13/8/2009

One-hundred-and-five-year-old Clara Roseby is Pembrokeshire library service's oldest and most avid borrower.

The great, great grandmother, who lives with her family on Strumble Head, is still an avid reader and borrower of books even though she is too frail to get to her local library in person.

She reads six books a week, around 300 a year, and is estimated to have borrowed over 10,000 library books since she moved to Pembrokeshire 35 years ago.

Her reading rate declined a little in recent years, but a cataract operation last December saw her vision improve again and - coupled with new glasses - she's now back to six books a week.

"Granny has been reading since she was girl and has always loved books," said granddaughter Kathy Hall, who chooses her grandmother's books for her every week at Fishguard's newly refurbished library.

"She likes a good old fashioned story, like Catherine Cookson but doesn't like anything American or with too much swearing.

"She likes war time stories or books about animals but to be honest I don't spend hours choosing, I just pick up something I think she will like."

Clara, who was brought up in the Midlands, learnt to read at five and fostered her love of books at school and later at college where she trained as a shorthand typist.

Her first husband Frank Lacey, a teacher, died young just a month after her only daughter was a month old. She later married Eric Roseby, a steel erector.

The couple came to live in Dinas to be nearer their daughter and her family in the mid 1970s, and Clara started borrowing books from the visiting mobile library.

After Eric's death she moved in with Kathy on Strumble Head to help her raise her six children.

"At first she would come with me to the library to choose her books but about ten years ago it became too much for her," said Kathy.

"Now I choose her books for her or sometimes one of the children will go and pick them up.

"We used to go to Goodwick but there was not much of a selection there and now we go to Fishguard which has a much bigger selection of the large print books which she likes.

"The staff are lovely and they know everyone in the family and can point us in the right direction…and because everything is now computerised they can check to see if Granny has had the book before!"

Clara, who has five grandchildren, 24 great grandchildren and two great, great granddaughters, has passed on her reading habit to her family.

"I love reading too and so do my girls," said Kathy. "But, I'm so busy that the only time I really have a chance to get into a book is when I'm on holiday. I love it then. When I go away I just pack a suitcase full of books!"

Councillor Rob Lewis, Cabinet Member for Cultural Services said, "Mrs Roseby is a shining example to all of us and proof that Pembrokeshire libraries can help young and old explore the wonderful world of books. The great thing is, it's all absolutely free."