The Last Library by Freya Sampson

June is a Library Assistant at Chalcot Library whose life has stood still since her Mum died - she lives in her childhood home which she hasn't changed at all, she eats the same meals on the same days, has no friends or social life outside work and reads the same books over and over again. When the library is threatened with closure it spurs June to act, along with a group of library regulars, and a series of changes are put in motion resulting in June starting to live again.

I absolutely LOVED this book - I'm so sad it's over and I've left June and the wonderful cast of characters behind. The story is about all too familiar cuts in funding threatening libraries everywhere but really it's so SO much more. I loved Stanley and Mrs B, Chantal and even Vera eventually. The storyline with Alex was lovely and the intrigue around June's boss and the council added mystery. Also it's so FUNNY and it's poignant, and lovely and.... honestly just read it, it's fabulous! Very highly recommended!

Firstly a big thank you to the publishers for my copy to review on netgalley. What a fantastic debut and a must read for any bookworm .

I loved this gem of a story. Uplifting ,heartwarming and life affirming

There are great characters who each add their own piece of magic to the story.

What would you do if you was brave and bold enough? What’s been holding you back? This is explored in this book as June is faced with difficult and new challenges .

I highly recommend this and can’t wait to read more from Freya.

Published 2nd September

Thanks to Bonnier Books and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Chalcot Library has been earmarked for closure and the community are not happy about it. I absolutely loved this heartwarming book with it's cast of wonderful characters. I laughed and I cried at this book and I'm quite sorry it's finished now!

Library
This book rung so many bells with me, being an ex Librarian and a book lover since childhood.
from the first moment my Dad took me to the local Library in Fenton I was hooked. A beautiful Victorian building (from what I can recall), so full of shelves of books, I was mesmerised with the wonder of it all, I have been an avid reader ever since.
June a Library Assistant is so much more than her title, she helps people, makes the Library a welcoming environment and loves her job. When the Council tries to sell the Library she is torn between wanting to keep her job and joining the campaign to keep the Library open. June is a star but does not know it, how she comes to grips with her shyness and vulnerability is magnificent.
The attention to general Library work and administration is refreshing having done it for so many years, the smell and feel of a consignment of new books and the tang of old leather ones are something no Library lover will forget.
Having been through a similar process of relocating from an older Library to a new Campus building I would fully support the traditional model for its uniqueness and community role.
Thank you Freya and NetGalley.

I got The Last Library by Freya Sampson from NetGalley for free, for a fair and honest review.

The Last Library tells the story of June, whose mum used to work in a village library, which gave Her the love of reading and the ambition to go to university. However just before she was due to apply he mum became ill and shortly after past away.
Now a few years latter June is working at that same library, living in same house, with just her antisocial cat, her mum’s ornaments which she used to buy from the village fates white elephant stall, the books she reads and her Chinese take away on a Monday.
The only people she talks to are the number of different people, that use the library for one reason or another.
The greatest strength of this novel was the number of characters that start the novel by being just 2-dimensional people, with little more than the one trait, that they are known by.
For example, the woman who takes books out only to bring them back a few days later telling people they hated the book, no matter what the novel was.
Or the old Gentleman who is the first to enter the library in the morning and the last to leave at night, who needs help sending his son an email as he lives in America.
In addition, there is June the heroine of the story who, starts the novel shy and retiring, with limited social life and no confidence, however when the library is facewith closure June starts to come out of her shell.
What I liked about June’s story arc Is that it could have been going from a wallflower to being able to the life and sole of the party in a few pages. However, what the writer Freya Sampson, did was make her journey more detailed than that.
There were times when she did something that was out of her comfort zone, then all of a sudden, she would go back into her shell, which in my opinion gave her arc a lot more depth than it otherwise would have had.
All this makes the last library a real pleasure to read for anyone who loves books with a wide range of people, in addition to anyone who as ever spent time in a, public library, make The Last Library by Freya Sampson a book that I can highly recommend.

3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Great debut of Freya Sampson, a lovely heart warming read. Main character June is a library assistant at the Chalcot Library where it’s threatened of closure and this is June’s fight to save it. Highly recommend for all book lovers.

Headlines:
Sense of community
Platonic feels brimming
Save the books!

This was a sweet contemporary fiction about a small town sense of community with a oddly mixed but comfortable bunch of characters. June was the lost soul at the centre of this tale, the librarian who had never got over her mother’s death, stuck in a kind of stasis.

June was definitely a likeable character with what seemed to be some social anxiety. She held herself back from life and sometimes that was frustrating but she had some people around her that gently nudged her from her comfortable spot.

I really loved Stanley and Alex. Stanley in particular had the most appealing storyline and he made my heart crumble. There were also some incredibly irritating characters, an aloof cat and lots of books to offset the annoying characters.

This was an easy contemporary read, low concentration needed and perfect for a weekend or day’s immersion.

“Libraries are like a net, there to catch those of us in danger of falling through the cracks."

Thank you to Zaffre Books for the review copy.

This heartwarming and uplifting story was a delight to read. I really cared about June and the rest of the gang who reminded me a lot of the quirky and colourful characters I used to meet back in the day as a library goer in my small hometown. Truly the quintessential book for book lovers!

The best way to describe this book is just...nice. It was nice.

Set in a sleepy English village, librarian assistant June finally has to find some courage and stand up for what she believes in when the library she works in is threatened with closure by the local council. Featuring a cast of 'quirky' characters, she has to operate incognito or risk losing her job altogether.

You can tell this is a debut novel. It feels very messy and the characters really aren't very differentiated. They all felt like huge caricatures of people you would imagine live in a small rural village and get up in arms about library closures. I did want to slap the main character multiple times purely for just how spineless she was. I get anxiety, girl, but that is something else altogether. There were lots of different threads in this novel and there were moments that very clumsily written and put together.

I can appreciate some of the themes involved, but I didn't particularly enjoy reading this book. It felt very saccharine and schmaltzy, even though there wasn't a traditional happy ending. It's also difficult to find sympathy for characters who seem completely up their own arses, which unfortunately some of them were.

There's an audience for this book. There's one for every book! I am just not that audience. I think I had expectations for this novel that just didn't come through. But someone will enjoy it, I'm sure.

This is a beautiful, heartwarming tale of how a community rally together to save their local library from closure. Due to my personal preferences and my feeling towards libraries, this was an easy five-star read that had me engrossed from the beginning, making this hard to put down. I read this in one sitting, eager to find out if the conclusion was what I had hoped for. (I can not divulge if this was the case, I do not want to include spoilers!)

Thanks to the brilliant writing by Freya Sampson, this is full of intriguing, impressive, and likable characters, many of whom remind me of my own local library. I think there may be a part of June Jones buried within me, that I will now carry around in my heart. She would be a fictional character that I would love to meet andhave a cup of coffee with. She is simply enchanting as the main role in this story.

This plot offers the perfect balance of ups and downs, making this an emotional rollercoaster that will captivate any library user. This is highly relatable, making this a great read for any book lover, and I recommend it to all!

Wow! Wow! Wow! Three words which sum up The Last Library by Freya Sampson perfectly! I am definitely going to write more but if I was restricted to three words, this would be my review! On your arrival at Chalcot Library you will be welcomed as a family member would be - an absolute gem of a library at the cornerstone of the community.

Library assistant June will know exactly which books you will love, she will find the books that you will enjoy and will help you escape into a different world. Her knowledge is incredible, her intuition is amazing and she is one of the best characters I have ever met in a book. Struggling with the loss of her Mum, she lives a very sheltered life, working in the library and then retreats to her haven, her home, where everything she knows and loves from her past is around her. Her love of reading helps her cope with her daily life and struggles. She lives her life through her books.

Until the Chalcot Library is threatened with closure. June becomes alive! She does everything she can, with the help of the library staff, visitors and community to save Chalcot Library and turn it into one of the best libraries it could ever be. Every character from Mrs Bransworth to Vera to Chantal and Marjorie are fantastically depicted. I absolutely loved Stanley, so lovely portrayed - he is the gentleman sitting in the corner of the library that everyone sees. But behind every person is a story and Stanley's story was very sad, but so heartwarming with all the help he received.

I loved reading about how June developed and how her life became so enriched and changed so completely and how happy she is. Just a brilliant brilliant storyline.

Libraries are essential to the community. Not everyone can buy books, has access to computers at home, or are able to buy a newspaper. But not only this, it is the people. A library is made up of books, but they are also made up of people and it is everyone who is involved from the library staff to the borrowers that make a library such a warm and welcoming place for everyone. We must all support our local libraries, to help them thrive and make them the best place for everyone. They are vital to our wellbeing, to our lives and to our communities. Go borrow a book! And make sure you reserve a copy of The Last Library by Freya Sampson for when it comes out on 2nd September 2021!

Thank you very much for my advanced copy. This review is based on a NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.

It's great to see a surge in positive books promoting libraries and recognising their value in the community, however. After The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams last month, we have Freya Sampson's The Last Library.
During lockdown the power of reading and its ability to help with mental health and isolation was given a real boost in awareness and use of library e-libraries surged as a result.
Freya Sampson's book champions the local library and brings together a host of interesting characters who come together to save Chalcot library from the threat of closure. I wondered if the library was based on Chalfont St Giles, which became one of the first community-run libraries in 2007. There is a lovely foreword by the author about libraries, her personal story of social connection via baby rhyme time and the combatting of loneliness and isolation in these refuges open to all.
The only niggle for me, I would say, was the main character of June, the library assistant. It is true that her fight for the library and the support she receives from the local residents gradually transforms her into a more confident, outgoing person but in my personal experience working in Kent, staff that I work with are often boisterous, brave and forthright. They wouldn't be able to do the job - leading baby rhyme times, talking to groups, engaging with customers - without being outgoing, so this mild-mannered stereotype is out of date. Interestingly once June has decided she wants a change, she moves to work in a Kent library! Welcome!
Those readers, like me, who enjoy warm-hearted, community-coming-together stories like Libby Page and Clare Pooley, you will love this.

A book about a library. How could I resist? This is the story of a small village which is under threat of closure by the local council and of June, the library assistant for who the library is really her whole life. Closure of libraries due to funding cuts is a subject that’s really close to my heart and so this book ticked all the boxes for me.
June is a 28 year old library assistant who doesn’t really have a life apart from her job at the library after giving up her hopes of university to nurse her terminally ill mother who was the previous librarian. The story is as much about how June is still grieving as the plan to try and save the library and her journey through the book is a heart - warming story.
I wasn’t sure about all of the characters, they sometimes seemed a little bit stereotypical – the good hearted neighbour, the grumpy old woman who has had a tragic life etc but the story carries you through. There are some lovely comic moments too as the local inhabitants fight the council to save the lbrary.
I really enjoyed this book and loved the ending. It is exactly what has happened to the library near my school and so rang completely true to me. Definitely a book for library lovers everywhere.

This was such a heart warming book with a cast of fun, spirited characters on a mission to save their local library from closure. This book had a real community feel and I loved how everyone came together to fight for something they loved. June was a great main character and I loved seeing her develop from a timid person who was too afraid to speak up to someone who was willing to take whatever steps she needed, including stepping out of her comfort zone, to help the community.
I also loved the romance in this story, Alex was a lovely love interest and I loved how the romance was very subtle and in the background to the main events of this story. I’m not normally one for a subtle romance but in this book it really worked.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I made me smile and tear up and I loved getting to know this bunch of colourful characters!

There are many important themes handled in this book, I was especially pleased to see the plight of libraries and their closures being handled very accurately. The role of a library as more than borrowing books was well represented and I applaud the author for championing this topic.
I didn't find that I completely got to know the main character and the romance side didn't develop in a way I expected, but overall I did enjoy reading this story .

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This story centres around June. June is a lonely character, who lives with her cat, really loves books, and works as a library assistant in her local library. June lost her mum, who also used to work in the library, so June feels closer to her by following in her footsteps. June loves her routine of a life, especially the Chinese she has every Monday evening. June world explodes when the local council decide the library needs closing as part of budget cuts. The locals decide to start a committee to try to prevent the library closing. June isn’t allowed to join the group, even though she wants to. June confesses this all to her childhood friend, Alex, who has come back to town to help his dad recover from an operation.

This story isn’t my usual read, but I’m glad I read it. It’s definitely a book aimed at book lovers, and it’s definitely relatable in respect of the councils shutting libraries down all over the place due to funding cuts, as we’ve seen many times in this country. I really liked June, and I felt a kinship with her, as I am happy in my own company.
I enjoyed the way we see June’s character bloom throughout the story, and how all the characters really fight to keep their library. The story had humour, emotion, and was extremely heartwarming. This was a light, easy read and a perfect beach read. I would highly recommend, especially supporting your local library to borrow the book.

This is a lovely debut novel from Freya Sampson that zeroes in on the central and critical place a local library has within a community, a timely piece of fiction that reflects contemporary British realities where so many libraries have been closed and so many are under threat. The timid and shy 30 year old June Jones lives on the 1960s Willowmead Estate with her hostile anti-social cat, Alan Bennett. She has lived an entirely predictable and routine life since her mother died 8 years ago, she has withdrawn from the world entirely, reading her books, getting the same takeaway from The Golden Dragon, working as a library assistant under her boss, Marjorie Spencer. She shuns all efforts to get her live, socialise and move on by the likes of her mother's friend and neighbour, Linda.

However, June's world begins to shift slowly when her library, along with others, is earmarked for closure and the building set to be sold. She is warned that as a council employee, she is forbidden to take part in or get involved with a protest action group that is has been set up to fight the closure, and at the beginning she adheres to this rule. An old schoolfriend, lawyer Alex Chen arrives in town to help run The Golden Dragon, his father is getting a hip operation, and as June recommends books for him to read, she listens to his advice about her quandry and he tells her to ask herself about a favourite fictional character, what would Roald Dahl's Matilda do? This spurs June to help the FOCL (the Friends of Chalcot Library) campaign, giving advice, information and ideas covertly as Matilda, but when a beloved daily library user, Stanley Phelps starts a sit in protest, she openly joins the protests.

Sampson develops a delightfully diverse set of supporting characters that include the likes of the ferociously feisty Mrs Bransworth, Vera, Chantal, and Marjorie, that captivate as they put their all into trying to prevent the closure of their much wanted library. This is a wonderfully entertaining and engaging read, often so humorous as when June diverts a male stripper to the library. It includes dastardly behind the scenes corruption, powerful forces intent on ensuring that the library closes. This is a book that will appeal to many readers given that it focuses on books and libraries. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

As a massive fan of books, reading and libraries, I was immediately drawn to this book and it certainly didn't disappoint. It is a heart-warming story, centring around the friendships that can be formed within a small community fighting for its library.

The cast of characters are colourful: reflecting a variety of ages, cultures and backgrounds. I loved how you don't just feel close to June as the main character but also, lots of the others too - from Mrs B and her hilariously brash ways, to Stanley and his backstory, to Jackson and his eagerness for books and learning - they were an eclectic bunch with a common goal. There were some really humorous laugh-out-loud moments in this book, as well as some moving, tearful ones - which is pretty much all you want from a story isn't it?

As another reviewer has already commented, this book would be perfect turned into a film or TV drama.

Thoroughly enjoyed this and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

**Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read an advanced e-copy of this book. All opinions are my own **

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Delightful novel. Great characters with strong personalities. Realistic and a very enjoyable and easy read. I became totally engaged by this well written, virtually true to life story centred around an introverted assistant librarian. Many of us will have spent lockdown immersed in books, and reading about the survival of our libraries and the roles they play in society, makes for an excellent base for this story. The ending was a surprise: not quite what I was expecting. I look forward to reading Freya’s next novel.

June Jones emerges from her shell to fight for her beloved local library, and through the efforts and support of an eclectic group of library patrons, she discovers life changing friendships along the way.

You know when you read a book and it's just so good that it actually makes you laugh out loud and shed a few tears? That is exactly what happened when I read this. I actually can't put into words how much I adored this group of characters (especially Mrs B and Stanley) and what I particularly loved is that you didn't just get background to the main character June but to all of the people trying to save the library. I think also because I love reading so much I felt right at home being immersed in this story.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for my copy in return for a review