A RIGHT royal celebration has taken place at St Austell Library with the unveiling of a plaque and a photograph of King Charles III.

The special ceremony took place during a cream team hosted by St Austell mayor Crystal Pearce.

A spokesperson for the town council said: “The mayor, deputy mayor Julian Young and deputy Lieutenant Tom French, representing the Lord-Lieutenant of Cornwall, unveiled a plaque and photograph of His Majesty King Charles III on a glorious sunny day at St Austell Library during a garden cream tea afternoon.

“Jam and cream splits (jam first, of course!), and teas and coffees were provided by the wonderful volunteers of SALSA, the library support group.

“Music was provided by the Barry’s Shed Ukulele Group and young visitors enjoyed lawn games and planting sunflower seeds to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Britain in Bloom.”

The library is run by the town council with support from Cornwall Council.

It is one of the busiest in Cornwall and was the top library in the county for issues earlier this year. The number of new borrowers is said to be very healthy and the use of public computers has been steadily increasing.

Cllr Pearce said: “We are very proud of our library which is managed by an excellent team of librarians employed by St Austell Town Council.

“It was wonderful to see so many people using the facility and enjoying the afternoon.

“I would really like to thank all who helped and everyone who attended to make it a very special afternoon.”

Cllr Pearce had praised the library in her speech at the recent St Austell annual parish meeting, when she said: “The library is still performing well with, on average, 6,000 people visiting every month.

“It is still in the top two busiest libraries in Cornwall and has a wide range of activities every month.

“The town council has taken on the Home Library Service from Cornwall Council and now oversees seven volunteers delivering books to people who, due to mobility issues, are unable to visit the library themselves.

“The library is also actively involved in the St Austell Festival of Children’s Literature which is due to take place for the second time in June.”

Recently the library hosted the St Austell Festival of Children’s Literature Schools Book Quiz.

A team from St Petroc’s school in Bodmin took first place in the quiz, with Charlestown second and Carclaze third.

The authors taking part in the evening were Julie Sykes, Claire Helen Welsh, Craig Barr Green and Kate Jane Neal.

The library is open from 9am to 5pm on weekdays and from 10am to 1pm on Saturdays. For more information, email [email protected]