During 2020 we are looking to make a number of improvements to the library. Work has already started on installing some new outside lighting especially useful during the darker evenings. We are also looking to improve the indoor lighting levels especially in the main issue room.

We would however like to increase the number of books on display and having run out of wall space to put traditional bookcases we want to invest in a moveable book case. Good quality trolleys do not come cheap so the Trustees have decided to start an appeal to raise funds for this much needed piece of equipment.

We need to raise £850 to purchase the bookcase and will be actively trying to raise this amount over the coming months. Donations of any amount would be much appreciated and there will shortly be a donations box at the library for donations.

With the move all behind us now we are looking to move forward in 2020 and have some exciting plans in the pipeline.

STOP PRESS: We have just received confirmation that the PPL has been successful in our bid to host one of the ILA (Independent Library Association) national committee meetings in the Autumn here at the PPL. More on this later.

The PPL are forming a new Heritage Club with a Maritime theme. The first meeting will take place on Saturday 1st February time TBC and on the first Saturday of the month thereafter. All welcome.

As part of our ongoing lecture series for 2020 we shall be kicking off the year on Friday 14th February with a talk with a theme appropriate for Valentine's Day.

The Science of Falling in Love:the roles of dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, oxytocin and vasopressin. What’s left for romantics?= by Fr Gregory Carpenter.

Tea and coffee will be available from 11.00 ready to start the one hour talk at 11.30; the £2.50 admission will include a drink and piece of cake.

All welcome

Come and join us as we celebrate the opening of the PPL’s new and unique Classic Crime Collection with an introductory talk on Wednesday 27 February at 12.30pm at the Plymouth Proprietary Library. FREE Non-members welcome tea & coffee available.

The Rules of Murder: the Golden Age of Detective Stories

Emerging in the gloomy, sooty streets of the mid-Victorian period, the British detective story quickly developed a life of its own, adapting to changing times, changing tastes, until the post-First World War eruption of new writers, including Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers, Anthony Berkeley, rewrote the ‘rules’ of detective fiction, creating what is now known as the Golden Age of detective stories.