Blog

Moshi supports Children’s Mental Health Week

Moshi, the free service available from local libraries, dovetails beautifully with Children’s Mental Health week. This years theme is Let’s Connect, which aims to encourage children to interact more.

Getting children prepared mentally to partake in social activities planned by schools, communities and parents will be key to success. Moshi is a brilliant service which helps children to find a calm and safe inner space, increase their confidence and enjoy mental wellbeing.

Place2Be launched the first Children’s Mental Health Week in 2015 to shine a spotlight on the importance of children and young people’s mental health. With the lovely Princes of Wales as it’s patron, Place2Be are celebrating their 9th Children’s Mental Health Week from 6-12 February.

Take a look at the free Moshi services from your local library, or discover more about this product offering at Digital Library.

Transparent Language Online Wins Again!

For the 8th year in a row Transparent Language Online (TLO) has won the MLA Platinum Award.

The Modern Library Awards (MLA) are voted for by librarians who evaluate the products that they provide to their communities. After Transparent Language Online scooped this coveted award for the 8th consecutive year, it leaves no doubt that this is a fabulous product.

Librarians particularly loved the new additions to the product range launched in 2022, including;

  • English for Ukrainian speakers & English for Pashto and Dari speakers
  • Beginner & intermediate courses for professionals learning Chinese, French, Spanish, and Russian
  • The fantastic training and marketing support offered by TLO

Why not take a look at this award winning free resource at your local library.

International Creativity Month

January is International Creativity Month, the perfect time to let your imagination run free.

ComicsPlus, a free service at your local library, enables you to view hundreds of comics covering a huge range of topics. One which may tickle your creative fancy is Minecraft Creative Mode.

Minecraft has many ways to play. In Creative Mode, players have the chance to create fun buildings and try new things. Readers will learn all about playing in Minecraft Creative Mode, including how to fly!

Take a look at this fabulous free resource and get creative today.

Get A Balanced View

A retired teacher friend of mine used to tell me about her favourite lesson to deliver to her teenage pupils. She would take a topical news story and ask the children to explore how different newspapers covered the story.

Demonstrating clearly how different reports could slant the story to suit their narrative was an eye-opening lesson for the children. It taught them to question media and to research facts rather than simply accept opinion and blindly repeat things.

PressReader offers you free access to over 7,000 newspapers and magazines from over 120 countries. It has never been easier to get a truly balanced view of current affairs. This brilliant service is available to you free of charge from your local library, so sign up today to see all sides of the big stories.

Calm Ready For School

The festive season is a wonderful time, and your little ones love all the excitement and fun. The problem is trying to emerge ready for the new year and be in a calm state of mind when school starts. Children do not have an on/off switch!

Moshi can help your children make the transition from 100 miles an hour, to calm, relaxed and ready to learn. Many teachers are using Moshi in the classroom to help the children focus, and are seeing fantastic results. Moshi is available from your local library as a free service available to all, why not explore this amazing resource today.

Something To Look Forward To

We all need something to look forward to once the festive season has finished. Whether it be a Spring Break or a Summer Holiday, now is the time we all start planning.

Transparent Language Online, from your local library website, offers you hundreds of different languages to choose from. Wherever you are planning to visit, you can learn the basics and more to help ensure your stay is an enjoyable one. Being able to speak a few words in the host country’s language always endears you to the locals – thank you, 2 beers please, where is the train station – so why not visit your library to discover this fantastic free service for yourself.

Cook up a feast this Christmas

Are you tired of cooking up the same old recipes, the ones you seem to serve year in and year out? Why not try something new this festive season. Access hundreds of fantastic Christmas recipes through the free PressReader service at your local library. Like this delicious Mulled Wine and Roast Hazelnut Loaf Cake.

It’s so easy!! Click on the Loaf Cake picture above, accept the cookies, press the Sign In option and select the Library button. Select your library, enter your library card number and your pin number and voila!!

You can even check out the festive edition of the Radio Times (for free) to see when all the interesting cookery shows are scheduled! So if you would like to browse a multitude of free newspapers and magazines its a simple few clicks away. Enjoy cooking up a veritable feast this festive season with the help of PressReader.

Enjoy a Classical Christmas

Why not transport yourself to the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi on Christmas morning, while preparing your Christmas feast at home.

Join the Spanish conductor David Giméne and our very own Katherine Jenkins for this fantastic Christmas concert – live from Assisi, Italy. The concert is available through Medici, your free local library online music resource.

Starting at 11am on Christmas morning the programme also includes the prestigious RAI National Symphony Orchestra, the tremendous Turin-based Coro Maghini under Claudio Chiavazza, and stupendous solos with clarinettist Enrico Maria Baroni and violinist Alessandro Milani.

Preparing those pesky sprouts will feel far less of a chore as you watch or listen to this wonderful festive musical treat.

A Happy Moshi Twistmas

The holiday season can feel like such an overwhelming time for both kids AND their amazingly hard-working parents! So why not relax a bit, and check out the Moshi Twistmas series to help your child experience the comfort of Christmas bedtime stories?


Moshi Twistmas and those Magical Moshlings

Moshi Twistmas is a collection of Christmas stories featuring sleepy sounds, music, and stories that will have your excitable children slipping away to slumberland in no time. Maybe Father Twistmas will be waiting for them in their dreams!


Free from your local library, simply speak to your librarian or visit the library website to access this incredible service. Stories are designed to reduce stress, improve sleep quality, decrease night wakings, and teach mindfulness.

Matt Hancock highlights Dyslexia

Matt Hancock made it to the final three in I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here 2022. Whilst thoroughly enjoying the ritual humiliation of this controversial politician in the jungle, Matt also showed his human side and highlighted dyslexia.

Matt admitted he struggles with this condition, as do over 15% of the population, but it hasn’t hindered him and it doesn’t have to prevent you enjoying books.

Clarity Books publish paperbacks specifically designed to help dyslexic readers. Using typefaces, colours and page layouts as recommended by the British Dyslexic Association. Go to your local library to access this fantastic resource for free.