Friday, September 21, 2007

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

One of the challenges of researching family history is how to keep the mounting paperwork in order. Ann Dixon was with us today and made a some practical suggestions. You will want to create the classic 'family tree' genealogical record, and to do that it is worth considering some useful computer software. At www.familysearch.org you will be able to download free software which is as good as any commercial product, and will help you establish some order from the beginning. The another hint Ann made was that as you will still have a lot of paper records, start filing them in folders as soon as you get them. And finally, keep a separate page in your folders for each ancestor as you find them, and record the details of certificates that you have, or are tracking, of newspaper articles, obituaries etc. that you have located and other resources relating to that person, so that at a quick scan you can see what you have found.

Ann is one of the volounteers at AIGS (Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies) who run free workshops for 'Beginning family history research', so if you are interested, check their website at www.aigs.org.au You can also begin your family history research at an ERL workshop, for which there is a charge, or come along to a Genie Exchange, which is a free open session for family researchers which runs in four of our main branch libraries. Check with the library staff for details on your next visit, or go to the Family History website.

---- Lesley

Gully gardeners

Meet at Ferntree Gully Library for a tour of Lees Harmony's permaculture garden.

When: Thursday 4th October 1:30pm
Where: Ferntree Gully Library, 1010 Burwood Hwy, Ferntree Gully Ph: 9294 8140

Cheers, Maryanne

Chess and board games at Yarra Junction

Do you love Chess, board and card games and want to test your skill against others? Yarra Junction library will be hosting chess and board games every Friday starting in October. They cater for all levels - beginners to advanced. Board games include Dominoes, Draughts, Scrabble, Rummy-O, Priominoes, Chinese Checkers, Cribbage. Card games include Poker, Twenty-one, Five Hundred Rummy, Bridge, Patience.

The library provides:
  • Friendly environment
  • Materials
  • Instructions
  • Refreshments
When: Every Friday starting Oct 3rd 2:30-4:30 pm
Where: Yarra Junction Library, Hoddle Street, Yarra Junction

Enquires and expressions of interest to Yarra Junction Library 59671588

Cheers, Maryanne

Ranges and Knox Mobile update

The Ranges Mobile is still off the road but is expected back Tuesday 25th September.

The Knox Mobile will be off the road today from 12noon. Nothing mechanical though. It will be back on the road Saturday morning at Bayswater.

Cheers, Maryanne

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Rowville Library wins award

Congratulations to Rose and the team at Rowville Library for winning the Knox Leader Business Achiever Award 2007 in the Professional and Community Services Category. A great achievement and very well-deserved!

The award was presented last night at a dinner attended by local business people and representatives from Knox Council. Leader readers nominate and vote for the businesses they feel provide great service....which clearly Rowville Library does! Well done everyone at Rowville.

---- Lorraine Seeger, Corporate Manager - Customer Services

Keys Please

Update: The Keys Please talk at Knox Library on the 1st October has unfortunately been cancelled.

Cheers, Maryanne

Friday @ your Library - Beaded Jewellery with Anna

This informative session will show you some basic beading techniques. There are beautiful finished products to view.

When: Friday 28th September 12noon
Where: Knox Library, 425 Burwood Highway, Wantirna South

Tea/coffee provided.
Bookings essential, phone 9801 1422

Cheers, Maryanne

Crime Night - Meet Vikki Petraitis

Well it's a busy day next Thursday, finishing up with an author visit from true crime author Vikki Petraitis.

Vikki has been writing true crime books since the early 1990's. Her works include The Frankston Murders, The Phillip Island Murder and Forensics - true stories from Australian police files. Vikki has also been a contributor to the television series Sensing Murder.

When: Thursday 27th September 7pm
Where: Ringwood Library, 4 Ringwood Street Mall, Ringwood

Bookings essential, phone 9870 0177. Free event

Books available for sale and signing.

Cheers, Maryanne

Literary Lunch - Meet Angela Crocombe

Angela Crocombe is the author of A Lighter Footprint, a book full of ideas for minimising our impact on the planet. Ideas that not only help save the planet but help save on household expenses.

Angela has lived in Singapore, America and the UK. She has degrees in economics, political theory and publishing. She has studied creative writing at RMIT and has worked in the publishing industry since 1995. She has published a number of educational titles for children and is the author of numerous magazine articles.

A Lighter Footprint was recently published by Scribe Publishing.

When: Thursday 27th September 12:30pm
Where: Belgrave Library, Reynolds Lane, Belgrave
Cost: $7.50 includes lunch

Bookings esssential, phone 9754 7266

Books available for sales and signing.

Cheers, Maryanne

Older but stronger

Lyn Peacock from Ranges Community Health will be visiting the library to talk about how older members of our community can keep fit.

Older but stronger is a over 60's program run by a fitness instructor for those not accustomed to exercising, or with:
  • Difficulty walking or balancing
  • Use a walking aid
  • Arthritis or Osteoporosis
  • Back or neck pain
  • Joint replacement
  • Shortness of breath

When: Thursday 27th September 11am
Where: Lilydale Library, Anderson Street, Lilydale

Bookings essential, phone 92943120. Free event.

Cheers, Maryanne

Spring-cleaning Book Sale

Come along for some great bargains. We're selling ex-library books as well as donations.

When:
Wednesday 26th September from 10am
Where: Belgrave Library, Reynolds Lane, Belgrave
Ph: 9754 7266


Prices


Non-Fiction $2
Fiction hardback $1
Fiction paperback 50c
Magazines 50c
Children's books 50c
Some books have a specially marked price

Cheers, Maryanne

Another Mobile update

The Ranges Mobile is still off the road for today. Items may be returned to any of our branches. If you have your PIN you can renew online, otherwise phone staff at our branches.

Cheers, Maryanne

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Leader Business Achiever Awards

I think I may have missed this news when I had a few days off. Congratulations to Ringwood Library on being Finalists in the Leader Business Achiever Awards for 2007.

Last year Croydon Library was named Business of the Year. Fingers crossed for Ringwood.

What's your favourite library and why? Is it the staff, the atmosphere, the availability of Internet PCs that make your library special?

Cheers, Maryanne

Ranges Mobile update

Sorry it's taken a while to get to this but the Ranges Mobile is still off the road.

Cheers, Maryanne

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Ranges Mobile off the road today

The Ranges Mobile is off the road today for mechanical maintenance. I'll keep everyone advised through the blog when it is back on the road.

In the meantime items may be returned or renewed through any of our branches.

Cheers, Maryanne

Website and phones are back

Well as you may have noticed the telecommunication problems have been fixed. You can now access the library website and phone Library Administration. We also now have access to our email so if you've been waiting for a reply you should get one soon. I'm just working my way through mine now.

Cheers, Maryanne

Monday, September 17, 2007

Access to the library website and administration

Since Friday there has been a problem with the telecommunication lines at the Knox exchange which handles telephone and network access to the Library administration.

What is affected

This has affected access to the library website. You are also unable to phone Library administration, please call your local branch at the following numbers:

Belgrave 97547266
Healesville 59624423
Lilydale 92943120
Montrose 97284224
Mooroolbark 97268200
Mt Evelyn 97363851
Yarra Junction 59671588 (Monday closed)
Boronia 97624099
Ferntree Gully 92948140
Knox 98011422
Rowville 92941300
Croydon 92945640
Ringwood 98700177

Generally Internet is not available at the moment at library branches.

What isn't affected

Library branches have access to the library system for borrowing, renewals etc. The Monitor photocopying system is offline at the moment, although photocopying can still be done.

You can access the catalogue directly instead of going through the website by using the following address:

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

Apologies for any inconvenience.

Cheers, Maryanne

Thursday, September 13, 2007

National Storywriting Competition closing

Well by now I hope you've penned your fantastic entry into the National Storywriting Competition. Don't miss out though because entries close Friday 14th September. Entries can be dropped off at any of our branches or mobiles or posted to Eastern Regional Libraries at 7B Eastgate Court, Wantirna South, 3152. If posted it needs to be postmarked on or before the 14th September.

View/Print Entry Form

Good luck!

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 yesterday's show

If you were wanting to read some short stories, where would you look? You might know already that in our Fiction collection we have spine labels which alert you to Short Stories, and if you were searching the catalogue and entered 'short stories' as a subject search, you would end up with a list of 337 titles. But...this is not all. In the Non-fiction collection is a Literature section which runs between 800 and 899. It includes collections of short stories at 823, and at 808 and 813 a whole range of interesting short reads including anthologies, collections of letters, newspaper articles and musings ( writing that doesn't fit any hard and fast category, such as Michael Leunig's Wild Figments).

Some of the great reads that I found on the shelf at Lilydale include the delightful
The Works of Jane Austen : Volume VI Minor Works in which the sharp wit and humour are evident in the 15 year old girl as in the more mature writer. Two very different collections of autobiographical stories are Gladys Ward's memories of growing up on a German mission in Western Australia Unna you fullas, and David Sedaris' hilarious and quirky memories of his family and friends in Dress your family in corduroy and denim.

A book to appeal to our crime enthusiast Lyn Baines is The reason why : an anthology of the murderous mind edited by Ruth Rendell, including poetry, excerpts from plays and novels, and letters, which throw light on the character and motivation of the murderer. As Rendell puts it "Murder itself is not interesting. It is the impetus to murder , the passions and terrors which (inspire) compulsive fascination." I also found Stories by Elizabeth Jolley, which is a compilation of all her short stories, and The collected essays, journalism and letters of George Orwell, which includes some very interesting articles he wrote during the Second World War.

In short, there is plenty on the shelves for helping pass the time on a train trip, or for those times when you know you can only indulge in a 15 minute read. Last but not least are compilations of winning stories from the Eastern Regional Libraries National Story Writing Competition. There is some good reading there, and also, for writers of short stories some useful information from the judges about how they select the winners.
---- Lesley

Cheers, Maryanne

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Changes to library charges

As part of the annual review of library charges & standardisation of charges amongst libraries in the Swift Consortia the Library Board has approved the following changes.

Reservations will be free of charge. There will still be a search fee for some Interlibrary Loan materials - materials not available from all the free public libraries.

There will be one charge for overdue items - 25c per day per item (for both adult and junior material). The maximum amount on items will remain at $10 for adult items and $5 for junior items.

These changes will start from 1st October 2007.

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 last week's show

Lyn Baines was with us again, very smart in fedora and trench coat, over a fetching Elizabethan doublet and hose. We began with a reprise of our last conversation in which we compared crime novelists who maintained interest in their characters over many years, with those who were not aging so gracefully. Today Lyn had three new novels by authors who's characters have stood the test of time. Elizabeth George brings us Inspector Linley in With no-one as witness, a suspenseful novel of murders which highlight institionalised racism. Lyn appreciates Elizabeth George's writing for keeping abreast of current issues and allowing her main characters to develop and grow over time. Another popular crime novelist, Ruth Rendell, has a new title out too. Not in the flesh with Inspectors Wexford and Burden, deals with murders and missing persons going back 10 years or more. The detective skills of Kingsmarkham Police Force are tested to the utmost. And thirdly, an author whose detective stories weren't well known until the tenth in the series won a prize. Inspector Banks is the hero of novels by Peter Robinson, set in the beautiful Dales region of England. In Friend of the devil, two very different and bizarre murders create an atmosphere of tension in which it is possible that two murderers may strike again.

As an antidote to these, a very 'cosy' murder mystery by Lis Howell, the first in a series to come, The flower arranger at All Saints. We are introduced to a typically picturesque English village with eccentric characters and a flower arranger done to death, in the church.

In complete contrast, two books dealing with Shakespeare coming from very different perspectives, and both highly readable. Germaine Greer in her inimitable way is challenging established perceptions of Anne Hathaway in Shakespeare's wife, and in Shakespeare by Bill Bryson, we have a very informative, amusing overview of Shakespeare's life and work, the controversies and contemporary culture.

Cheers, Maryanne

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Catalogue interruption

The library catalogue will be unavailable from 6pm Saturday 8th September - Sunday morning due to the relocation of servers at the hosted centre. We anticipate that the service will be available Sunday morning.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

Cheers, Maryanne

Living a sustainable life

We've got two talks next week on sustainable living.

The Basin/Boronia Sustainable Living Group & Boronia Library
Vivienne Benton will share her ideas and experiences in self sufficiency.

When: Friday 14th September 10am-12noon
Where: The Basin Community House, 1221 Mountain Hwy, The Basin.

Enquiries and Bookings: 9761 0209


Library Growers and Weeders
Author of the little things diary Andrew Cooper will talk about sustainable living. Bookings essential

When: Friday 14th September 2pm
Where: Mooroolbark Library, 7 Station Street, Mooroolbark
Bookings Essential Ph 9726 8200

Cheers, Maryanne

Knox Library giant booksale

Grab a bargain at Knox Library next week.

When: Thursday 13th September 10am
Where: Knox Library 425 Burwood Highway Wantirna South Ph: 9801 1422

Cheers, Maryanne

Reading Cafe - Meet John Harms

John Harms is a well known media personality whose first three books celebrated variously cricket, horse racing and football. John has written extensively for sports journals and newspapers and is a regular contributor to The Age. Familiar to viewers of the ABC Outsiders program with his entertaining in Harm's Way segment, John is a sought after public speaker. His latest book is The Pearl: Steve Renouf's Story.

When: Monday 10th September 12:30pm
Where: Lilydale Library, Anderson Street, Lilydale
Cost: $7.50 includes lunch
Bookings essential Ph: 9294 3120. Books available for sale and signing.

Cheers, Maryanne