“I hold you few I love, till my heart is red as February and purple as March.”

– Emily Dickinson, letter to Elizabeth Holland (1866)

Welcome to our new Knowledge and Library Services Manager, Helen Barlow! Helen has a long history of managing NHS libraries, having previously run services at Sheffield Health Partnership University NHS FT and Rotherham NHS FT. We’re very excited to see how the library service at Sheffield Children’s develops under her direction!

The book to be discussed at March’s reading group is The Boy From the Sea by Garrett Carr. When a baby washes up on a beach on the west coast of Ireland, he is taken in by Ambrose, a local fisherman. Over time, a rivalry builds between the boy and Ambrose’s son. The meeting to discuss this book will be held on Wednesday 25 March, in the library and on Teams – contact the library if you’d like to join.

This month’s reading for pleasure highlight is My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. This is the tale of two sisters, one of whom has a history of murdering her boyfriends, and the other who often finds herself helping with the clean up. When Ayoola starts dating a doctor at Korede’s place of work, Korede has a difficult decision to make: save the man she loves or protect her sister?

Following is a selection of upcoming events for this month. You can see more events here.

An increasing number of teenagers are using ChatGPT and other AI chatbots as an unofficial therapist. This article, from the British Psychological Society and written by two psychologists, explores why this is happening, and the potential consequences of using AI for this purpose at such a crucial neurodevelopmental period.

The updated GP contract, covering 2026-2027, will include additional help for GPs in strengthening vaccination delivery and access. These changes will help prevent outbreaks, such as that in Enfield, which has seen 50 confirmed cases of measles, by increasing vaccination uptake in higher-risk communities.

The rise in social media platforms has seen increased exposure for users, many of them children and young people, to products that are designed to change their appearance. This includes products such as weight-loss injections, skin lightening creams, and Botox. This report from the Children’s Commissioner investigates this worrying trend, including young people’s perspectives and views.

The Centre for Mental Health has published its new roadmap to transform children and young people’s mental health. Within the roadmap, they identify significant challenges such as long waits for mental health care, and propose solutions to these challenges. This includes shifting from hospital to community-based care, and harnessing digital technologies such as AI to increase accessibility and cut waiting times.

The BMA is calling for the UK government to make improvements to our food environment. This includes reducing the levels of ultra-processed food (UPFs) consumed by children and young people, through measures such as regulating school food provisions and commercial baby and toddler food. They also argue for increased public awareness of what constitutes a healthy diet and which UPFs are particularly unhealthy.

A new report from the Centre for Mental Health investigates parent-infant services and their impact on child development and wellbeing. It finds that only 4% of families in need can currently access specialised parent-infant support, with gaps in provision disproportionately appearing in rural, coastal, and disadvantaged urban areas. It makes a series of recommendations for the government in addressing these issues.

The Department of Health and Social Care has published its guidance for health visiting and school nursing services to deliver the healthy child programme. This covers children aged 0-19, or up to 25 for care leavers and those with special educational needs and disabilities. It includes clear guidance for practitioners and providers on the core concepts underpinning the programme and the responsibilities and expectations for those carrying it out.

The Graves Gallery (above Central Library) will reopen on 26 February with some new exhibitions, including Colour, Form and Line and In Conversation: On the Border of my Peaceful Home.

The Atrium, an indoor market and arts space, has opened! This collective of creatives and businesses is situated on Eyre Street, and provides a wide-ranging offer, including a variety of shops, movement activities such as Pilates, and a mix of upcoming workshops and pop-ups. See the link for more details.

For those who enjoy cooking and graphic novels, I recommend Lucy Knisely’s Relish: My Life in the Kitchen. I acquired a copy while living in Korea and used her recipe for chocolate chip cookies to swap for my friend’s home-roasted coffee beans; they were so popular that I’ve returned to this recipe many times since!

Next month’s post will be published on Friday 27 March – look out for it then!