Yes this is still the Eastern Regional Libraries blog

Well I'm sure you did a double-take when you loaded this page. The What's New blog has had a major makeover. It's part of the new branding for the website including the new logo designed by our graphic artist.

This is the first stage. I'll be uploading the new website soon. Just tweaking a few things. I'll also be advertising some new blogs including the Reader's Corner Reviews. Once I get the new website up and running we'll allow our website visitors to submit reviews so we can add to the blog.

So, what do you think so far?

Cheers, Maryanne

New address for catalogue

The iBistro catalogue has been moved to a new server and there has a new address. The website has been updated with the new address.

Please update your Bookmarks or Favorites with the new catalogue address:

http://swft.erlc.sirsidynix.net.au

We've also had a few enquiries concerning the removal of the position in the queue feature in the catalogue. We are part of a consortium and the position in the holds queue showed your position in the entire consortium queue, rather than just Eastern Regional Libraries. This caused a lot of confusion. You might have seen that you were 80th in the queue for a particular book, but in reality you were 5th in the ERL queue. As a result we have turned off this feature. You can find out your position by contact library staff in person, over the phone or through the website.

Cheers, Maryanne

Planning for a Secure Future

Join us for this free seminar presented by the Law Institute of Victoria including:

• What you should consider when making a will?


• What is a power of attorney and do you need to make one?


• What kind of retirement and aged care accommodation is available ?


• What financial planning issues do you need to consider ?

When: Thursday, 6th December 11am
Where: Ringwood Library , 4 Melbourne St. Mall, Ringwood
Bookings 98700177

Cheers, Maryanne

The Eastern Regional Library Show

Library staff member Lesley Conway runs a radio show each Wednesday 12:05pm-12:45pm on Eastern FM 98.1 called The Eastern Regional Library Show. Tune in next Wednesday for a great show.

On Wednesday's show

Now don't panic, but it is only four and a half weeks to Christmas. You may share the opinions of Grumpy Old Men and Grumpy Old Women and feel inclined to say 'bah humbug'. If you have enjoyed the TV series of the Old Grumpies, then you might enjoy Grumpy Old Women at Christmas and Grumpy Old Men at Christmas on dvd.

On the other hand, if you look forward to stirring the sixpences into the Christmas pudding, then don't hesitate to browse your library shelves. Lyn Baines described last week how she enjoys cooking Delia Smith's cake and pudding from Delia Smith's Christmas, and today I delved inside the book to discover a wonderful range of delicious food described in very clear recipes which would inspire even the tired and harrassed cook, including vegetarian recipes which would be very helpful in my family, canapes and nibbles, supper dishes and leftovers, and more.

Finally, to get you in the mood, don't forget the Christmas music. We played a very New York martini bar version of Sleigh Ride from When my heart finds Christmas by Harry Connick Jr.

Oh, I must not forget that we played a track from a new Carly Simon CD Into White which is full of lovely versions of old favourites such as Blackbird, You are my sunshine, and Scarborough Fair.

----Lesley

We've just received another couple of recordings of the radio show. We're editing it at present and I'll upload it next week to Twango and add it to the sidebar.

Cheers, webgurl

Interruption to catalogue service

The postponed maintenance on the catalogue server will be taking place this Sunday 25th November from 5:30 -7:30 pm. Therefore the iBistro catalogue will be unavailable during these hours.

We apologise for any inconvenience. You can renew your library items once the catalogue comes back up on Sunday evening. If you have any problems get in contact with us through the contact form on the website or contact your local branch by phone on Monday.

Cheers, Maryanne

Giant Book Sale

While the books themselves aren't giant, this book sale is. Come along to Croydon Library between December 1st and 23rd to grab a bargain as Croydon Library sell ex-library and donated books.

There's a huge variety of non-fiction, fiction and children's books. Prices are hardcover 50 cents, paperback 20 cents, as well as specially marked prices on some stock.

When: Saturday 1st December - Sunday 23rd December
Where: Croydon Library, Civic Square, Croydon
Ph: 9294 5640

Cheers, Maryanne

Friday @ Your Library - Cup Cakes with Jennifer Graham

Come along and be tempted with one of Jennifer's beautiful cup cakes and learn the secrets of her success.

When: Friday 30th November 12noon
Where: Knox Library 425 Burwood Highway Wantirna South Ph: 9801 1422

Tea / coffee provided

Cheers, Maryanne

Best Travel Destinations in Australia

Want to travel but don't know where to? Come along to this free session with a consultant from Grand City Travel and Tour Company who will show some of the best travel destinations in Australia. Talk in Mandarin and Cantonese at Knox library.

When: Saturday 24th November 2pm - 4pm
Where: Knox Library, 425 Burwood Highway, Wantirna South Ph: 9801 1422

Bookings essential.

Cheers, Maryanne

Rowville bookclubs

Rowville Library hold regular bookclubs for kids and teens throughout the year.

Teenage Book Chat

Third Wednesday of every month 4pm

Come along to chat about a book you have read and borrow the newest young adult fiction books, music CDs and magazines.


Ready Steady Read Bookclub

First Wednesday of every month 4pm

Where: Rowville Library, Stud Park Shopping Centre, Stud Road, Rowville
Ph: 9294 1300

Cheers, Maryanne

Website redesign

I've been busy here at work for the last four months or so redesigning the website. Our graphic artist has redesigned the Eastern Regional Libraries logo and we have branded the new site with the logo. I'm finishing the final pages and testing, tweaking etc so it should be online by the end of November.

While I was doing this I took the opportunity to change a few things and add some more features. Some of the features you can expect include:

A wiki for Online Information links
A wiki is a website that anyone can edit, just like Wikipedia. We'll be setting this up in stages. I have transferred the current content to the wiki and will be registering library staff to add to the wiki. From the 1st January I'll open it up for members of the public to register. I hope to get some schools interested too.

Within the wiki will be The Knowledge Centre, an area containing tutorials about using the library resources to find information and promotion of our online encyclopedias and other resources and Ask-a-Librarian.

Reader's Corner reviews
I've expanded the Reader's Corner Staff Picks. It is now a blog called Reader's Corner reviews and includes staff and member reviews. Where possible the reviews will include book covers and a link to the title in the library catalogue as well as in NoveList.

Podcasts
We've just started offering podcasts of The Eastern Regional Library Show. We will be adding more shows and hopefully videoing author visits etc and offering those on the blog as well.

Bright catalogue login box
The login area of the catalogue will be highly visible in the top right-hand corner of the website and is included on the Family History, Local History and Reader's Corner sites.

Favourite author/subject notification
Many of you have been saving your favourite authors and subjects through the catalogue. Once I've uploaded the new site, I'll be organising the reports to run so that you are notified via email when a new title by that author or on that subject arrives. You will need to have your email address on your membership record.

We'll keep offering great content including excellent online resources for students. We'll keep building the Reader's Corner area to help you find top reads.

I'll keep you posted regarding the new site.

Cheers, Maryanne
aka webgurl

Knox Mobile update

The Knox Mobile will be off the road for the rest of the day, Wednesday 21st November, due to unforeseen circumstances. We apologise for the inconvenience.

Items can be renewed or returned to any of our branches.

Cheers, Maryanne

The Eastern Regional Library Show

Library staff member Lesley Conway runs a radio show each Wednesday 12:05pm-12:45pm on Eastern FM 98.1 called The Eastern Regional Library Show. Tune in next Wednesday for a great show.

On Wednesday's show

Lazy summer reading time is just around the corner for some of us, and Lyn Baines has done some preliminary research during a short holiday. A common requirement is for a light read, entertaining and engrossing, not too demanding. Two books which satisfy the criteria are Losing ground by Catherine Aird and Name to a face by Robert Goddard. Goddard's books are full of twists and turns, and always a surprise ending, while Aird falls into the English village 'cosy crime' category.

For non-fiction readers, an interesting autobiography is Brenda Niall's Life Class. Niall has written two biographies on the artistic Boyd family, and the second half of this book is about the difficulties and pleasures of researching biography. There is also some background on how she got to know the Boyd family and gathered the resources to document a significant Australian artistic heritage. Other titles by Niall are The Boyds : a family biography, Martin Boyd: a life, Georgiana: a biography of Georgiana McCrae, Judy Cassab: a portrait, Seven little billabongs: the world of Ethel Turner.

And if you have not had enough biography after that, Lyn and I both recommend Inga Clendinnon's Tiger's eye, and an interesting article of hers about writing biography at http://tinyurl.com/36jjtd

Last but not least, Lyn urges everyone to make haste and whip up the Christmas cake and pudding if you have not already done so. Lyn swears by the recipes from Delia Smith's Delia Smith's Christmas, but there is a huge range on our shelves for both recipes and Christmas activities. Two I found at Lilydale this week which are excellent are Paul Levy's The feast of Christmas : origins, traditions and recipes, and Festive Graphics : the art and design of self promotion by Scott Witham, which has some very classy suggestions for greeting cards, packaging, labels and more.

---- Lesley

Update to Sunday's catalogue interruption

The maintenance on the catalogue server has been postponed so the catalogue will available on Sunday.

Cheers, Maryanne

Event cancellations

Unfortunately we have had to cancel the following events:

Meet Andrew Cooper - Mt Evelyn on Friday 16th November

Writer's in Restaurants - Craig Sherborne - Rose Cottage on Sunday 18th November

Cheers, Maryanne

Interruption to catalogue service

Due to some maintenance on the catalogue server the iBistro catalogue will be unavailable on Sunday 18th November from 5:30-7:30 pm.

Cheers, Maryanne

National Storywriting Competition winners

Thanks to everyone who submitted entries and James Phelan for judging them. Congratulations to the following:

Winners & Commended

Open Section

First
Jeannie Haughton, Drouin
This is where they stood

Second
Vicki Thornton, The Patch
Drifters

Third
Janet Wilson, Montrose
In my backyard


Commended

Jason Cotter, Langwarrin - Bloodbirds
Graham Lacey, Richmond - Boys night out
Cheryl Bennett, Upwey - Nirvana Interruptus
Cally Jetson, Upper Ferntree Gully - The Sketch
Clancy Tucker, Eildon - The Long Paddock
Julie Hopper, Bendigo - Joey’s Drought
Emily Storey, Belgrave - Changes



Local Award

Deidre Oliver, Upwey
Chair for One


Special Encouragement Award

Amy McDonald, Mornington
Yarn for Alma Rose


Teenage Section

First
Rebecca, Ringwood East
Scarlett

Second
Anna, Bellerive,Tas.
Breakfast

Third
Monika, St Georges, SA
Never Again


Commended

Morgan, Emerald - The Dress Collector
Laura, Thornton, NSW - Stargazing
Grace, Rowville - Moira May Jump
Lauren, Warranwood - Hate Hurts
Nicole, Rowville - A Disgusting beautiful kind of thing
Monique, Blackburn - The Wren
Olivia, Mt Eliza - Addiction
Monika, St Georges SA - When the Fighting Begins



Junior Section

First
Thomas, Kalorama
My Brother the Bum Wart

Second
Melissa, Rowville
A Strange Day in July

Third
Abbey, Knoxfield
Flying Free


Commended

Maeghan, Belgrave - Touch the Sky
Sue, Balwyn - The Treasure Hunt
Joseph, Mont Albert - Just Another Monday
Hannah, Kardinya WA - The Blitz Raid
Stephanie, Hoddles Creek - Ln’t a story of Love and Loss
Erika, Kardinya WA - On Board with Columbus
Allison, Croydon - The Beginning of William Tongue: Boy Warrior


The Presentation Night is on Thursday 15th November 7pm at Belgrave Library. Poet Tricia Sykes will be reading extracts from the winning entries, and guitarist Geoff Penny will be providing some music. Coffee and cake will be served.

Cheers, Maryanne

Storywriting update

Well we have the winning stories and all but one of the winners has been contacted by phone. All I can tell you is that the person is an adult and is a winner of the 20th Anniversary Encouragement Award. Make sure your phones are charged and turned on as we endeavour to contact the last person, maybe it's you!

I hope to be able to officially announce the winners very soon.

Cheers, Maryanne

Christmas Hours

I've just uploaded the Christmas and New Year hours for our library branches. Please note that our branches will be closed on Monday 24th December.

View the Christmas/New Year hours (pdf, 95Kb, 1page, requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

I'll upload the mobile library hours as soon as these are finalised.

Cheers, Maryanne

Croydon Library closed this Sunday

Eastern Regional Libraries has been notified that Croydon Library will need to be CLOSED on Sunday 11th November (this Sunday) due to power/cabling work at the new Croydon pool.

Cheers, Maryanne

Gideon Haigh Literary Lunch

For our final lunch of the year we take pleasure in presenting writer, journalist and commentator Gideon Haigh.

Familiar to viewers of the ABC Offsiders show and listeners to Jon Faine's Conversation Hour on 774, as an entertaining and informed commentator,Gideon is a writer of great versatility. He has written many books on sport, especially his great passion cricket, and on business topics. His book The Asbestos House: the Secret History of James Hardie Industries won the NSW Premier's Literary Award Gleebooks Prize 2007 and the Blake Dawson Waldron Business Book of the Year. Winner of the John Curtin Prize for Journalism in the Victorian Premier's Awards 2006, Gideon's latest book Ashes 2006-7: the Return Match was published in September 2007.

When: Thursday 29th November 12:30 pm
Where: Belgrave Library, Reynolds Lane, Belgrave
Cost: $7.50 includes lunch

Bookings essential phone 97547266

Cheers, Maryanne

Meet Andrew Cooper

Andrew Cooper is passionate about the environment, and his latest Little Things diary for 2008 will be released in early September. Packed with hints for the home, garden and business this book is a must-have.

'It's got a sustainability tip for every day of the year; everyone should get a look at this.' - Peter Garrett

When: Friday 16th November 1:30pm
Where: Mt Evelyn Library, 50 Wray Cr, Mt Evelyn

Bookings essential phone 97363851
Copies of Andrew's book will be available for sales and signing.

The Little Things website

Cheers, Maryanne

Melbourne Cup Day - Libraries closed

All Eastern Regional Libraries branches and mobiles will be closed on Tuesday 6th November 2007 for Melbourne Cup Day.

Items may be renewed online if you have your library card number (userID) and PIN. If you need to apply for your PIN you can do so on our PIN application form. With the public holiday it might take us a little longer to work our way through the PIN requests and website feedbacks that have come in over the weekend.

Items may be returned through the bookchute at our branches (except Croydon Library which does not have a bookchute operating). CDs should ideally be returned when the library is open because the cases are easily broken when returned through the bookchute.

Have an enjoyable Melbourne Cup day everyone. If you're looking for something to do this weekend check out That's Melbourne and CitySearch. For anyone going to The Cup, check out the official Melbourne Cup site and book early.

Cheers, Maryanne

Storywriting competition update

At present we're still waiting to find out the winners of the Storywriting competition. Once we do this the winners will be phoned and then an announcement will be placed on the blog.

The presentation evening is organised for Thursday 15th November at Belgrave Library.

Cheers, Maryanne