So far this winter - apart from those days before Christmas and last week’s cold snap - we've had fairly mild weather. That's been good news for the very many people across Devon who are struggling with the cost of living crisis and rapidly rising fuel bills.

There's still a couple of months to go however and the weather could turn. So I've been really pleased with the efforts that our libraries and their staff have been making to provide a warm, safe and welcoming place for people to go who are finding it increasingly difficult to afford to heat their homes.

Our libraries are run for us by Libraries Unlimited and at the start of the winter we announced they were throwing their doors open to help people find warmth - and almost as importantly - to provide a meeting place for people who might otherwise be home on their own.

We're already hearing anecdotal evidence that people are using our libraries differently this winter and it's extremely good news that Libraries Unlimited have secured funding to extend the opening hours of some libraries until the end of March.

The grant, administered by the National Grid, will pay for extra staff time, heating and lighting to allow some libraries, including Torrington and Holsworthy, to open for another three hours more a week.

Under the ‘Libraries for Life’ campaign, we've already seen customers enjoying everything from free hot drinks to various craft activities and, at the same time, making new friends in their local libraries.

And some of the examples we are hearing from staff demonstrate how much this has been welcomed.

Colin Bray from Libraries Unlimited said one customer hadn't been out of her house for over two years. She had heard about the hot drinks and decided the library would be a good place to rebuild her confidence. She thoroughly enjoyed a cup of tea and a chat with people and she felt she was getting her confidence back.

Colin said: “We hear stories like this every day. We believe we’ve rolled out a comprehensive plan that will enable anyone, in any part of Devon, to access some kind of help from their local library that will enable them to cope better this winter.”

Among the examples are Budleigh Salterton and Torrington which have displays on books on money saving, Holsworthy which is offering free hot drinks and visits from Digital Devon, Honiton which has a display about economical food preparation and slow cookers, and Ilfracombe, where there is a display of books on budgeting, low cost cooking and money saving, along with information on supportive organisations and visits from Citizens Advice with free tea and coffee at all times.

Ottery St Mary also has displays of books about money saving, a session with Exeter Community Energy, Ottery Larder, Ottery Help Scheme and Citizens Advice Service along with weekly craft and cuppa sessions.

At Sidmouth  there are free teas and coffees and at South Molton a fortnightly free community hub, tea, coffee, biscuits and apples alongside crafts and puzzles and a display of books on money saving, recipes and cookery books.

Our library home delivery service is carrying a number of special ‘warm packs’ for isolated customers including warm blankets, thermos flasks, hand warmers, thermal hats and socks.  These customers are visited regularly by our book delivery volunteers and the items can be requested from our volunteers during their regular book visits.

You can join any of our Devon libraries for free, find out what’s going on in your library and more about the warm packs by visiting devonlibraries.org.uk or home.library@librariesunlimited.org.uk