Treasures left in libraries in Edinburgh

Just felt I had to pass on this link for these amazing paper sculptures, left as gifts in libraries in Edinburgh. There is an Ian Rankin link to them, too...

The first of these sculptures bore a tag that read, in part:
"We know that a library is so much more than a building full of books....a book is so much more than pages full of words....."

The blog these sculptures appeared on is pretty inspiring too: Central Station.

Reading in someone else's shoes

One of the wonderful things about reading is that it enables you to walk in someone else’s shoes for a little while. Sometimes those shoes take you to places and lives radically different to your own. “Tamil Tigress” by Niromi de Soyza is an example of just such a story. Two days before Christmas in 1987, at the age of 17, Niromi de Soyza found herself in an ambush as part of a small platoon of militant Tamil Tigers fighting government forces in the bloody civil war that was to engulf Sri Lanka for decades. With her was her lifelong friend, Ajanthi, also aged 17. Leaving behind them their shocked middle-class families, the teenagers had become part of the Tamil Tigers' first female contingent. Equipped with little more than a rifle and a cyanide capsule, Niromi's group managed to survive on their wits in the jungle, facing not only the perils of war but starvation, illness and growing internal tensions among the militant Tigers. Today, Niromi de Soyza lives with her husband and children in Sydney. Walter Mason reviewed this book for “Good Reading” magazine (September 2011) and he said “This is a book about suffering, resilience and personal strength that I found ultimately unsettling and uniquely insightful”.

We hope you enjoy whatever you are reading this week. To find out what other books the Library has, visit http://nwls.spydus.com.

Holiday competition at the Library

Looking for something to do over the school holidays? Why not enter the library's new competition? Draw a book cover on an A4 sheet of paper, write your name, age, address and phone number on the back, and bring your entry to the LIbrary by Saturday 15th October. The one we like the best will win a $50 Visa prepaid gift card.

StoryTime

We're back after a year's hibernation. We would like to apologise for the absence- we flirted with Facebook during this time, and thought maybe it would replace the need for a blog. But... while Facebook is good, people are still checking the blog, so we've decided to reactivate it.

Tomorrow (Thursday 22nd September) at 10.30am, the library is likely to be a noisy happy place. StoryTime happens on the third Thursday of most months, and we welcome babies, toddlers and under-5s, and their carers, to come along for some fun. At StoryTime tomorrow, we'll be finding out who sank the boat, getting muddled up on the farm, and going to sea, sea, sea! Come along prepared to Timbuktu! (Don't worry- I'd forgotten how to do that bit, too- but I learnt how to do it again thanks to the wonderful blog "Irresistable ideas for play-based learning".)

For more info about StoryTime, call the Library on 02 68178877 or email library@gilgandra.nsw.gov.au

Shelving project

The Library will shortly be receiving new shelves. So we have lots of second-hand shelves for sale. All offers will be considered. To see what we have available, check out the catalogue on the Council's tenders and quotations page http://www.gilgandra.nsw.gov.au/index.cfm?objectid=4C0D6AB4-FEA3-0007-8C6C7414398EC857 .

Don't be shy to make an offer- we want to see these shelves go to a good home.

Don Tate Author Talk

We don't often have the chance to hear authors speak in Gilgandra, but just such a wonderful opportunity has come our way. Don Tate, author of the book "The war within" will be speaking at the Cooee Cultural Heritage Centre on Wednesday 7th April at 10.30am. This free event is open to everyone. As well as speaking about his book, Don will host a showing of historic movie footage he took in Vietnam as a young infantryman in 1969. His film shows images of the 4th and 9th Battalions in the field, an air strike by U.S. Phantoms, men on leave in Vung Tau, and patrols in the thick jungle of Long Khanh. This is a wonderful opportunity to see this footage and to hear an author speak.

For more information about the author, visit his website. There is a transcript of a report about Don on the 7.30 Report , or you can listen to a radio interview with Don on Radio National's Life Matters program. Or better yet, come along to the Cooee Heritage Centre on April 7 at 10.30am and hear what he has to say, for yourself. Free tea, coffee and muffins will be available after the talk.

Over the school holidays, 91 Gilgandra children and teenagers took up the Summer Reading Club challenge. Each person had a goal of ten books to read before 1 February, knowing that when they reached their target, they could collect a small surprise gift from the Library. So far, 36 young people have collected their gift- a library bag containing some treats. It's not too late to bring in your reading record sheet and collect your prize, just like the little one in the post below!