Sutherland Shire Libraries News

Calling all Booklovers: How do you feel about Reading?

As part of Reader Week 2008 (1-8 September) many public libraries in NSW are encouraging their community to get involved in a project called Reading Around Our Region.

The idea is that you use the Motivator tool over at fd's flickr toys to create a poster that expresses how you feel about reading.

Upload the poster to Flickr, an online photo-sharing site, and add it to the Reading Around Our Region group (there are instructions on the group page). If you haven't ever used Flickr - it's really easy to join.

You can see my pathetic attempt above - I'm sure you can all do much better. So, get involved and let the world know how you feel about reading!

Books Alive 2008: Great Reads for Winter

Escape this winter with 50 great titles to read - handpicked by bookloving enthusiasts!

Books Alive 2008 is on again from July 27th until August 31st . Grab a brochure listing the recommended titles from you nearest Shire library from July 27 and start reading your way through the list.

Books Alive is an Australian Government initiative - http://www.booksalive.com.au/

Borrow a ‘Living Book’ at the Shire Community Living Library

A Living Library works like any other library. You borrow a book, read it, return it and borrow another. The difference is the ‘Books’ are people.

The Living Library, a program that originated in Denmark to quell racial violence, aims to promote acceptance and understanding across our diverse community.

Stereotypes are used to categorise others, but individuals are never a good fit with the labels given them. Here is an opportunity to challenge prejudices by meeting them in conversation.

People who live and work in the Shire will be waiting for someone to chat to about, what it’s like to be them! This is your chance to open a book at the page that interests you, and have your questions answered.

Have you ever wondered;
What is it like to start again in a new country?
Why people volunteer to work in India?
What is it like to live with a disability or degenerative condition?
How does a person cope with a life of war, violence and/or poverty?
What does it mean to live in faith?

These and many other questions could be answered. Register as a ‘Reader’ and enjoy up to 30 minutes seeing life from another person’s viewpoint!

This event has been organised with the help and support of Sutherland Shire Council Community Services, Gymea Community Aid & Information Services, Stapleton Street Community Centre and St.George & Sutherland Community College.

For further information telephone Sutherland Library on 9710 0351.

Boycott - Australia's controversial road to the 1980 Moscow Olympics - an evening with Lisa Forrest

Olympic fever is nearly upon us.

Swimming star Lisa Forrest was only 16 years old when she found herself at the centre of one of Australia' most significant sporting and political moments. After the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan in the last days of 1979, Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser asked the Australian Olympic Federation (AOF) to boycott the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. The AOF refused. By the time the Australian team marched into the Opening Ceremony under the Olympic Flag rather than our own, months of bitter politicking has split the nation.

An afternoon with Tony Park - author of thrillers set in southern Africa

Tony Park is a well known Australian author. He has previously worked as a newspaper reporter in Australia and England, a government press secretary, a public relations consultant, and a freelance writer.

Tony Park and his wife Nicola now divide their time between their home in Sydney and southern Africa, where they own a tent and a Land Rover.

Tony and Nicola first went to Africa as tourists in 1995 and they have traveled back there every year since. Tony spends six months of every year in Africa researching and writing his novels on location. Tony and Nicola spend much of their time in Africa camping in national parks amidst some amazing wildlife. They have some interesting tales to tell about their close encounters with the wildlife.

Come to Sutherland Library and hear Tony give you a taste of his latest thriller Silent Predator. In a luxury private safari lodge in Kruger National Park, Detective Sergeant Tom Furey has just woken to a protection officer's worst nightmare. The VIP in his charge, British Assistant Minister for Defence, Robert Greeves, has vanished. Furey vows not to stop searching until Greeves is found - dead or alive. This gripping thriller takes you on a dangerous mission through the outer limits of the National Park and to the coastal waters of Mozambique.

Tony is also the author of Far Horizon, Zambezi, African Sky, and Safari.
Unleashed Books Miranda will have books on sale and Tony will be available to sign your books.

Come to Sutherland Library on Tuesday 22nd July 2008 at 12.30 and hear this entertaining author.