Location: The Little Green Bookworm Cafe and Soft Play, Inside Sutton Coldfield Library, 45 Lower Parade, Sutton Coldfield, B72 1XX
Price for soft play: £2.50 per child, Under 1s free. Play limited to 90 minutes at busy times.
What a fantastic addition to my old home town, Sutton Coldfield. I have to admit, I haven’t been into Sutton Library since I was a little girl with my mum clutching onto my library card excited about getting my next set of books. Most likely I was around 8.
So to head back today, with my own two daughters, knowing the library had been closed for a refurb, I was excited about what I was going to encounter.
The cafe is on the 1st Floor at the very back of the library (a lift is available) , where you actually can’t hear the soft play and buzz of the cafe until you are practically in it. The cafe was bright, clean and tidy and the staff greeted us at the counter to welcome us.
The space was quite large and open, so that even when busy (like today) , you will still feel relaxed and not over cramped.
There’s a buggy park to drop your pram off and a shoe rack for the kids to pop them on, so that no one is tripping over them in the cafe (this is usually me, with an inability to style the fall out).
The lunch menu, which is served from 11:30M – 4pm every day, was reasonably priced. The food is freshly prepared and they do gluten free options too (always a winner).
The variety of salads sound nice and at £5 are great value. Sandwiches were priced at £4. And £2.50 for kids.
A great selling point on the menu for babies is the pick and mix weaning platter including items such as ; hummus, avocado, pear, cheese and muffin.
On the counter you can find an array of yummy cakes. I was tempted with a few. Unfortunately I only took my phone with me to use as a camera today, so I’m not sure my photo does the cakes as much justice as they deserve.
The drinks menu is slightly dearer than I would have hoped, but not too expensive. I just like things to be cheaper 🤣, but a positive is that the drinks menu is varied with lots to choose from. Milkshakes & smoothies £3 adults, £1.50 kids, Babyccino 80p, coffees ranging at about £2.75.
The play area was great. A role play dressing up section which had a fairy costume, dragon costume, doctors, superheros and many more, a reading section with shelves and shelves of books for the children to choose from, complete with squashy chairs/settees and then the soft play area which had a ball pool, slide and climbing blocks. The girls loved it. And would have stayed longer if we had let them.
The idea of the cafe and soft play in the library is fantastic. And I really hope that it will inspire more people to use the library now. If you are a Birmingham resident and have a Birmingham library card, please do take out books at the same time as visiting. The more books that are borrowed, the more reason their is to keep the library open.
Well done The Little Green Bookworm Cafe, you have done a great job and I’m hoping this helps to save Sutton Coldfield Library from closure in the future.
Hey, if you liked this review or maybe were inspired to try this out because of my post, you can always buy me or the kids a drink or a slice of cake on our next big trip! Just hit the button below, if you want to. 🙂
Buy me a coffee
Glad you had such a great time! Hopefully you and your family can join us for our launch event on Saturday 7 April where there will be lots of exciting activities. FOLIO Sutton Coldfield are committed to making our library a vibrant community hub that is a safe and welcoming place for everyone 😀
Hi Noran, We would have loved to have come and joined you but we have a birthday party to attend. I am sure it will be a huge success though, the play cafe is definitely what Sutton Coldfield needed and is sure to be very popular. Folio have done a great job. Congratulations and I hope Saturdays launch goes really well for you xx
Looks like such a wonderful library! So much to do and learn <3 I wish we had a place like this close to us, it seems to have everything a family needs for a day of fun and learning.