Haddenham Library

Haddenham Library We are a friendly volunteer-run village Library & Local History Archive in Haddenham, near Ely. You can borrow up to 12 books and keep them for up to 3 weeks.

Haddenham Library & Archive welcomes residents of Haddenham and visitors to our village. With free internet access, community computers, printer, photocopier, laminator, local research facilities and a wide selection of adult and childrens books, there has never been a better time to visit your local library. The Library survives thanks to the support of the County Council and Haddenham Parish Cou

ncil - oh and donations – we never say no to books, money, offers of help or new members of the 'Friends of Haddenham Library'. Haddenham's Village Archive is situated in the library near our local studies section and is looked after by the Haddenham Local History Group. To join the library and gain access to not just our village library but the whole of Cambridgeshire's Library Catalogue just bring two forms of identification in and we'll happily get you started. If you already have a Cambridgeshire Library card – what are you waiting for? Opening Hours

Monday 2.30 - 5.00
Wednesday 2.30 - 5.00
Friday 2.30 - 5.00 and 6.00 - 7.30
Saturday 10.00 -12.00 noon

As it was Bank holiday we only went in to sort books and display but we may have sneaked these 2 Bluey picture books on.
28/05/2026

As it was Bank holiday we only went in to sort books and display but we may have sneaked these 2 Bluey picture books on.

*** OUR DIGITAL HUB & FUTURE DIGITAL SATURDAYS ***Our fantastic library Digital Hub is running three new digital Saturda...
26/05/2026

*** OUR DIGITAL HUB & FUTURE DIGITAL SATURDAYS ***
Our fantastic library Digital Hub is running three new digital Saturdays on 30 May, 13 June, and 27 June. Our trained volunteers will be available for individual half an hour appointments to help with anything digital e.g. setting up an email account, pairing a device using bluetooth, staying safe online, starting using Facebook, creating a spreadsheet, using Word, finding out about QR codes, etc. etc. Your wish will be our command!
Please note that you do need to pre-book an appointment:
by email ([email protected]) or phone/text (07851 812524). See you there... :-)

On Saturday 16th, the brilliant crime writer Kate Rhodes visited us to run a Writing Workshop in the library. She gave u...
20/05/2026

On Saturday 16th, the brilliant crime writer Kate Rhodes visited us to run a Writing Workshop in the library. She gave us several fun exercises, and all ten participants read out their work for Kate’s considered and encouraging feedback. We all enjoyed the process a great deal, and finished the Workshop feeling we should try to make a success of our writing.
If you’ve not yet read any of Kate’s thrilling books, you’re in for a treat. We have copies of many of them in the library, thanks to her generosity in donating them. The most recent are two series: the six-book Alice Quentin psychological thrillers and the 8-book DI Ben Kitto Isles of Scilly mysteries (soon to be nine, with ‘The Mermaid’s Cry’ out on 16 July).
Kate has very kindly agreed to return to do another Workshop, this time for some of the village children. We are hugely grateful for her time and skills in supporting us.

Another way to read: multiple books on the go simultaneously. It's a big thing in Iceland :-)Personally, I am part-way t...
20/05/2026

Another way to read: multiple books on the go simultaneously. It's a big thing in Iceland :-)
Personally, I am part-way through 'Under the Dam and Other Stories' by David Constantine, 'Samuel Marsden' by A. H. Reed, 'Bitch. What does it mean to be female?' by Lucy Cooke, 'The End of the Line' by Gillian Galbraith, and 'Creative Abstract Mixed Media' by Kate Leach. With that lot on the go, I have just given myself permission to abandon 'Niccolo Rising' by Dorothy Dunnett. Bet there are some of you who can beat my total of five!

Another Bank Holiday, and a scorcher apparently. Whether you like to bake in the sun, or hide inside with the curtains s...
20/05/2026

Another Bank Holiday, and a scorcher apparently. Whether you like to bake in the sun, or hide inside with the curtains shut tight, we have books for everyone!

*** BOOK GROUP REPORT *** I was somewhat out in the cold with this month's choice, 'Cold Comfort Farm' by Stella Gibbons...
19/05/2026

*** BOOK GROUP REPORT ***
I was somewhat out in the cold with this month's choice, 'Cold Comfort Farm' by Stella Gibbons. It was my second attempt to read it and both attempts ended around page 60. Part of me wishes I'd buckled down and put the effort in, as several of our members found it a book that was hard to start with but you had to relax into its preposterousness.
Published in 1932 it parodies the pretentious literary language of the likes of Mary Webb, DH Lawrence and Thomas Hardy, and specifically their "loam and lovechild" and doom-laden accounts of rural life. Our group members found within it elements of all manner of such authors, and the gothic novels of the time.
The descriptions of the creepy farmhouse and its inhabitants work wonderfully. Humour underlies everything from the naming of the cows (Pointless, Aimless et al), the hellfire preacher at the Church of the Quivering Brethren ("Ye're all damned!") Amos Starkadder, and Adam Lambsbreath the 90-year-old farm-hand with his "liddle mop". There was a lightbulb moment for many as they read of Aunt Ada's encounter with "something nasty in the woodshed".
The book was massively popular, yet some voices expressed disapproval. Virginia Woolf was one, declaring it lacked literary merit and irritated by its mockery of the Bloomsbury set. For its time, it was quite raunchy... and written by a woman! It must have got up the aristocratic Woolf nose even more in 1933, as it won the Femina Vie Heureuse Prize - a prestigious French award for outstanding works by English authors. In 1928, Virginia Woolf had won it for 'To the Lighthouse' :-)
The blurb on the back of 'Cold Comfort Farm' describes it as "the most hilarious book ever written". Spoiler... it's not. All those who read it thought it was funny; it raised smiles in all but a laugh-out-loud in only a couple. I've rarely seen the book group so bonded over a book. They were bouncing quotes and funny moments back and forth across the circle of chairs like a room of Gen Xers after their first encounter with 'The Colour of Magic', Terry Pratchett's first Discworld novel.
Rosemary H, who chose 'Cold Comfort Farm' for us, tried to give it three thumbs up as revisiting it was such an unexpected pleasure for her - but I can only allow her the one. So, the book gained 10 thumbs up, although a couple of those were lukewarm in that they wouldn't recommend it but were glad they'd read it; it was "interesting" and I stood alone as totally not getting the humour -or indeed the point of it. C'est la vie.

Next month we'll meet on the 16th to discuss the contemporary 2024 romance novel 'You Are Here' by David Nicholls. All welcome, and no need to buy the book as we have enough loan copies for everyone.

Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76883898

Love Terry Pratchett? The multi-award winning Wilburton Theatre Group are performing a full length comedy play, his 'Wyr...
19/05/2026

Love Terry Pratchett?
The multi-award winning Wilburton Theatre Group are performing a full length comedy play, his 'Wyrd Sisters' on Thursday 4th, Friday 5th and Saturday 6th June. All performances start at 7.30pm. See poster for booking.
As someone said, in this play 'Terry Pratchett takes Shakespeare's Macbeth and then turns it up 'till the k**b comes off'.

Over the last 2 weeks we have been visited by 3 classes from Robert Arkenstall Primary School. Each class was read a sto...
18/05/2026

Over the last 2 weeks we have been visited by 3 classes from Robert Arkenstall Primary School. Each class was read a story and every child made a sandcastle using stickers glue and paper cut outs and colouring. We love having them visit and are even happier when they come back with their families to borrow books.

We only added a few books last week as it was Bank Holiday but this week we have added lots of great new Junior Fiction ...
18/05/2026

We only added a few books last week as it was Bank Holiday but this week we have added lots of great new Junior Fiction and lots of Adult Fiction (mainly general).

Address

Arkenstall Centre, Station Road
Haddenham
CB63XD

Opening Hours

Monday 2:30pm - 5pm
Wednesday 2:30pm - 5pm
Friday 2:30pm - 5pm
6pm - 7:30pm
Saturday 10am - 12pm

Telephone

+441353740624

Website

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