A Moray newborn has become one of the youngest library users in the UK.
Harry Ferguson was born in Elgin just 10 seconds after the bells on New Year’s Day.
Yesterday the baby was presented with his first library card when his parents Amy Coull and Craig Ferguson, from Portessie, registered the birth.
Registrars joked it was the first time in three decades working in the office they had recorded the time “00:00” on a birth certificate.
And Moray Council’s senior librarian Jane Sandell made a special visit to present the family with a bundle of picture books to spark Harry’s passion for reading.
The authority pioneered an initiative two years ago to hand out library cards to parents registering the births of their new arrivals.
Moray remains one of the few parts of the country to operate a similar scheme.
Yesterday, Miss Coull explained she hoped to arrange a visit to the family’s local library in Buckie in the coming weeks.
She said: “He’s been doing really good, eating and sleeping well. He’s put on four ounces since leaving the hospital too.
“We couldn’t believe the amount of pictures there were in the newspapers about him. We’re going to keep all the cuttings for him to look at when he’s older.
“Hopefully we’ll get him to a library soon – maybe get some nursery rhymes or Peter Rabbit, something like that.”
Harry was originally due on Christmas Day but was born a week later on New Year’s Day as spectacular fireworks displays were set off across the country.
Mrs Sandell explained all Moray newborns were given membership at the region’s libraries to encourage them to develop a life-long love of reading.
She said: “It’s so important to give them the best start in life – being exposed to books helps them, not only academically, but socially too.
“Other areas hand out library cards when the children start school but we want to encourage them from the very beginning of their life.
“Partnering up with the registrars has been a real success and is now being copied by other parts of Scotland.”
