West Heath Library

i can only support fruity tarts comments! this is a wonderful place. my daughter knows the staff by name and they are so friendly. we attend the read and craft sessions there on friday mornings 10.45 — 11.15 where they have books read to them for a short amount of time before embarking on a wonderful craft activity (the mothers normally complete these with the help of the children! i get very proud of my achievements!)
it can get very busy on the computers and some of the children on them are very loud however it is still a lovely friendly atmosphere

West Heath Library is a small stand alone building situated in the Fordrough area of West Heath, it’s been here for years and has barely changed since I used to go in there with my mum as a child.
Inside it smells like a library should — of paper, books and learning which combined makes the most wonderful almost musty smell!
It’s completely accessible to disabled visitors, having a choice of ramp or steps leading up to the entrance. The ramp is perfectly angled for you to get your chair up there with no steepness which can sometimes be a problem with ramps leading up to these older buildings.
Once inside you’ll soon see that this is a small library and as such does not have the wide selection of books that you would expect from a larger one. What’s there is always good and they have an excellent combination of older classic books and modern new releases or best sellers. Of course if they don’t have what you want you can always order a copy to come to the library and they will advise you when it has arrived.
The childrens’ area is, and always has been, excellent with plenty of small chairs and the shelves been particularly low for the little ones to be able to reach their own books. I have also noticed that the books in this area are not as tightly packed as those in the adult section so that little fingers can easily reach in and pull a book from the shelf.
The adult area of the library is well split between novels and non-​fiction books. Obviously the fiction section is the larger of the two and I can always find something here that I want to read, although I find the gems are often placed on the rotating paperback stands so these are always my first port of call in this library.
There are a few computers in here from which you can access the internet or do any typing you need to do, with a small charge for printing. These, however, are usually full whenever I visit so perhaps you need to book them in advance — not sure as I only use my home computer so don’t really have the need to visit the library for the internet.
Also keep an eye on the announcement boards as there are sometimes activities on for the kids, be it story telling or a general reading time for them. These usually take place in the school holidays and when my daughter went to one over Christmas she loved it because everyone was so kind to her and there was a nice festive atmosphere. Be warned though, you are expected to stay with your child as it’s not a baby sitting service but it’s really no hardship to spend an hour or two in this library while your little one listens to a nice story.