A VITAL community resource is celebrating its 40th birthday of being at the heart of Bude.

Bude Library marked a major milestone on Friday, October 10, celebrating 40 years on The Wharf with more than 100 people joining the festivities.

The morning began with a special Rhymetime session, complete with party hats and a lively chorus of Happy Birthday. A cake baked by library manager Sally Travers-Clapp took pride of place, and guests heard speeches from Sally and deputy mayor Viki Herbert-Coulson to mark the occasion.

A commemorative plaque, kindly donated by Andrew Mundy, will be placed beside the library’s Knowledge Tree to celebrate the anniversary.

The Coffee and Friends group joined in alongside past staff, Cornwall Library Service colleagues, town councillors and staff, local libraries, community groups, and long-time library users. The event was supported by Sustainable Bude, who provided some of the refreshments, and by many more who generously donated cakes.

Library manager Sally Travers-Clapp, has praised the celebration, expressing her pride that the space is ‘at the heart of the community’.

She said: “It was such a wonderful morning and lovely to see so many familiar faces come together to celebrate 40 years of Bude Library. The library has always been at the heart of our community, and this milestone is a real reflection of that.”

The celebrations continued the following day as members of the Bude Library team — Kymble, Wendy, Tammy and Sam — took part in Bude’s Awesome Foursome Quadrathlon to raise funds for Prostate Cancer UK, a cause close to team member Tammy Snowsill’s heart.

The team raised an impressive £1,003.36, including Gift Aid, finishing second in the Relay Sprint and ninth overall – a fantastic achievement and a fitting end to a memorable week of celebrations.