A famous children’s author has met with young readers from Ystradgynlais as part of a project that is encouraging children to become a library member.

Chatterbooks Champion Elen Caldecott was in Ystradgynlais Library this month where she read extracts from her latest book ‘Diamonds and Daggers’ and showed the children how she plans and writes a story before giving them the opportunity to create simple story structures for themselves.

All 105 children from local primary schools enjoyed their visit to the library, which was part of the Welsh Government’s Every Child a Library Member (ECaLM) project, designed to encourage children and young people across Wales to enjoy and learn from the wealth of resources available to them in public libraries.

The visit took place during National Chatterbooks Week and local librarian Jan Poole invited the children to join the Chatterbooks clubs at the library earlier this month. Children taking part in the club enjoy sharing good books and fun activities which all boost literacy skills.

Cllr Graham Brown, Cabinet Member for Library Services, said: “This initiative underlines the importance libraries have for children and young people in our communities, as well as their parents and carers. By using our libraries, they can access knowledge, use them to learn and to embark on a journey of discovery when they read, write or listen to stories.”