Success Stories
ACOCKS GREEN LIBRARY TEAM CELEBRATE BEST SUCCESS!
BEST Leader Brenda Clarke welcomed BEST as an opportunity for staff to get together and focus on things they would like to try out or improve. Brenda, assistant community librarian ant Acocks Green Library is most proud of their joint working action which was to set up a playgroup with local children and mothers. Many mothers had expressed an interest in having a playgroup for their children but no one was willing to take responsibility for setting one up, but when BEST came along staff at the library realised it was now time to take action and get motivated. Brenda said ‘Without BEST we would not have focused enough, seeing only the problems not the solutions and the group would never have got off the ground.’ The playgroup which is championed by library assistants Annette Gould and Lisa Richards is designed for under 5’s and now around 20 children and their carers meet every Thursday afternoon during term time. The group offers children the chance to take part in play time with others, art and craft sessions, sing-alongs and group reading time. At their BEST 6 month review in July, the team felt ready to tackle another challenge which was suggested by Bogden Torhan, supply staff at the library. Bogdan, working alongside community librarian Mike Byrne, has been helping to support local Polish families within the community through pupils at Holy Souls School, Acocks Green. Bogden has been running weekly classes since September helping to provide practical help to Polish families by helping to fill in forms and making people aware of local language classes and support available as often people are unaware of services available as the advertising is in English. To celebrate the success of the classes, on the Saturday before Christmas a Polish Christmas Part was held at the Library with carols, art and craft, a traditional Polish supper and Santa Claus for the children.
