What a GREAT Day!

Today, hundreds of children in Gilgandra took part in GREAT Day- Gilgandra Reads Everything Around Town Day. It is always a wonderful day, which celebrates the joy and importance of reading. There is a special emphasis on how vital it is to children’s development to read to them, sing to them, talk to them and play with them, right from birth.

This year, the theme was "The GREAT Adventures of Little Red Riding Hood". There were lots of fun activities at different locations around town, and the day culminated in a fantastic interactive performance of Little Red Riding Hood at the High School Hall. The kids were each allocated to a particular character ie Granny, the Wolf, the Woodcutter and Little Red. Each character would then lead their group of kids in a their theme song or chant at special spots in the performance. It was so much fun, and looked quite spectacular in a hall full of people wearing red (to show how well 'read' they are, of course!) The actors who led the performance were wonderful- you could tell how much fun they were having!

Congratulations to all the organisers of GREAT Day, on a job very well done.

To mark GREAT Day, here is a little collection of quotes about reading.

“Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book.” Author Unknown

You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend.” Paul Sweeney

“It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.” Oscar Wilde

“People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.” Logan Pearsall Smith, Trivia, 1917

“How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book.” Henry David Thoreau, Walden

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.” Harper Lee

Happy GREAT Day!

Writerslink writer's workshop at Gilgandra Library: Retool Remix with David Reiter

Think outside the text box! This is a workshop that gives you the skills to compose books which include multimedia elements (audio, video, animation, interactivity) as well as words. Create works for podcasts, blogs or CD/DVD distribution. Experience a hands-on workshop with demos and exercises, brainstorm your own projects, remix them from straight text into multimedia presentations!
The workshop is aimed at artists, community members, historians, writers and anyone who is interested in integrating rich media into their work. The workshop facilitator is Dr David Reiter, an award-winning poet and writer of fiction, and Director of Interactive Publishing, a print and digital publisher based in Brisbane. This workshop follows from Selling that Book conducted at Macquarie Regional Library in 2007. Come and network with colleagues in a fun and comfortable workshop environment! Only $25 per person! This includes all refreshments. Places limited – book now!
Tel: 02 6817 8704 / 02 6817 8705
RSVP: Monday 1 December
Email: mspencer@gilgandra.nsw.gov.au or library@gilgandra.nsw.gov.au

Check out Dr Reiter's homepage, where you can see some of his publications or purchase them- http://members.ozemail.com.au/~reiterdr/

Or read a profile of Dr Reiter at http://www.artsconnect.com.au/artists/poets/davidreiter.htm

One of Gilgandra Shire Library's youthful customers told me that David Reiter's book "The Greenhouse Effect" was the best book she'd ever read. Recommendations don't come any higher than that. Dr Reiter says that digital media empowers creators to publish, using the internet as a channel for sales. Come along to the Library on Wednesday 3 December and learn how to make digital media work for you.

Who are your favourite authors?

We’re celebrating the joy of reading this month at Gilgandra Shire Library. To start the ball rolling, here is a question for you- who are your favourite authors? We hope to gather a list of Gilgandra’s favourite authors over the next month, and print it in the Gilgandra Weekly early in December. We think it should make interesting reading, and it might prompt us to try a different author or two..

To nominate your favourite authors, simply write their names on a slip of paper and drop it in to the box at the Library, or through the book return chute after hours. Alternatively, you can post your author’s name as a comment on this; our brand new blog. We hope to use this blog to share book reviews and information for book lovers of all ages in Gilgandra.

Speaking of favourite books, one of mine is “The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency” by Alexander McCall Smith. While fiddling on the internet this week, I noticed that McCall Smith is publishing his newest book “Corduroy Mansions” in daily bites on the Telegraph UK website. I’m a bit late joining the party, because he is already up to Chapter 35. You can read all of the chapters to date, or listen to Andrew Sachs, best known as Manuel in Fawlty Towers, reading the latest chapter of Corduroy Mansions each weekday, or all the chapters so far. You can even make plot suggestions to McCall Smith, and he has responded to many suggestions on the website. One of the people who posted a plot suggestion calls this “Dickens for the digital age”. The link for this website is in our "Book info" links list on the right hand side of this page.