A FARMING family on the welsh borders is making it its mission to keep West Herefordshire youngsters reading, setting up their own library at their farm shop.

The Prices are lifelong literature lovers and mum Ceri said that growing up libraries were just something that she took for granted.

And, worried about the “huge impact” library closures could have, she decided to set up her own kids’ library at the family’s Church Barn Farm Shop, near Whitney-on-Wye.

Mrs Price said: “We have always grown up reading books as a family and now we have 3 children it has always been important to me to make sure than we sit down, however busy and read.

“It may only be five to ten minutes some nights, but it is so important.

“We grew up in mid Wales and always used the library service as children, and I suppose took it for granted.

“I think we have always just assumed libraries would be safe as the impact of closing them would be huge.”

The family have run the Church Barn Farm Shop since 2011, and part of that shop will be converted into the new library.

The children’s library will be using its very own check-in system, but the library service in Hereford will supply new books every six weeks, and is trying to help find the farm shop library find shelving to use.

However the Price family already have big plans for the local library.

Mrs Price said: “In the new year we will hopefully secure funding to develop our unused space into an IT resource area with wifi, that will enable different courses to go ahead, and where groups can get together.”

The children’s library is opening on October 20, with activities planned throughout the school half-term break.

And the book bug is spreading, Sarah Bentley has set up Hereford’s first ‘Little Free Library’ – a charitable initiative that has spread throughout the world, involving people setting up small, permanent bookshelves in public places so people can borrow books.

‘Oh My Word!’ book club member, Mrs Bentley has installed the ‘library’ on a wall outside her Lingen Avenue home, and opened it today (Friday September 26) with a charity coffee morning.

A book exchange scheme, Little Free Libraries was set up in America with the aim of exceeding the number of libraries – 2,510 ¬ ¬ ¬- set up by Andrew Carnegie, and having spread as far as Mexico, Afghanistan, and now Hereford, the charity already far surpassed that number.

“I’ve put a variety of books in there,” said Mrs Bentley.

“There wouldn’t be much point filling it with the same best-sellers everyone has already read.

“I like books – I probably don’t read as much as I should – but I liked the idea of giving back.”