Library news

Page contents


Thousand year tree book competition at Surrey Libraries

An exciting competition kicks off across Surrey on Saturday 1 June to encourage young people to celebrate ancient trees and have their artwork featured in a new children's book, 'The Thousand Year Tree'. Children aged between 4 and 11 are encouraged to head to their local Surrey library to pick up a template and create artwork for the inside covers (known as 'end papers') of the new book. Any art medium can be used, and artwork should be themed around trees and nature.

Find your nearest library.

As England's most wooded county, Surrey is home to some of our nation's oldest trees – many are over one thousand years old! To celebrate these trees, local author Lucy Reynolds and illustrator Katie Hickey, are working with a group of budding book creators from a Guildford primary school. The children have already been involved in a series of creative workshops, school assemblies and educational visits to Newlands Corner, in the Surrey Hills National Landscape where they got to experience the wonder of ancient yew trees up close. The children, guided by the experts will create poems and timelines charting the history of ancient trees which will culminate in the creation of a captivating children's book. The book will be distributed across libraries and schools in Surrey, inviting readers of all ages to delve into the enchanting world of these age-old giants.

The competition runs from Saturday 1 June to Wednesday 4 September and templates can be collected and returned to any Surrey Library.

Further details on how you can get involved and the competition and terms and conditions are available on the Surrey Hills Society website.

The project is a collaborative effort between the Surrey Hills Society, Surrey Hills National Landscape, Surrey County Council and Surrey Libraries and funded through the Surrey Hills Access for All fund, enabling everyone to love and protect Surrey's National Landscape.

Libraries offer free online Driving Theory Test and British Citizenship test support

Theory Test Pro for new drivers

From April 2024.

Surrey libraries has just added Theory Test Pro to its list of internet services available freely to its borrowers. This service provides a highly realistic online simulation of the UK's driving theory test. It contains the entire official test question bank, hazard perception video clips and an online version of the Highway Code.

Theory Test Pro's material is licensed from the Driving Standards Agency (DSA), so learner drivers can be assured that the practice questions they're given are from the people who set the official tests.

Access to Theory Test Pro is free for borrowers who call in to any Surrey Libraries. Borrowers can also access Theory Test Pro from outside of the library using their library card.

Access Theory Test Pro from the Online Reference Shelf.

GoCitizen for practice taking the Life in the UK test

From April 2024.

Surrey Libraries has just added GoCitizen.co.uk to its growing list of internet services available freely to borrowers. This service provides a highly realistic online simulation of the Life in the UK Test.

GoCitizen.co.uk includes an online version of the latest official study materials licensed from the Home Office, the people who write the handbook, plus hundreds of practice test questions in the same format as the official test.

Access to GoCitizen.co.uk is free for borrowers who call in to any Surrey Libraries. Borrowers can also access GoCitizen.co.uk from outside of the library using their library card.

Access GoCitizen from the Online Reference Shelf.

think about the new platform, if you have any feedback please complete the New Surrey Online Library feedback form.

Introducing BFI Replay to Surrey Libraries

We are proud to be partnering with the British Film Institute (BFI) to bring you access to 60 years of screen history, through BFI Replay. All available to use free of charge, library members can access the digital archives on the library computers.

With National Lottery Funding and the support of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, BFI have been able to digitalise thousands of moving image stories. There's plenty to choose from!

BFI also has a range of historical content, digitised videos and TV programmes from 1960s to 2010s, including interviews with authors, filmmakers and more.

BFI is an in library service only, so please pop in to one of our 52 libraries and see us to try it out for yourself. Find your nearest library. If you are a library member, you can pre-book a computer online.

Disclaimer from BFI

BFI Replay features 1000s of videos and programmes spanning six decades, from the 1960s to the 2010s. It allows people to explore thousands of videos and films from the collections of the BFI National Archive and partner UK Regions and Nations Film Archives.

The BFI (British Film Institute) and the Regions and Nations Film Archive partners take our role as guardians and curators of our screen heritage very seriously and have devoted many hundreds of hours to viewing archival material to ensure selection of the most interesting, entertaining and historically valuable content.

We have taken careful steps to exclude wholly unacceptable material from the platform, and to identify and label any sensitive material with appropriate warnings. But due to the very high number of titles involved, the BFI and our partners have not been able to view everything.

Update for users with Amazon Kindle Fire tablets

Going forward, users with Amazon Fire tablets should download Libby directly from the Amazon Appstore instead of manually sideloading the app.

The OverDrive app will be removed from the Amazon Appstore on Wednesday 7 June, 2023. Fire tablet users who already have the OverDrive app installed can continue to use it for now, but it is no longer in active development. The OverDrive app will display messaging encouraging those with compatible devices to upgrade to Libby.

For more information see OverDrive's webpage: How to switch from the A.P.K version of Libby to the Amazon Appstore version.

Login to your account

To login to your account, search the catalogue, renew and request items online, please use the Surrey Libraries' online system. You will need your library card (borrower) number and PIN number. Forgotten you PIN, please see how to reset your PIN.

Multifunction devices

All libraries (except the Community Partnered Libraries) now have new Canon multifunction devices (MFD) which print, copy and scan. Please ask a member of staff in the library. We are hoping to install these devices at Community Partnered Libraries in the near future. In the meantime please check with your local Community Partnered Library to see if they offer these facilities or see details under facilities on their webpage: Bagshot, Bramley, Byfleet, Ewell Court, Lingfield, New Haw , Stoneleigh, Tattenhams, Virginia Water and Warlingham.

Print from your own device

You can now print documents from your own device such as a laptop or mobile phone.

Log in to the Computer booking system, using your library card number and PIN, and follow the instructions.

Once submitted, your files will be securely processed and prepared for printing within the next few minutes.

You can then pay for and collect your print jobs at one of the self service kiosks or by speaking to a member of staff in your library. Find your nearest library.

Your print job will then be available for the next 3 hours. Printing charges apply and are paid at point of collection.

Subscribe to our newsletters for latest news and events.