Boronia Library refurbishment

Boronia Library is closed for refurbishment at the moment, re-opening on the 3rd March. You can stay up-to-date with what's happening at Boronia by viewing the photos I've uploaded to Flickr.

Webgurl's Flickr photos

I've also added a Flickr badge on the menu at the right of this blog. You can click on any of the photos there as well to view.

Staff will be checking in on the progress and taking photos during the refurbishment so keep visiting.

Cheers, Maryanne

Australia Day Holiday

Monday 28th January is the Australia Day public holiday and all libraries and mobiles are closed on that day.

You can return items though the bookchute at most of our branches and renew items through the web catalogue if you have your PIN.

Have a great break. Happy Australia Day!

A reminder that Boronia Library will be closed from January 28 - March 2 (re-open on March 3). Boronia's bookchute will be closed during this period, please return to another branch of Eastern Regional Libraries. Holds to be collected during this period will be sent to Ferntree Gully Library.

Cheers, Maryanne

Around Words. My Life As A Traitor

Meet Robert Hillman, the co-author and learn the amazing story behind this book and his part in bringing Zarah from Iran to Melbourne. She was 20 in 2001 and took part in peaceful demonstrations in Tehran. Snatched off the streets and imprisoned for 29 days, she was beaten, interrogated and finally dumped back on the street.

When: Wednesday 6th February 11am
Where: Yarra Junction Library Hoddle Street, Yarra Junction

Bookings appreciated on 5967 1588

Refreshments provided.

Cheers, Maryanne

The House of Feng Shui 2008 Year of the Earth Rat Workshop

Join Sally Fischmann to find out what the year means, what changes to implement in your home and how it will affect you.

When: Saturday 2nd February 10am
Where: Yarra Junction Library, Hoddle Street, Yarra Junction

Bookings appreciated on 5967 1588

Refreshments provided.

Cheers, Maryanne

Summer's Night at Miller's Homestead cancelled

We have cancelled the Summer's Night at Miller's Homestead (Friday 25th January) due to lack of numbers.

We apologise for an inconvenience caused.

Cheers, Maryanne

Make a date with a book - speed dating with a literary theme

Celebrate Valentine’s Day at Lilydale Library at a speed dating event. Participants are asked to bring along a book that they have enjoyed, a ready made conversation starter. Over a glass of wine and savouries Charles Dickens can meet Georgette Heyer, Agatha Christie may share a special moment with A A Milne, romance can blossom between Ken Follett and Kathy Reichs.

Our guest, modern etiquette guru Alice Williams author of Would It Kill You to Say Please? will be there to help make the evening a fun time for everyone.

When: Thursday 14th February 7pm
Where: Lilydale Library, Anderson Street, Lilydale Melways Ref: 38 F5
Cost: $5.00 includes drinks and nibbles
Bookings essential

Register online for the speed dating event, telephone 92943120, or register at a branch of Eastern Regional Libraries.

Cancellations must be made seven days prior to the event.

Cheers, Maryanne

Cooks' Kitchen Event Crabapple Cupcakes

Jennifer Graham started her business six years ago in Tecoma. Her business thrived and now with two retail outlets and a busy corporate and wedding trade, Jennifer has found time to write The Crabapple Cupcake Bakery Book. Filled with recipes for gorgeous cupcakes, the book has won its section of the Australian Gourmand Awards.

Join us for a delightful afternoon with cupcakes to follow.

When: Thursday 31st January 2pm
Where: Healesville Library, 231 Maroondah Highway, Healesville Ph: 5962 4423
Cost: $3.00

Bookings essential.
Books available for sales and signing.

Cheers, Maryanne

A Summer’s Night at Miller’s Homestead

Celebrate Australia Day at Millers Homestead with Pip Joyce. Bring a picnic, tea and coffee provided.

When: Friday 25th January 7pm
Where: Miller's Homestead, Cnr Melrose Ct and Dorrigo Dr, Boronia.
Cost: $10.00

Bookings 98006405/98006409 or at your local library

Cheers, Maryanne

Summer Sizzler book sale

Find some great bargains in our Summer Sizzler book sale.

When: Wednesday 23rd January from 10am
Where: Belgrave Library, Reynolds Lane, Belgrave

Cheers, Maryanne

The Eastern Regional Library Show - Jan 16 2008

Library staff members Lesley Conway and Pia Butcher run 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 today's show with Pia

The books I spoke about today were:

From book to movie

Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
Lyra Belacqua is an orphan who lives in a parallel-universe Oxford, where children are being kidnapped by a mysterious shadow organization. An fantastical adventure.

Golden Compass : the official illustrated movie companion by Brian Sibley
A look at the making of the movie, the stars and the world. Great to look after seeing the film.

Water horse by Dick King-Smith
From the author of the book Babe, a gentle story about two children who find an old fish's egg that grows into an enormous, enchanting sea creature. (The movie certainly expanded and changed the story!)


Junior Novels

Igraine the brave by Cornelia Funke
When Igraine's parents accidentally turn themselves into pigs and an evil wizard threatens to destroy their castle, it is up to Igraine to put things right even if that does involve facing giants and three headed dragons.

Lost treasure of the Emerald Eye by Geronimo Stilton and Down and out down under by Geronimo Stilton
Geronimo, the editor of the Rodent's Gazette, finds himself involved in some amazing adventures usually through no fault of his own.


Picture books

Gingerbread man illustrated by Elena Temporin.
Run, run as fast as you can, You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread man! An classic tale brought to life again with some enchanting illustrations.

Wolf's coming! by Joe Kulka
A 'scary' tale with an unexpected twist. A delightful story.

Phooey! by Marc Rosenthal
Life seems pretty boring for one little boy. If only he would turn around a take a look behind him!

Thanks, Pia

Summer Reading Club party

Celebrate the end of the Summer Reading Club for 2008. Every child who brings back a completed reading record receives an invitation. The party includes a play by CARP Productions (Secrets of the universe) and the prize draw.

The celebration will be outside so children need to bring their own hat/sunscreen and a rug to sit on.We will be inside if it rains.

Children will also need to bring snacks and drinks for themselves if they require them. Every child who has participated by returning their reading record will be able to collect their certificate. Jill has the carp production play title.

When: Tues 22nd January 11am
Where: Ferntree Gully Library, 1010 Burwood Hwy, Ferntree Gully Ph: 9294 8140

Cheers, Maryanne

Create the perfect picnic hamper

Jill Hess will show you how to fill your picnic hamper up with delectable, easy to make goodies!

When: Saturday, 19th January 1 - 3pm
Where: Lilydale Library, Anderson Street, Lilydale
Ph: 9294 3120

Cheers, Maryanne

Knox Mobile off the road

The Knox Mobile is off the road for the rest of today due to hot weather and a faulty air conditioner. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Items may be returned to any of our branches or if you have a PIN you can renew them through our catalogue.

Cheers, Maryanne

The Eastern Regional Library Show - Jan 9 2008

Library staff members Lesley Conway and Pia Butcher run 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 today's show with Lesley

True to her promise, Lyn Baines, our Collection Development Manager watched DVDs and read solidly for two weeks over the Christmas & New Year period, and has much to recommend. A spate of European detective series came to our TV screens in recent times, of which Lyn has purchased several, including Unit One, Series 1-4 and The Eagle : a crime odyssey, Series 1-3, which Lyn checked out personally. These Scandanavian programmes are responsible for the lilting accent and craving for herring which Lyn has acquired in the last two weeks. How she will fare after watching Inspector Rex we are keen to see. Maybe a taste for sauerkraut and German beer drinking songs.

As for reading matter, some old favourites which have just been reprinted in very attractive paperback format include Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor, and all of Jean Plaidy's historical novels of English royalty such as The thistle and the rose,
Lord Robert, Katherine the virgin widow and Queen Jezebel. Lyn and I reminisced about reading these and other historical novels in the 1960s and 1970s when the leap from children's books to adult reading was not bridged by books written specifically for teenagers. Agatha Christie was another author who wrote very accessible novels for keen young readers to graduate to. Apparently they have been reissued in their original hardcover format and covers, as an anniversary edition, and you will find them on our shelves.

Last but not least, a new non fiction title by Robert Macfarlane, The wild places, is a fascinating read. Macfarlane was concerned at the diminishing wilderness of Great Britain, and set out on a personal quest to find and record the wild places that still exist. His book is part report, travelogue and spiritual quest.

---- Lesley

New website update

Well I've uploaded the new Eastern Regional Libraries website. Spend a moment looking around. A few of the new features are:

New Logo

Eastern Regional Libraries' old logo was in use for almost 30 years and was designed by a member of the public during a logo competition. Our graphic designer, in consultation with library management, designed the bold new logo. The three squares represent the three councils that collaborate to provide a regional library service - Eastern Regional Libraries Corporation. Blue, green and red are colours that appear in one of the three council logos. The white lines represent the chinese character for 3.


Web links wiki

A wiki is a website anyone can edit, there's no need for programming experience. Throughout December library staff are editing the wiki to add the best links available on a variety of subjects and some tutorials on using the resources available in the library. From January we're offering registration to interested members of the public and schools so that they may edit the wiki.


Reader's Corner reviews

We've turned the Reader's Corner staff picks into a blog called Reader's Corner Reviews. This allows the reviews to be updated more frequently and offers a commenting system. We've also added a form to Reader's Corner so website visitors can submit reviews to be added to the blog.


Branch blogs coming soon

Staff in our branches are keen to blog about their local events so we'll be starting some branch blogs. These will take the place of the branch newsletters and will be constantly updated.

Podcasts

Eastern Regional Libraries now offers podcasts for The Eastern Regional Library Show that is broadcast on EasternFM every Wednesday 12:05PM. You'll find a link to podcasts in the left hand menu under community on our main site and over on the menu at the right on our blog.

At the moment I've only been given 3 recordings. We're hoping to build the collection of shows soon.

In addition we are looking at recording author visits to upload to the Twango podcast.


What's Next?

Next I'll be styling the catalogue to fit in with the rest of the site and I'll be giving the Bookmarks forum a new look as well.

Cheers, Maryanne
webgurl

Website maintenance

I'll be uploading the new website this morning so you may find that it is unavailable for half an hour or so.

If you want access to the Library catalogue please follow this link:

Library catalogue

Cheers, Maryanne

Boronia Library refurbishment

From 28th January - 2nd March

Boronia Library will be closed for refurbishment (opening Monday 3rd March). During this time the bookchute will be closed, so members will need to return items to another branch of Eastern Regional Libraries.

Holds to be collected during this period will be sent to Ferntree Gully Library for collection and you will receive a phone call advising you of this. However you may want to change the pickup branch to another branch if you are placing holds for pickup at Boronia at the moment.

I'll be uploading any photos of the progress of the refurbishment to my Flickr account so you can be kept up to date. I'll link to the address closer to the date.

It's all very exciting.

Cheers, Maryanne

Ranges and Valley Mobiles off the road

I've just received word that the Ranges and Valley Mobiles are off the road today for maintenance. The Ranges Mobile will be back on the road tomorrow, however we are still waiting on repairs to the Valley Mobile to be completed.

Cheers, Maryanne

Knox Chinese News group starts today

A new monthly Chinese activity at Knox branch called Knox Chinese News Group (pdf, Chinese) starts today from 1:30-3pm. Emma from Knox Library will be reading aloud the local newspapers and the Chinese SingTao newspaper in Mandarin to the Chinese readers at the Knox activity room.

When: First Monday of the month between 1:30 to 3pm.
Where: Knox Library (Knox Activity room), Knox City Shopping Centre, Wantirna Sth

Cheers, Maryanne

Nicki Greenberg - Graphic Novelist

Come and join us to hear and see how Nicki Greenberg, author and artist, has transmuted and transmogrified F. Scott Fitzgerald’s jazz-age classic The Great Gatsby into a wonderful graphic novel.

Nicki will also be officially launching our new Adult Graphic Novel collection.

Nicki is a Melbourne-based comic artist, author, illustrator and lawyer whose first series of books, The Digits, were published when she was 15 years old. More recently she has written and illustrated both fiction and non-fiction books for children and teenagers. Her graphic adaptation of The Great Gatsby brings together Nicki’s passion for literature and her love of sequential art. Painstakingly constructed over six years the work is an enormous tribute to Fitzgerald’s novel and an exuberant but thoughtful “arrangement” of the brilliant jazz of the original.

When: Thursday 7th February 7pm
Where: Belgrave Library, Reynolds Lane, Belgrave
No charge, but please book on 9754 7266
Refreshments provided

Books available for sales and signing. Check out Nicki’s blog at www.nickigreenberg.com

Cheers, Maryanne

The Eastern Regional Library Show - Jan 2 2008

Library staff members Lesley Conway and Pia Butcher run 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 today's show with Lesley

It's hot, hot, hot! And if you can't mow the lawn or wash the car, you might as well read a book, watch a great dvd, or just kick back and listen to some music with your eyes closed and a cold drink to hand. If you feel you have nothing inspiring at home, several of our branches are having Book Chat and New Books sessions over the next couple of weeks. Rowville is running a New Book Morning on Friday the 11th of January at 10am and a Book Chat on Monday 7th of January at 2pm. Mooroolbark is having a Book Chat on Thursday the 10th at 10am, and Knox is holding a New Books Morning on Wednesday the 9th at 10am. In addition, Knox will host a Book Sale on Wednesday the 16th from 10am with lots of bargains and temptations.

I am looking forward to talking with Lyn Baines next week about the books she has been reading during her holiday. She promises to keep her head buried, and have lots to recommend to us. In the meantime I pulled two new biographies off the shelf which are both fascinating. A.A.Milne : his life by Ann Thwaite is very readable, and awash with quotes and references to many other notable English writers such as Robert Graves and P.G.Wodehouse. I discovered that along with being the creator of the beloved Winne-the-Pooh, Milne was also an accomplished mystery writer.

Hillary Clinton : Her Way : the biography is a very different, very contemporary look at a politician with a better than average chance of becoming the first female American President. Written by two very experienced journalists from the New York Times, this is an engrossing read.

Music played today on the show was from Carly Simon's album Into white

---- Lesley