Acomb Explore Library

What it’s like

Storytimes and stay-and-play sessions for under-fives, free to drop into, with a café for afterwards.

Storytime is the main event here: Tuesday and Thursday mornings, 10.30 to 11am, aimed squarely at under-fives who can just about sit still for a picture book if there's enough singing involved. There's also stay-and-play on offer, so if the storytime slot doesn't fit your morning, there's still a reason to come in and let a toddler loose among the books.

It's free, and you don't need to book anything, which counts for a lot when you're planning a morning around nap times and nobody's mood is guaranteed. Just turn up. The hours are shorter than a full library day though: weekdays it's 9.30am to 4pm, but Wednesdays and Saturdays it closes at 1.30pm, so an afternoon visit on those two days won't work.

Afterwards there's a café doing hot and cold drinks, handmade sandwiches and cakes, which is a decent enough reason to linger rather than dash off the second storytime ends. There's parking and wifi too, if you need to sit with a coffee and actually get something done while the toddler naps in the buggy.

This one's built around babies and small children, not older kids after an afternoon out, so it suits the 0 to 4 age bracket the sessions are aimed at rather than anyone at school age.

Facilities

Need to know

Best for

0 to 4, built around storytime and stay-and-play

Food

Cafe serving hot and cold drinks, handmade sandwiches and cakes

• Storytime runs Tuesday and Thursday, 10.30 to 11am only
• Wednesday and Saturday hours are shorter, closing at 1.30pm
• No booking system, sessions are drop-in
• Wifi's available if you want to sit with a coffee while you're there

Plan your visit

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