Preston Community Library

Cuppa With A Copper - Community Contact Session
2024-01-06 13:00 - 14:00, 2024-02-07 18:00 - 19:00, 2024-08-03 11:00 - 12:00 (Europe/London) | Preston Community Library, 160 Carlton Avenue East, Wembley, HA9 8PL, United Kingdom
Meet our local police officers who will be there to discuss personal safety, crime prevention methods and address any community concerns you have.
Join them cuppa and an important conversation!
#CommunityEngagement #SafetyFirst
preston.snt@met.police.uk

Come and join the party with THE SILVERTONES 50’s to 80’s Pop, Rock, & Soul
2024-02-04 19:30 - 23:00 | Windermere Pub, WINDERMERE AVE, Wembley, London, Wembl, HA9 8QT, United Kingdom
Sunday 4th February 2024, at 7:30pm
The Windermere Pub, Windermere Ave, Wembley, South Kenton HA9 8QT
Opposite South Kenton Tube/Overground Station: 223 Bus
Entrance: £8.00; £5.00(concs) – proceeds to help keep our Library open.
Raising funds for: PRESTON COMMUNITY LIBRARY

Gareth Armstrong - performs his award-winning play Shylock
2024-02-06 19:00 - 21:00
Tuesday 6th February 2024 7:00 pm
THIS IS A TICKETED EVENT: Please register here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/shylock-tickets-797225622297?aff=oddtdtcreator
‘Armstrong is nothing short of incredible… It is an exceptional piece of theatre. Everyone should see it.’
Independent on Sunday
A villain? A victim? Or something even more intriguing? The tragic, funny, and often unbelievable life, of fiction’s most famous Jew.
The play confronts and confounds the stereotypes through the eyes of Shylock’s only friend – Tubal, who proves a born comic storyteller. Celebrating the richness of Shakespeare’s
language and conjuring up a whole cast of characters, this dazzling, moving, and often hilarious play is a fascinating exploration of Shylock and his people.

Cuppa With A Copper - Community Contact Session
2024-08-22 13:00 - 14:00 | Century Bowling Club in Logan Road

The British Empire Exhibition 1924/25 & beyond, An illustrated talk by Philip Grant of the Wembley History Society
2024-10-27 15:00 - 17:00 | Preston Community Library, 160 Carlton Avenue East, Wembley, HA9 8PL, United Kingdom
Sunday 27th October 2024, 3:00 pm in Ashley Gardens
In 1924, Wembley Park was the venue for the British Empire Exhibition, which brought people from countries across the world, which were all “under the British flag” at that time, to show their cultures and their produce.
Philip Grant of the Wembley History Society will introduce us to the different nations at the Exhibition, and some of the people who came to represent them.
The talk will then go on to look at how our area has grown in its cultural mix over the past 100 years, to become the wonderfully diverse community that we know today, and invite your family stories of coming to Wembley from the former Empire and beyond.

One Boy’s War - an illustrated talkby Terry EmeryAuthor Terry Emery
2024-11-17 15:00 - 17:00 | Preston Community Library, 160 Carlton Avenue East, Wembley, HA9 8PL, United Kingdom
On September 3rd 1939, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain declared ‘We are at War with Germany’, when Terry was four years old.When WW2 ended in 1945 he was ten, and all his formative childhood years were coloured by the wartime experience.We often hear the reminiscences from an adult perspective but few from the child’s point-of-view. The familiar scenario of many families with the absent father off to the Armed Forces for five of those years with only the occasional visit; and the mothers and children at home (those who weren’t evacuated), surviving on wartime rations, apprehensively tuning in to daily news bulletins, never quite sure if their husbands/fathers would ever return. Conversely, Terry also recalls many fun times and lighter moments amidst all the unsettling circumstances.

Family Yoga Free Taster Class
2024-12-07 10:30 - 11:15 | Preston Community Library, 160 Carlton Avenue East, Wembley, HA9 8PL, United Kingdom
Join us for a relaxing and invigorating Family Yoga Free Taster Class at Preston Community Library. This is the perfect opportunity for you and your family to bond, unwind, and explore the benefits of yoga together.
Led by Samantha Warrington, this class welcomes individuals of all ages and skill levels. Samantha is dedicated to creating a serene and inclusive environment where you can connect with each other through mindful movements and calming practices.

Date Saturday, 7th December
Time 10:30 am – 11:15 am
Location Preston Community Library, Ashley Gardens, Wembley HA9 8NP

What to Expect

Gentle yoga poses that are easy to follow
Guided meditation and mindfulness exercises
Fun activities to engage children and adults alike
A peaceful atmosphere to enhance family well-being

To learn more about Samantha Warrington and her teaching philosophy, visit her website at samanthawarringtonyoga.org .
For inquiries, you can reach her via email samantha.warrington.yoga@gmail.com at or call 07801 697712.
Don’t miss out on this wonderful opportunity to enhance your family’s physical and mental well-being. See you on the mat!

Large attendance for Wartime letters from Preston Park - Philip Grant
2026-04-19 15:00 - 16:00 | Preston Community Library, 160 Carlton Avenue East, Wembley, HA9 8PL, United Kingdom
Come to the Library on Sunday 19 April 3:00-4:00pm to hear Philip Grant from Wembley History Society uncover an amazing archive of letters which tell the story of what it was like to live in the Preston Park area during the Second World War.

Muriel lived at Derwent Gardens, on the Preston Park Estate, until 1938, and was friends with other local housewives who, like her, had young children. After moving back to Hereford, with her husband and son, she kept in touch by letter with her former neighbour, Nancie, and friend Doris, who lived in Allonby Gardens. After Muriel died in 2003, her daughter found that she had kept the letters she’d received from these friends between 1940 and 1945, with news from Preston Park about everyday life during the Second World War, and their children who went to Preston Park School. It was only during the Covid lockdown in 2020 that her daughter got round to reading those letters, and realising what an amazing source of first hand history they were, got in touch with Wembley History Society to share them with us.

Library volunteers will read out the letters.

Our Children's Laureate, author Saman Shamsie, visited the Library read to local Cub Scouts
2026-06-19 | Preston Community Library, 160 Carlton Avenue East, Wembley, HA9 8PL, United Kingdom
Our Children’s Laureate, author Saman Shamsie, visited the Library on June 19 to read to local Cub Scouts
On a hot June evening a group of Brent Cubs (South Kenton), began to arrive early at the Library: keen to see what we had in store. As they waited on the steps of the library, we noted that this was the first Young Writers’ Challenge -a unique programme run by the Library – to be held at the new building.

The group of 26 Cub Scouts with their leaders and a curious young visitor to the library crowded into the little garden at the rear of the library to see the two swift nesting- sites installed during the construction of the building. The Cubs learnt about a close encounter with 5 lively swifts the night before. All filed back into the cool breezy library for a magical meet-up with our Children’s Laureate , the Pakistani children’s author, Saman Shamsie.
Saman enchanted the Cubs and Leaders: with a true tale about a bird of prey – a Kite – which became stranded and taken up residence in her garden in Karachi, which she has named ‘Green’ . The children asked if she might write about ‘Green’s exploits? Yes indeed!

This was followed by captivating readings from her books , ‘’The Magical Woods’, ‘Slothful Slough-Off the Snake ‘ instantly engaging a four – year -old who knew ‘everything about snakes!’ and a newer traditional tale ‘Wali Dad’ with its message for today. As the Library’s first Children’s Event in its new home – a very successful evening! What’s more children and parents returned the next day and joined the Library!

Saman Shamsie is published by Penguin Books, and Oxford University Books. All Saman’s books are held in the Library and are available to borrow. Read more at Saman Shamsie Preston Community Library Children’s Laureate : Preston Community Library

Free Best Selling Author Event: Janice Hallett Live at Preston Community Library
2026-06-25 19:30 - 21:00 | Preston Community Library, 160 Carlton Avenue East, Wembley, HA9 8PL, United Kingdom
To mark National Crime Reading Month, we have invited best selling crime writer, Janice Hallett, to come along to the library to talk to us about her work and her latest novel ‘The Killer Question’. Several of her previous books have been based in North West London. Do join us on Thursday, June 25 at 7.30 pm.

Book Display Focus this month is on Books by Authors of South Asian Heritage.
2026-07-26 - 2026-08-26
Three of these Writers who frequently appear at Literary Festivals around the world are pictured here in the Library with their titles.
Our beloved Children’s Laureate, Saman Shamsie The Magical Woods: Adventures of Soulful Slough-Off , ‘Wali Dad’
Our wonderful Local Author, Shrabani Basu Victoria & Abdul, The Spy Princess, For King and Another Country
The celebrated novelist , Kamila Shamsie whose novel, Home Fire set in Preston Road featuring Preston Community Library won the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction!
