Village sign The Chalfont St Giles
village website

The Chalfont St Giles Community Library & Information Centre

(Registered charity 1117208)

High Street, Chalfont St Giles HP8 4QA
Phone 01494 874732

Run by volunteers and featured on the BBC's The One Show on 24th May 2010:

Opening Hours:

About the Community Library

The Community Library is run and staffed entirely by volunteers from the village, but it is linked into the Buckinghamshire county library system so that users can benefit from an integrated service with the County.

It opened in January 2007 following the County's decision to provide only a limited mobile library service for the village.

Membership is free

If you have a County Library Card you can continue to use it. New members joining at the Community Library will be issued with a County Library Card. This entitles you to use the Community Library and all Bucks County Libraries including the Mobile Library. Membership is free.

You may borrow up to 15 items for up to three weeks. Books, DVDs etc. can be borrowed and returned across the County network and the Community Library. Loan terms are the same as in County Libraries.

How to Join

You can join the library at any age. Adults need to fill in a registration form and provide proof of name, address and signature such as driving licence, allowance book or bank statement. If you are under 16 your parent or guardian will need to sign your registration form and provide proof of their identity.

Book Stock

There are over 7,000 books in the library, which are continually updated.

We have a wide selection of adult fiction and a good selection of popular non-fiction books including biographies, travel, gardening, sport,# cooking, craft and history books. We stock the latest top 10 paperbacks.

We have an excellent stock of children’s books and some children’s DVDs for rent at £1.10 a week.

Many of the books in the library are gifted by residents. If you have a recent book in newly new condition that you have enjoyed reading, please consider gifting it to the Community Library.

Reservations at the library and via the Internet

Any County catalogue item i.e. books, DVDs, CDs etc. can be reserved by request at the Community Library or by yourself online. For users aged under 18 or over 65 the reservation service is free. For users aged 18-65 the cost is 50p if the ‘notice to collect’ is sent by email, or 90p if the ‘notice to collect’ is sent by post.

To benefit from the lower 50p charge your user library account needs to set to receive email notifications. You can set this yourself by logging into your library account. Alternatively the librarian can amend your record for you when you next visit the library.

You can search the County catalogue here.

Newspapers and magazines

The library has The Times, a local paper and a small selection of magazines. ‘Which? Magazine’, with back copies for three years is available for reference.

Internet Access

There are two PCs providing Internet access for the pubic. The cost is £1 per hour or part hour. The service is free for the first half an hour for children under 16 years with a library card and for the registered unemployed. Microsoft Office software is available on the PCs. There are printing and copying facilities available.

Other events

There is Story Time for under 5 year olds, held every Thursday at 2.30pm. We have regular “Sure Start” sessions. Details are on library notices and given on the village e-mail newsletter.

Local and tourist information

We hold a great deal of information on the village and the immediate local area, together with some information on other parts of Buckinghamshire and London. We have access to a vast amount of tourist information via the World Wide Web. Our aim is to be the main information provider for both local people and visitors.

Become a Friend of the Library

The Community Library is run and staffed entirely by volunteers in the village. Whilst the library is free for all to use, financially it is entirely dependent on village support. You can help by becoming a Friend of the Library for an annual subscription of £10. Subscription Forms are available here, or in the library.

The Friends of the Library has an active literary group who arrange talks by authors. All are welcome to these events.