Preserve, Jams and Pickles @ Healesville

Preserve, Jams and Pickles a Healesville Library Cook's Kitchen Event

Meet the maker of Yarra Valley Preserves, a local producer making delectable jams, pickles, preserves and other specialty products. The addition of a special flavour from this range can turn a simple dish into a sensational treat.

Bookings: 59624423.

When: Thursday May 1st 1:30pm
Where: Healesville Library, 231 Maroondah Highway, Healesville
Cost: $5.

Cheers, Paul.

Literary Lunch - Meet Robert Hillman

Robert Hillman’s first novel Life of Days was published in 1988, and since then a number of works have followed Hour of Disguise (1990), Writing Sparrow Hill (1996) and the Deepest Part of the Lake (2001). His autobiography, Boy in the Green Suit (2004) won Australia's National Biography Award. Meetings with Iranian student Zarah Ghahramani led to the jointly authored book My Life as a Traitor which has been described as 'Beautifully written, it's horrifying, enlightening and, ultimately, uplifting.'

Robert is now a full time writer living in the Yarra Valley.

Copies of Robert's books will be available for sales and signing.

When: Thursday, 24th April, 12:30pm
Where: Belgrave Library, Reynolds Lane, Belgrave
Cost: Cost $7.50 includes lunch
Bookings essential, phone 9754 7266

Cheers, Paul.

Montrose Gardeners

Atilla Kapitany returns by popular demand and will inspire us once more with his fascinating Succulents and Cacti.

When: Tuesday 22nd April, 1pm
Where: Montrose Library, Corner Mt Dandenong Tourist Road & Swansea Road, Montrose
Cost: Free event
Bookings essential phone 9728 4224

Cheers, Paul

Puffing Billy

UPDATE - UNFORTUNATELY THE TALK WITH DON HORSBOROUGH HAS BEEN CANCELLED. A NEW DATE AND TIME WILL BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY.


Puffing Billy is a favourite topic with Don Horsborough. Come along to hear this interesting talk about the history of the Puffing Billy Railway, how it's operating today and how you can get involved if you would like to.

When: Friday 18th April 7pm
Where: Rowville Library, Stud Park Shopping Centre, Stud Road, Rowville
Cost: Free event
Bookings essential phone 9294 1300

Cheers, Paul

Croydon withdraws Dutch collection

Due to declining circulation, the Dutch collection at Croydon Library has been withdrawn. If you require Dutch books you can make a request to library staff and a bulk Interlibrary loan will be organised for you. In fact if any library member needs books in a language that Eastern Regional Libraries does not possess you can get a bulk Interlibrary loan if we can find a library with books in that language.

Cheers, Maryanne

TumbleReadables

We have just subscribed to a new database that complements our TumbleBook Library of animated and narrated picture books for children. It is called TumbleReadables and can be found on the Online Resources page under "Reading and Libraries".

"The core of the TumbleReadable collection are the books that combine online text with complete narration. Sentences are highlighted as they are being read and pages turn automatically. They can be viewed in 3 different text sizes. These are our Read-Alongs for elementary, middle school, and high school students.

There are currently 125 read-alongs and 100 large print online books in this expanding collection found in 8 separate categories:

Picture Books, Early Readers, Chapter Books, Middle School Readers, YA/Teen, Children’s Classics, Classics, and Shakespeare.

The collection includes popular sports themed books by Matt Christopher, titles from the popular Judy Moody , Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, and Sleepover Squad series, and classic children’s literature such as Black Beauty and Call of the Wild."

There are 3 types of books in the collection -

(Read-Along): Online books complete with large print text and complete narration. You can choose from 3 text sizes. Sentences are highlighted as they are read and pages turn automatically.

(2 in 1): Online classics that include adjustable text and complete unabridged audio.

No Brackets: Large print online books with adjustable text. These have no audio. Many will be converted to read-alongs in the next year.

I suggest that you sit down with a cup of tea or coffee and a biscuit and have a play with them.

My tip is to click on the tab that says "Index" on the TumbleReadables webpage so that you get an idea of the breadth of the collection and then try clicking on each of the different types of books ("Read-Along" , "2 in 1", ordinary title) to see what each does.
Enjoy!

Cheers, Paul.

PS: The books can not be downloaded to an MP3 player or iPod they can only be viewed or listened to on a computer.

The Eastern Regional Library Show

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

William Shakespeare....the true writer of the plays and sonnets, or the public front of an aristocrat, or a collaboration with one or more others? The debate is raging fast and furiously. There is a distinct heads on conflict between the Stratfordians (for William Shakespeare) and the Oxfordians (for Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford), but the debate is more complex than that.

When I first heard of the debate many years ago, it was over the proposition that Christopher Marlowe was the author, and that he had faked his death to escape a history of intrigue in England, and sent his writing to Shakespeare from the Continent. This is a bit far-fetched now, in the light of the work of many industrious scholars over the last decade. Marlowe is a fascinating fellow none the less, and and autobiography by Park Honan Christopher Marlowe : poet and spy is a good introduction to his life.

The next candidate to be introduced was the Earl of Oxford, either as the writer of the plays (detailed in Alias Shakespeare : solving the greatest literary mystery of all time, by Joseph Sobran) or as collaborator with Shakespeare (in Players : the mysterious identity of William Shakespeare by Bertram Fields).

Next we are introduced to Sir Henry Neville, a flamboyant and intellectual aristocrat similar to the Earl of Oxford, in The truth will out : unmasking the real Shakespeare by Brenda James and William D. Rubinstein. The crux of the argument in this and Oxford's case being that the man who wrote the plays had to be better educated and more widely travelled than William Shakespeare was.

My inclination is towards the arguments of Rene Weis in Shakespeare revealed and Peter Ackroyd's Shakespeare : a biography, which in essence are that " ..he is in some ways larger than life...but then so is all genius. It is no more possible to explain the secret of Shakespeare's talent than it is to account for Mozart's gifts."

Finally, for a great overview of the dramatists of the Elizabethan period, Shakespeare & Co. by Stanley Wells, which includes biography of Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe and others. Music today was from the CD A little nonsense.

---- Lesley

Puffing Billy

Puffing Billy is a favourite topic with Don Horsborough. Come along to hear this interesting talk about the history of the Puffing Billy Railway, how it's operating today and how you can get involved.

When: Friday 18th April 7pm
Where: Rowville Library, Stud Park Shopping Centre, Stud Road, Rowville
Cost: Free Event!
Bookings please phone 9294 1300

Cheers, Maryanne

Mt Evelyn Cookery Club - Pizza and Focaccia

If you thought pizza dough was just used for pizza bases, think again. Grace will be here to demonstrate different and tasty ways to use pizza and focaccia dough. Great for lunches or a healthy fast food.

When: Friday 18th April 12:30pm
Where: Mt Evelyn Library, 50 Wray Crescent, Mt. Evelyn
Cost: $7.50 includes a light lunch
Bookings essential phone 97363851

Cheers, Maryanne

What's happening on Stud Road Rowville? History in the making - a major redevelopment

A major redevelopment is taking place and Peter Kavan from Knox City Council will talk about the exciting new changes coming our way. The project includes an upgrade of the Stamford Park Homestead and in the area surrounding residential and industrial development, with the creation of a major new park and wetland. Also of interest is the archaeological study which is underway.

When: Thursday 17th April 7pm
Where: Rowville Library, Stud Park Shopping Centre, Stud Road, Rowville
Cost: Free event
Bookings please phone 9294 1300

Cheers, Maryanne

Price It! Antiques appraisal and valuation

Do you have a special small antique that you want to know more about? Bring along your treasures to be appraised and valued by antique expert Lester Devere from Auction Central.

Lester Devere has over 25 years experience in the antique trade as a commission agent and auctioneer

The events will include a demonstration of the antiques database Price It!

When: Tuesday 15th April 6:30pm
Where: Lilydale Library, Anderson Street, Lilydale
Bookings essential 92943120

When: Thursday 17th April 2pm
Where: Healesville Library, 231 Maroondah Highway, Healesville
Bookings essential 5962 4423

Cheers, Maryanne

Virtual Reference Library

Tired of being google-eyed? Fed up of being led on a virtual wild-goose chase? Need information that is relevant, reliable and credible? Then it sounds like you need to use the ERL “Virtual Reference Library”. By following the link from our homepage, it's found under Online Information, you now have access to over 200 of the world’s leading reference books. Available 24 hours a day 7 days a week, fully downloadable and free to print out whether you are at home or school. All you need is a PC connected to the internet and your library card number – the number beginning “20023” on the back of the card.

The subjects covered are Film, History, Literature, Nation and World, Religion, Science and Social Science.

Are you a VCE student studying Literature? Then check out the VRL – there are hundreds of study guides covering drama, novels, short stories and poetry. Study guides to the complete works of Shakespeare are included!

Are you studying History? Then have a look at the history books in the VRL – there you’ll find such treasures as the Renaissance: An Encyclopedia for Students and the Terrorism Reference Library.

Need to know who Piaget was and why he is so important in education today? Then you need to look at Psychologists and Their Theories for Students (yet another diamond title available in the VRL) where you’ll find 28 pages of quality information on the beret wearing Swiss psychologist.

Once again it is all FREE with an ERL library card. Do yourself a favour and check it out – especially if you are a VCE student….. or you have one in the house!

Cheers, Paul

Photocopiers and faxes

The last few months have been busy as we rolled out the new photocopiers in the branches. All branches now have access to colour copying/printing as well as black & white.

Faxing can also now be done on the new photocopiers. We're ironing out a couple of the kinks at a couple of the branches, however this should be fixed soon. The new fax charges are:

Within Victoria: $2.20 per call (GST Inclusive)
Within Australia: $3.30 per minute (GST Inclusive)
Overseas: $5.50 per minute (GST Inclusive)
Receiving: 20c per A4 page (GST Inclusive). Will need to be printed by a staff member.

To photocopy, print from the computers or fax you will need a library card with the magnetic strip on the back. Just add some money to your library card at one of the autoloader machines in the library and then the library card can be used to pay for the copying. If you need assistance, please ask the staff.

Cheers, Maryanne

The Eastern Regional Library Show 2nd April 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

Our libraries are not always able to give you the book you saw reviewed in the Saturday paper, and that's why free reservations are a good thing. We can say confidently however that the latest Helen Garner novel The Spare Room was in our branches 2 weeks before last Saturday's reviews, and that it is quite possible that Lyn Baines had the first public review of this book on the ERL blog. Now if you don't already check our blog for book reviews, go back to the ERL webpage and click on Reader's Corner, and then Reader's Corner Reviews. You can post your own review, and check those posted by ERL staff and visitors. Back to The spare room, and Lyn is quoted as saying " Helen Garner’s first novel in 15 years is a moving, funny account of a woman dying of cancer and her friend, who tries to help her...... There’s a lot of humour in the novel and, as always in Garner’s work, beautiful descriptions of domestic life. This book is an emotional journey which raises questions about love, friendship and honesty."

Another new addition to our Popular novel category is Cynthia Harrod-Eagles' Game Over, the latest in her detective series featuring Bill Slider. The official website describes Bill as a fallible 'everyman', and Lyn attests to the addictive pull of following him through many trials and tribulations. In this, the eleventh in the series, Bill is desperately trying to fit his wedding to his pregnant partner in between the demands of solving a murder, and threats from the past. Compulsive reading.

If you admit publicly to obsessions as Lyn has done frequently on the radio, then we all cheer for her when a book combining two of her favourite obsessions - Daphne Du Maurier and the Bronte family - is published. Daphne, by Justine Picardie, is a novel which combines fact with a fictional look at some 'what if' possibilities. There are three points of view, that of Daphne herself in 1957 at a difficult time in her life, that of Alex Symington, a Bramwell Bronte sholar with whom Daphne corresponds, and that of an unnamed woman in our times who investigates both these characters, and the legacy of Bramwell Bronte. The 'ghost' of Du Maurier's Rebecca flits through all three of the sements, and Picardie is obviously as enthralled by Du Maurier's novels as are many more of us.

Lyn briefly mentioned Charles Nicholl's The Lodger : Shakespeare on Silver Street which she will review in detail next month. Suffice to say that it adds something to the ongoing debate about whether Shakespeare actually lived and wrote all the plays credited to him. Having stirred the pool of controversy, on next weeks radio broadcast, I will review some of the material available on the Shakespeare controversy.

The link to the book review blog is http://readerscornerreviews.blogspot.com/

---- Lesley

Update regarding Lilydale Library

Lilydale library has re-opened this afternoon. Currently there is no Internet due to some technical issues. We are trying to rectify this.

Cheers, Maryanne

Lilydale and Mt Evelyn libraries closed - no power

I've just been advised that Lilydale and Mt Evelyn libraries are closed and are unlikely to re-open today as a result of damage at the Lilydale substation.

Croydon library was briefly closed but has now re-opened.

UPDATE: I've just found out that the Ranges Mobile will not be at Ferny Creek today because of the severe weather.

Drive carefully everyone, get home safe.

Cheers, Maryanne

fretshop

Live at Rowville Library for Youth week 2008

Come along to Rowville library for a performance of the fretshop youth guitar collective.

fretshop is a youth ministry project run by the Rowville Uniting Church to encourage a positive, creative outlet for local teenagers through playing guitars and learning from each other.

When: Thursday 10th April 5:30- 6pm
Where: Rowville Library, Stud Park Shopping Centre, Stud Road, Rowville
Ph: 9294 1300

Also check out the events happening in the Knox, Maroondah (pdf, 194Kb) and Yarra Ranges areas or around Australia at the National Youth week website.

Cheers, Maryanne

Bookchat with Stephanie Tolan

Stephanie Tolan, Newberry Honor Book award winner for her novel Surviving the Applewhites, will discuss the book and her work with home-schooled and gifted children.

When: Wednesday 9th April 10:30-11:30am
Where: Belgrave Library, Reynolds Lane, Belgrave
Cost: $20 ($30 for families)
Bookings ph97547266
Payments to: Gifted Resources,
PO Box 4176, Croydon Hills 3136

Cheers, Maryanne

Branch blogs

There are some members that just want to keep up-to-date with what's on at their library. So I've been working on creating some blogs for the branches to update. These will take the place of the branch newsletters. Maybe we'll save a few trees.

So far the branch blogs that are available are:

• Read around the clock - Rowville library
• Knox Knews - Knox library
• oneforthebooks - Lilydale library

This What's New blog will still highlight what's happening around our region.

Cheers, Maryanne

Bollywood Dancing Workshop

Knox teenagers will have some fun this week with a Bollywood dancing workshop.
Remember to wear comfortable clothes and removable shoes.

When: Thursday 3rd April 7pm
Where: Knox Library, 425 Burwood Highway, Wantirna South
Cost: Gold coin donation
Bookings essential Ph: 9801 1422

Cheers, Maryanne

Eastern Regional Libraries Military History Group

Interested in all things relating to Military History? Come along and join the Eastern Regional Libraries Military History Group

• meet fellow enthusiasts
• share information
• have memorabilia identified
• receive help with service histories
• borrow new ERL titles on military matters

Free Event. Contact Alan Bennett 93945640 for further details

When: Friday 18th April, Friday 27th June, Friday 29th August, Friday 31st October, Friday 5th December from 2pm
Where: Croydon Library, Civic Square, Croydon Ph: 9294 5640

Cheers, Maryanne

Yarra Junction Around Words

April's session of Around Words is on Wednesday 9th April 11am. Join us for readings, conversation, coffee and cake.

Cheers, Maryanne