Library of the Month: Barlow Moor Community Library

Barlow Moor Community Library is housed inside the Barlow Moor Community Association building on the Merseybank estate in Chorlton. It’s a centre that works hard to support people living in the area. As well as a nursery the centre offers youth and adult support through a variety of clubs and training opportunities. 

The day-to-day running of the library is conducted by an amazing team of volunteers, supported by Chorlton Library managers and staff, and the BMCA team. The library offers Free WiFi, computers and printing, it has a really good collection of library books for all ages and tastes as well as offering access to the full Library catalogue. 

The library welcomes school visits, as well as running regular activities for children.  On school holidays we offer weekly craft activities for children on Thursday afternoon 2-3pm, this summer the activities will run through August. 

We work hard to engage with all our local schools, we were recently visited by Years 3 and 4 pupils from Barlow Hall primary to find out about joining the library and seeing what we have to offer, from this visit emerged an idea for a school writing project. Students have been writing book reviews to display in the library, so they can share with others the books they have enjoyed reading and would recommend. The library also offers schemes like the Summer Reading Challenge, a program to encourage children to keep reading during the summer holidays. 

Barlow Moor Community Library always hosts an event for Chorlton Book Festival, this year we will have Children’s Author Marie Basting, we will invite local school children to come along and enjoy the session. The library always plays a part in Barlow Moor Community Association’s big events, so for example we always have a stall at the yearly Merseyfest community fun day. 

A new bike library is starting this week, it’s a great scheme where customers can borrow a bike for free, we are hoping it will prove to be popular. 

The library is open Monday to Friday and has a late night until 7pm on Tuesday. Parking is free and available on site. View a 3D walkthrough virtual tour of Barlow Moor Community Library!

Barlow Moor Community Library is a real little gem for its local community and is well worth a visit.