Knox Mobile off the road for service from 29th November

The Knox Mobile is off the road for service from 5pm 29th November until 5pm 10th December. We apologise for any inconvenience.

Items may be returned or renewed via any Eastern Regional Libraries branch (apart from Knox Library which is currently closed for maintenance).

Cheers, webgurl

New titles added to the eLibrary

We have added 1,332 new eBook titles to the eLibrary in the past week due mainly to the fact that Transworld Publishers (part of Random House) and Harper Collins Australia have released their titles into Overdrive. This means that eLibrary members now have access to eBooks by the following authors:

Transworld (mainly international authors) - Monica Ali, Dan Brown, Lee Child, Michael Crichton, Roddy Doyle, Ben Elton, Frederick Forsyth, David Gemmell, Tess Geritsen, Bear Grylls, Mo Hayder, W.E. Johns (Biggles!!), Alexander Kent, Sophie Kinsella (Shopaholic), Henning Mankell (Kurt Wallander series), W Somerset Maugham, Andy McNab, Richelle Mead, Iris Murdoch, James Patterson, Terry Pratchett, Katie Price, Douglas Reeman, Anne Rice, Salman Rushdie, Chris Ryan, Jacqueline Wilson, Karin Slaughter, Irvine Welsh, PG Wodehouse (Jeeves and Wooster).

Harper Collins Australia (mainly Australian authors) - Robert G Barrett, Carmel Bird, Deborah Challinor, Peter Fitzsimons, Nikki  Gemmell, Linda Jaivin, Elizabeth Knox, Karl Kruszelnicki, Stephanie Laurens, Tobsha Learner, Stuart Littlemore, Colleen McCullough, Linda Lael Miller, Tara Moss, Lynne Wilding, Sally Wise.

We have also added some Allen & Unwin titles including the latest books by Kate Morton, Chris Masters and Christi Malthouse's biography of her famous dad.

Happy eReading.

Cheers, Paul.

Lee Child eBooks now available in the eLibrary

Before you go along and see the new Jack Reacher movie starring Tom Cruise why don't you first read the book on which it is based 'One Shot'? Transworld Publishers have just released the series as eBooks and you can find numbers one ('Killing Floor') to thirteen ('Gone Tomorrow') in the eLibrary.

The other four books in the series are all available as paper books (pBooks)  and audiobooks in the branches. The latest book in the series, 'A Wanted Man', has just been released and you are able to place a reservation from home or by giving one of our branches a call.

Happy eReading,

Paul.

Catching up with Caravan Parks - New Outreach Vehicles Timetables

Eastern Regional Libraries has expanded their Outreach Vehicle Service to include caravan parks, more retirement homes, public housing developments, industrial areas and train stations.

The Knox Flexi Vehicle will now be including Wantirna Caravan Park and Bayswater Railway Station.

Meanwhile, the Yarra Ranges Flexi Vehicle has added Brittania Ridge, Doon Reserve and Pinehill Caravan Parks to their schedules.

The new timetables have been in effect for approxinmately six weeks now - so how has it all been going?


Greg, our Manager of the Mobile Community Services, reports that this new mobile service has so far been well received, with lots of new memberships being signed up at each stop. Positive feedback has also included "What a great idea being more accessible to community housing" and "Love the new truck" and our personal favourite - that the truck itself was rather "cute".


Commuters, in particular, have also found the service at Bayswater Railway Station to be extremely useful.

"I was so surprised to see the library truck at seven in the morning," wrote Elise (28, sales assistant), from Boronia. "Being able to grab something for the train ride to work is so handy."



The new timetable for the Outreach Vehicles are now available.
Knox Outreach Vehicle Timetable
Yarra Ranges Flexi Vehicle Timetable

Knox Outreach Vehicle offroad for maintenance Nov 30 - Dec 10

Just a heads up for all our Knox Outreach Vehicle patrons - the truck will be off the road for scheduled maintenance between November 30th - December 10th. This may impact people who have sent their reservations to the mobile truck whilst Knox Library is closed.

Sorry for the inconvenience - please don't hesitate to call with any enquiries on 1300 737 277.

Christie Heart - Singing her way to Success

Christie with her novel
Leave the Wake Behind

Congratulations to local author and songwriter Christie Heart for the release of her debut novel Leave the Wake Behind. Complete with an accompanying CD, the book was 7 years in the making - an effort well worth the wait. In support of self-published local authors, Christie was invited as a special guest for the Ferntree Gully Library Bookchat on the 18th October to share her work.

Talking about her experiences as a self-published author, the challenges she faced and the fulfillment in writing her novel, many visitors to Ferntree Gully couldn't help but pause and listen to Christie's talk throughout the afternoon.

Christie was an absolute delight and an amazing performer. Beautifully read extracts from her book as well as playing songs from her CD, it is no wonder patrons were stopped in their tracks. In an effort to bring her passion for writing and music together, Christie has created a storyline inspired and formed from a selection of her own original songs.

Whilst Christie's book, Leave the Wake Behind, is written as a stand alone novel and great read in its own right - there was a teaser that Christie is working on a sequel...

Congratulations to Christie on the success of her debut novel - it was a pleasure to have you visit at Ferntree Gully Libray!

Copies of Leave the Wake Behind

Copies of her book are also available on the ERL Catalogue - so have your card in hand and order a copy today (especially if there is a sequel coming!).

If you would like to know more about Christie Heart and the inspirations behind her work, please visit Christie at her website.

Get your Bond on in the eLibrary!

There's only a week to go until Skyfall, the new James Bond movie, premieres here in Australia but if you can't wait until then to get your dose of thrills, spills and adventure you should go to our eLibrary where you will be able to find all of the Ian Fleming penned Bond adventures on eAudiobook. There are 12 in the series and they are read by such British acting luminaries as Damian Lewis (Diamonds Are Forever), Kenneth Branagh (The Man With The Golden Gun), Bill Nighy (Moonraker) and David Tennant (On Her Majesty's Secret Service).
In the eLibrary you can also find the eAudiobooks for the Young Bond series written by Charlie Higson - meet James Bond before the name became a legend and the boy became a man.

If you like your spy thrillers a bit more gritty and realistic you will also find the Bernard Sampson and Harry Palmer series by Len Deighton available as eBooks. Several of the Harry Palmer series were made into movies with Michael Caine taking the part of the downtrodden hero. The most memorable being The Ipcress File and The Billion Dollar Brain.

But if you want to find out what it was really like to work for MI5 and MI6 you should listen to the Circus spy stories starring George Smiley and written by ex-British Intelligence agent John Le Carre. You can find all of the Karla Trilogy in the eLibrary beginning with Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy, continuing with The Honourable Schoolboy and finishing with Smiley's People.

Enjoy!
Paul.

PS: If you want to see how Fleming envisaged how James Bond looked go to the following Wikipedia article - James Bond.

Halloween Hullabaloo was a Scream! Fright-Night Highlights from Knox Library

Professor DeeJay's Magic
Punch & Judy Show

Oh, what a night! Thrills, chills and screams of delight - Knox Library once again hosted the annual Halloween Hullabaloo on October 31st.

At 6:30pm, the library was descended upon by ghouls, fairies, witches, little monsters, a swathe of superheroes and many more brightly costumed children and their parents for the evening festivities. A whopping headcount of approximately 100 children attended this year.

Professor DeeJay was a master at keeping the crowd entertained with his ever-popular Magic Punch and Judy Show. Both kids and parents were in fits of giggles throughout the show - thank you Professor Deejay for such a wonderful performance.

A massive shout out to Knox's Branch manager Carolyn, masquerading as "Bride of Frankenstein" on the night, along with her supernatural lieutenants - the ghostly Di and Cara the Warlock - for making the evening a huge success. Everything from the decorations, food to the fun atmosphere - we can all agree by the tonnes of positive feedback that you out-did yourselves. Three cheers!

Mmmm - Treats indeed!

Party nibblies of a ghoulish nature were also arranged, with everything from cupcakes, short "fingers", jelly brains, chocolate crackles, chips, assorted lollies, cookies and lots of cordial (yes, mums and dads - you are most welcome **winks**).

Thank you to everyone who came and had such a great time - the costumes were fantastic and we look forward to hosting another Halloween Hullabaloo next year.

Our Eyes are still Burning - ERL raises $136.00 for Loud Shirt Day!!

Rose, Raelene and Federica at Rowville
Library celebrating Loud Shirt Day!

Everyone has a shirt hidden in their closet that seems to have a pulsing, radioactive colour energy that makes people squint. It's the shirts we love to hate and hate to throw away, but one day a year we can let that shirt shine with Loud Shirt Day on October 19th. In the spirit of the Fashion Meets Fiction exhibition, the staff at Eastern Regional Libraries brought together fashion with their love of books to raise funds to support hearing imparied children.

Loud Shirt Day is an initiative created by the First Voice Organisation that focuses on providing listening and spoken language therapy to deaf children in Australia and New Zealand. First Voice is a world class leader for the early childhood intervention and research for children who are deaf or hearing impaired.

Currently, First Voice have supported more than 1,000 hearing impaired children in Australian and New Zealand and perform almost 70 cochlear implant procedures a year.

And didn't the librarians look absolutely smashing? Eastern Regional Libraries raised $136.00 for Loud Shirt Day to go to the First Voice Organisation. Congratulations!

Maroondah Festival Fun at Croydon Library This Weekend

Who doesn't love a festival? Music, dancing, market stalls, amusement rides, community spirit and just a whole heap of fun - it's happening this weekend at the Maroondah Festival.

Croydon Library will also be open during the festival with a range of delightful activities! Professor DeeJay will be back with his ever-so-popular Magic Punch and Judy Show in the morning. Then enjoy a family-fun workshop after lunch with Ron the Clown in the afternoon.

Hope to see you there!


-- Croydon Library at Maroondah Festival --

Professor DeeJay's magic Punch & Judy Show
When: Sunday 11th November 11:30am
Where: Croydon Library, Civic Square, Croydon
Cost: Free event

Circus Workshop with Ron the Clown
When: Sunday 11th November 1:30pm
Where: Croydon Library, Civic Square, Croydon
Cost: Free event

Knox Library Closed Nov 11 - Dec 10

New gizmos and a lick of paint! It's all happening at Knox Library - which will be closed from Sunday 1th November at 4pm and will be re-opening on Monday 10th December at 10am.

So what exactly is going on? A new Smart Returns 5-bin sorting system is being installed to help with the heavy returns workflow at Knox Library. Those of you who are familiar with Croydon Library will have seen a similar returns system over there. New tech in the branches is always exciting for us, especially for staff. Not only do we love having new toys to play with and equipment that is seen in leading library services, but it also means a reduction in repetitive wrist-strain injuries for our staff.

But there are benefits for our patrons, too. By returning items through the new system,  you will be able to see them being crossed off your card as they go through (Nice! It's always good to know they are done) and subsequently your account will be completely up to date when you use the Venus Checkout stands to borrow your books or visit the Customer Service counter.

Whilst we are closed, we've arranged the following details.

Extended Loan Period: Members borrowing at Knox Library in the month prior to the closure will receive an extended loan period

No holds on Knox items: From the 22nd October Knox Library stock will not be available for holds

No Knox Pickup: From the 22nd October Knox Library will not be available as a pickup branch in the catalogue

Holds transfer: Knox members with holds that are likely to arrive during the closed period should arrange to have their holds transferred to another branch or suspended

Bookchute: The bookchute will be closed, so items should be returned to other Eastern Regional Libraries branches

Internet/WiFi: Internet, WiFi and photocopying will not be available at Knox Library during the closed period

In the meantime, pencil in that re-opening date and if you have questions or concerns  - please don't hesitate to call any of our branches on 1300 737 277.

cheers, Jess

Libraries closed for Melbourne Cup Day

Rounding the first turn in the 2005 Melbourne Cup (courtesy of VRC)

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

Branches and mobiles will resume normal hours on Wednesday 7th November.

You will be able to return items through the bookchute during this time.

So plan early, either return your items on the weekend or, if you know your PIN, you can renew your items via the library catalogue. Follow the instructions in the catalogue tutorials. If you don't know your PIN, apply for it now through the library website.

For the latest news and events on the Melbourne Cup Carnival, visit the Victoria Racing Club's Cup Carnival website.

If you're looking for something else to do on Tuesday check out what's on at 101 things to do in Melbourne.

Cheers, webgurl