Portree and Dingwall libraries enjoying the largest footfall.
“Not everyone will realise the breadth of services and activities that their local library has to offer them,” said Julie.
“Our libraries are inclusive and welcoming spaces that offer a multitude of activities and events for all ages, such as storytimes, lego clubs, author events, craft groups and games clubs.
“We provide access to IT facilities and digital support, as well as offering 24/7 access to a fantastic range of e-books, audio books, magazines and newspapers. We can also help to ease the cost of living for people as all our services are free.”
A new initiative for High Life Highland libraries for 2025 is a partnership with the Edinburgh Book Festival, with several events being lived streamed in Glenurquhart, Inverness, Culloden, Portree, Invergordon and Ardnamurchan libraries, including events with Irvine Welsh of Trainspotting fame and How to Train Your Dragon author Cressida Cowell:
- 12 August at Glenurquhart Library and Inverness Library – 1330-1430, The Front List, Ruth Jones.
- 16 August at Culloden Library and Inverness Library – 1000-1100, Dream Big with Rod Biddulph.
- 19 August at Portree Library and Inverness Library – 1700-1800, Andrey Kurkov: Our Daily War.
- 22 August at Invergordon Library and Inverness Library – 1330-1430, Dragon Training with Cressida Cowell.
- 22 August at Ardnamurchan Library – 1845-1945, The Second Summer of Love with Irvine Welsh
Find out what else your local library can offer by popping in or logging on: www.highlifehighland.com/libraries
