A READING scheme has proved such a success that places have been completely booked up.

The booksmart scheme at Bourne End Library in Wakeman Road ran its first session on Tuesday and it was fully booked.

About 20 children aged between eight and 12 crowded into the library to listen to professional storyteller Phillippa Tipper captivate them with stories before helping the children design their own story boards.

Heather Thomson, the librarian who ran the scheme, said: "This is a group we have just started but we have run it in previous years. We have various activities and they come in for an hour a day and they get to take out books.

"The whole idea is just to encourage them to read. Some of them were traditional stories like the three little pigs. Phillippa is very interactive, getting the children involved," she said.

February 14, 2002 13:38