OUR queen in waiting paid a visit to a Forest library last Thursday (May 24), hot on the heels of her attendance at the Royal Wedding the previous Saturday.

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, arrived by helicopter for her visit to Bream Community Library, where she met library volunteers and pupils from Bream Church of England Primary School.

Volunteers have just opened a newly refurbished children’s library, funded with £5,000 they received for winning the David Vaisey prize for an outstanding Gloucestershire library initiative last year, and with some of the community library’s own funds.

The Duchess was visiting to meet members of the library’s Lego Club, designed to encourage children to read more and also met volunteers and library members at the building on Bream’s High Street.

Library director, Mary Rontree, said: “Her Royal Highness met a group of children from Bream Church of England Primary School from five to 11 years old.

“She read them a specially adapted short story and then spoke to all of them individually before the children presented her with a book of stories they had written themselves.

“Local author Ian Hendy then presented her with a book about the history of the library building. It’s in the West Dean Centre, which was built in 1862 as Bream National School.”

The Duchess of Cornwall unveiled a plaque to commemorate her visit, before meeting three different groups of people - parents of the children present, volunteers who run the library and a group representing the David Vaisey Trust.

Bream Community Library was founded after Gloucestershire County Council decided to stop funding library provision in the village.

Mary added: “The then chair of the West Dean Parish Council, Ian Hendy, and the parish clerk encouraged us to try to set it up as a community library. We opened at the end of 2011 and have been running it ever since.”

The library is supported by Gloucestershire County Council and offers an accessible service with computer facilities, educational opportunities and related leisure activities, for use by the residents of Bream and other villages in the West Dean Parish.

Pupils from Bream Church of England Primary School had the chance to meet Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, when she visited Bream Community Library on Thursday (May 24).

They all lined up outside to greet the Duchess and 10 pupils from the school, together with two from St Johns on-the-Hill in Tutshill, showed Her Royal Highness the newly refurbished children’s library.

Pupils from Bream visit the library once a week to select and read books and the library supplies them with topic boxes: for this term on Victorians, Romans and Australia.

Co-head teacher and treasurer at the library, Diane Simpson, said: “All the children lined up outside to greet Camilla and she spoke to them and shook their hands.

“The children were thrilled that they had this royal visit. Some of the older ones understood who she was but some of the younger children thought she was the queen. They now understand that she is married to Prince Charles who is next in line to the throne.

“As well as our weekly visits to the library, we run a Lego group. It’s all about getting kids into the library and, since we set the club up, we’ve seen a running increase in borrowing.

“It was wonderful to have this visit. The Royal family are part of our heritage and culture and this was a real celebration of our library.

“It was a chance to show the rest of the world who we are and that we appreciate what we have in our community.

“This is a community library and volunteers are always needed and welcome. Please do call into the library if you can spare an hour or two.”