Love Melksham – A resident’s love letters to her town

This week, my love letter to Melksham is written from within the brilliant bibliographic beauty of the Melksham Library.

I love coming here to write. Or to think. Or to learn. Or to simply be a part of the most welcoming, warm and wonderful communal space. It’s free and friendly; you can stay for five minutes or five hours and it’s amazing just how much more the library is than a place to read.

The cosy spaces between neat book-lined shelves create little pockets of quiet activity and connection. Around one table a group discuss environmental priorities for Melksham, at another someone helps a friend with a tricky laptop document, on the newspaper sofa a man pores over this week’s Melksham News, and in the cosy colourful children’s corner a dad performs a very engaging reading of ‘The Wonky Donkey’ to a wide-eyed child.

The wise and welcoming librarians and volunteers occasionally glide through, straightening books, rearranging posters for community events, assisting with questions or tidying the jigsaw table. They can explain history, help with council enquiries or sort out your printing, and they also know when to leave you completely alone.

When Wiltshire Council relocated services in 2022, they made the genius decision to place the library in the middle of the Community Campus, surrounded by sporting and swimming facilities so that everything is very efficiently co-located, with excellent parking and the all-important café for all users of the building. So, you can simultaneously benefit from the companionship and connection of being in the heart of the biggest community hub in Melksham while enjoying your own little world of undisturbed studious sanctuary.

Alongside the marvel-lous range of books and resources – you can even borrow blood pressure monitors and thermal imaging cameras – the library hosts a wealth of activities like Knit and Natter, Board Games sessions and ‘Bring Your Own Art’ group, alongside important services like Victim Support, Acorn Community Bank, Digital Drop In and Warm and Safe Wiltshire.

Not only is this excellent facility staffed six days a week and until 7pm on Mondays and Thursdays – but it also benefits from being in a shared building. So the ample workspaces, books, computers and self-checkout machines are all available until the whole Campus closes at 10pm (or 9pm on Fridays and 6pm on weekends).

With its network of lovely activities and events, held together and nurtured by dedicated and helpful people, Melksham Library is a splendid example of the big-hearted connectivity of our brilliant town and is another great reason to Love Melksham!

Miriam Zaccarelli

Pictured: Staff at Melksham Library on World Book Day