Bassingbourn Community Library is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a quiz and a tea party.

The library was established in 2003, in a building which was previously the Bassingbourn and Kneesworth Boarding School.

Gabriel Worboys built the school for local children in 1877. In 1963, the junior school moved to a new site on Brook Road, with the infants continuing at the old school until 1990 - when they moved to new classrooms on the junior school site.

Royston Crow: The building which houses Bassingbourn Community Library used to be a schoolThe building which houses Bassingbourn Community Library used to be a school (Image: BCL)

The building was then taken over by South Cambridgeshire District Council and became a community space called 'The Limes', which offered space for the Sheltered Housing Scheme and the Book Café, which opened in 2003.

Bassingbourn Community Book Café was a replacement for the village library, which had previously been housed in Bassingbourn Village College before being closed by the county council.

Following the Covid lockdowns, the book café adopted the new name of Bassingbourn Community Library (BCL).

The community library receives IT and book support from Cambridge Library Service, but does not receive financial assistance and is run by volunteers.

BCL is run by a committee which oversees decisions relating to finance, events and fundraising, while a coordinator is responsible for the day-to-day running.

Royston Crow: The picture book area in Bassingbourn Community LibraryThe picture book area in Bassingbourn Community Library (Image: BCL)

A spokesperson for the library said: "Volunteers are all friendly, cheerful, helpful and make a great team, some stay for a very long time.

"BCL would not be possible without them."

Bassingbourn Community Library. which also has a café for hot drinks and snacks, is open three days a week - from 2pm to 4.30pm on Monday, from 2pm to 4.30pm and from 6pm to 8pm on Thursday and from 10am to midday on Saturday.

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To mark the 20th anniversary, a quiz evening will be held at the Old School Community Centre on Friday, November 17.

Participants can arrive at 7.30pm for an 8pm start, and teams can include up to six people.

Supper is included but attendees are asked to bring their own drinks.

Tickets are available from the library during opening hours or over the phone.

An open afternoon tea party will also take place on Saturday, November 18.