Battle Library

Battle Library Manager: Marjorie McClure

About the Library

Battle was the first library to be built by Reading Borough. A striking structure, funded in part by Andrew Carnegie, Battle has provided a unique landmark for the local community since 1908 and is a grade II listed building. It has always played an important part in the lives of local residents, serving as a hospital in WWI and as an air raid depot in WWII. Today Battle library provides a venue for various activities and organisations such as Baby Clinic run in partnership with Reading Primary Care Trust and ESOL classes run by Reading Adult College.

Services we provide

• Books – Fiction and non-fiction books for both adults and children
• Spoken word cassettes for adults and children
• Music CDs
• DVDs
• Videos in English and Hindi
• Large print books
• ‘Back to Basics’ section with books to help adult learners with Maths and English
• Books in other languages - Gujerati and Urdu
• National and local newspapers
• Selection of magazines including Practical Parenting, Amateur Gardening and The Vegetarian
• Free Internet access - 7 public terminals available
• Access to the library catalogue
• Photocopier
• Fax
• Study space
• Sales – Children's workbooks & posters, greetings cards and stamps
• Parents and carers can join the Toy Library and reserve and collect toys at Battle Library

Events

• Storytime & Rhymetime - times can be found here.
• Battle Baby Clinic - Tuesday and Thursday afternoon from 2.15pm – 4.15pm. This is open to all. Health visitors are there to offer advice, babies are weighed and baby milk issued. Books and toys are available to keep older siblings amused.
• Reading Primary Care Trust hold Ante-Natal and Post Natal Classes at Battle Library every Friday afternoon 2.15-4.30pm
• Battle hosts regular visits from staff at Reading Museum who bring along and discuss interesting exhibits
• Bookstart Book Crawl
• We have an annual Summer Reading Challenge run every year during school summer holidays
• We welcome visits from schools, nurseries, playgroups and other children’s groups – please contact the library to arrange a visit
• For other one-off events see the News section of the website

Access

By BUS:
Battle Library can be visited using bus numbers 17, 18 & 31

There is a easy disabled access at the front entrance.

Contact details

There are several ways for you to contact us at Battle Library.