Libraries

Public libraries

    Most towns in Britain have a public library. A library usually has a large selection of books and other resources, which library members can use and borrow for free.

Britain's First Public Library

    The first public library in Britain opened in Manchester in 1852. Its first librarian was a man called Edward Edwards. Edwards attended the library's opening ceremony and two famous writers called Charles Dickens and William Thackeray were there too.

How to Join a Library

    To join a library, go to your local library and fill in a form. You'll receive a library card which is needed when using library services.

Library Services

    Modern public libraries have something for everyone. Most of them have audio books, CDs, newspapers and DVDs as well as books to borrow.

Mobile Libraries

    Not everyone can get to a library. Some people live far away from towns and cities. Other people find it difficult to go out because they have an illness or a disability. Thanks to mobile libraries, these people can still borrow books.

    Unlike most libraries, which store books in buildings, mobile libraries usually keep their books in a minibus. The back of the mini-bus has shelves for the books, and it is big enough for borrowers to step inside and look around. A driver takes the minibus to a certain place at a certain time, so people know when to expect it. They can return their books and borrow some more.

All Aboard the Library!

    A school in London didn't have space for a library inside the building. However, everybody agreed that it was still important to have a school library. So, the head of the school, Graham Blake, decided to park an old bus on the school car park and change it into a library. Pupils helped to paint the bus, and after eight months, the new library was ready.

    Do you know why different animals or pests have their special colours? Colours in them seem to be used mainly to protect themselves. Some birds love eating locusts (蝗虫), but birds cannot easily catch them, why? It is because locusts change their colours with the change of the colours of crops. When crops are green, locusts look green. But as the harvest (收获) time comes, locusts change to the same brown colour as crops have. Some other pests with different colours from plants are easily found and eaten by others. So they have to hide themselves for living and appear only at night.

    If you study animals' life, you'll find the main use of colour is to protect themselves. Bears, lions and other animals move quietly through the forests and they cannot be easily seen by hunters. This is because they have the colours much like the trees.

    Have you ever noticed an even stranger act? A kind of fish in the sea can send out a kind of very black liquid (液体) when it faces danger. While the liquid spreads, its enemies cannot find it. And it immediately swims away. So it has lived up to now though it is not strong at all.

—I like pop music.

my parents understand me.

I things like fashionable clothes.