National Diabetes Week

Alison getting her blood pressure tested
During National Diabetes Week, 13th - 19th July 2008, Sutherland Library will be having 2 Information sessions plus Free Blood Glucose Testing. Visit the Library and find out if you are at risk

Exercise and Diabetes: Monday 14th July 11am - 11.30am
Janet Evans: Physiotherapist

Eating to reduce the risk of Diabetes: Tuesday 15th July 11am - 11.30am
Angela Langton: Dietician

Free Blood Glucose Testing
Kareena Private Hospital/Diabetes Australia will be conducting free blood glucose tests at Sutherland Library 10am - 12noon Monday 14th, Tuesday 15th and Wednesday 16th July 2008.

Sutherland Shire Libraries also have a wide range of information to support people living with or at risk of Diabetes. For example:

The Reverse Diabetes book: control your blood sugar, repair insulin function and minimise your medication within weeks
by Neal Barnard.
Dr Bernstein's diabetes solution: the complete guide to achieving normal blood sugars by Richard Bernstein.
Downsize me: how to fight diabetes and a heart attack by Michael Smith.


National Diabetes Week will be targeting the entire Australian community. Diabetes is the fastest growing non-infectious disease in the world. For every person who has diabetes there is another person who has it and doesn’t know.

Diabetes is a serious health condition. There is no cure. If left untreated it can cause heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, blindness, amputation, and erectile dysfunction. If diagnosed early, diabetes can be effectively managed and the risk of serious health problems greatly reduced.

Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes, can be successfully managed or even prevented by maintaining a healthy weight, engaging in regular physical activity and having healthy eating patterns.

See the Travelling Pants @ Sutherland Library

Sisterhood of the Traveling PantsSutherland Library has been lucky enough to be chosen as the only library in Australia to host the International Travelling Pants. The pants' journey started in January 2007 from Santa Cruz USA and the jeans have travelled around the USA and Canada, the last stop being Sutherland, Sydney, Australia. The idea comes from the popular book and film The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. The story is about four friends who share a pair of jeans. Even though the girls are different shapes and sizes, the jeans fit them all. There are rules - We, the Sisterhood, hereby instate the following rules to govern the use of the Travelling Pants... The first rule being, You must never wash the pants.

The international Travelling Pants will be on display at Sutherland Library from Tuesday 1st July until Wednesday 9th July, they will then be sent back to Santa Cruz where the journey started.

In conjunction with the exhibition, Sutherland Library is conducting a holiday activity on Wednesday 9th July between 10.30am-12.00noon. Come along with a friend and wear your favourite jeans! Help decorate the pants before they have to travel back to the USA. Make a travelling pants diary and enjoy The Sisterhood trivia. For bookings ring 9710 0178

Would You Pay for Library Services?

Last Friday The Book Show on Radio National broadcast a program that examined the role of public libraries in a climate of shrinking state government funding. The program, entitled The Future of Public Libraries, explored the idea that,
Public libraries in New South Wales have threatened to charge for services if they don't get more funding. Library users continually say they want more books and more book-based programs, but would a fee-for-service be too high a price to pay for improved resources?
You can listen to the whole program on the Book Show web site, however, the conclusions drawn were that,
The majority view has been that libraries are an incredibly valuable community resource, that they deserve better treatment from government - and that forcing library users to pay for services would be a retrograde step.
We think we provide a valuable community service and we'd love to be able to provide all our services for free but in this environment of ever decreasing funding we'd love to know where our community think we should be focusing our attention and budget.

What services should remain untouched? Are there things we should be doing that we aren't? Are there any services libraries provide for which a charge would be acceptable?

Let me make this clear - we are not proposing to charge for services that we currently provide for free. Indeed the 2008/2009 schedule of fees and charges has been sent to Council and will soon be available on the Sutherland Shire Council web site.

Rather, we want YOU to tell US what you think a public library should provide for the community. Leave your reaction and have your say.

Harmony Exhibition

 Sutherland Library will be hosting a display of the winning entries of the annual Harmony Day poster competition.

Harmony Day is about bringing people together to celebrate Australia's community harmony, participation and cultural diversity.
The annual poster competition attracted entries from over 4000 NSW & ACT primary and high school students.

The winning entries will be on display at Sutherland Library
16th - 27th June

Have a sneak preview at http://www.movingforwardtogether.com.au/2008.htm

Criminal activity at Sutherland Library

On the Run: Daring Convict Escapes

Come to Sutherland Library to experience this must see exhibition
20th June to 10th July

Mary Bryant’s story unfolds with her arrival on the First Fleet – she was sentenced for seven years in 1788 for assaulting a spinster and stealing a silk bonnet. Her tale of survival follows a harrowing 10 week journey at sea with her two children, husband and seven other convicts aboard a stolen boat less than 20 feet long, with no space to spare and no shelter. Posing as survivors from a shipwreck, the escapees landed safely in Timor but freedom was short lived and they were sent back to England – a journey that cost the lives of her family. Mary was imprisoned and faced execution - but was spared and finally freed.

Other highlights of the exhibition include:
  • The story of Alexander Pearce, the infamous cannibal
  • Relive the seizure of the Cyprus with William Swallow at the helm and the hazardous journey from Australia back to Old England; and
  • View the dark side of convict life with punishments including flogging, hanging and restraint with leg irons

Menai Library Gets Creative in Library Week

Library Week is over for another year but not before Menai Library's guests lapped up some special treats.

Menai Library launched a pre-emptive strike on Library Week 2008 with its library promotions display in Menai Marketplace on Friday May 16. We received a multitude of enquiries throughout the day, ranging from Preschool storytime, Rhymetime, foreign language courses and HSC resources to the location of Menai library and it's history in the area. We met one person who had lived in the area for 30 years and did not know that Menail branch library existed! Historical photographs of the area around the Alfords Point bridge showing the old Lugarno ferry allowed a number of older residents to reminisce about their childhood days. A walkthrough by Bookatoo entertained the younger generation, and those game enough for a cuddle received a balloon. As a result of the contacts made on the day, there has been an influx of new registrations and new faces at Preschool storytime.

We celebrated with lots of events including National Simultaneous Storytime, What's Under Wraps and fancy dress fairy storytimes. We raffled a hamper of delights and even offered our visitors morning tea (with marshmallows and bickies!). The highlight of our week though was undoubtedly a scrapbooking demonstration by Lisa Mossman from Creative Memories.


All participants genuinely welcomed the opportunity to attend the workshop and believed they had gained useful scrapbooking skills by the end of the session. There was a lucky door prize, won by a gentleman who was very surprised to 'win anything at all'. Follow up phone calls provided positive feedback from other interested people. The Library's collection boasts a number of books on Scrapbooking techniques. Check them out for yourself next time you visit. Ask us if you need help locating them - our staff are always willing to help. Scrapbooking enthusiasts might also wish to note our Digital Photography and the Internet course. It could prove to be very useful.

To everyone who visited us during Library Week we hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did and we thank you for celebrating with us. See you soon,
Menai Library staff.

Pirates Attack @ Engadine Library

There was a very 'piratey' feel to the Library Week celebrations at Engadine Library.

Our special Pirate themed storytimes for children were a big success with more than forty children attending. Children visitng the library were also encouraged to borrow a mystery book from our pirate ship display. Anyone brave enough to borrow a book from the pirate ship got a free pirate sticker. We also held a competition in which children had to guess the number of chocolate coins in a jar. The winning guess of 169 was only one coin off the exact number of 168. Happy eating to the winner!

Our adult visitors weren't left out. We held a treasure hunt that involved people looking around the library for the answers to questions about the history of Engadine. We had two winners who each received a brand new book.

Everyone who borrowed a book during the week entered the draw for a hamper of goodies, National Simultaneous Storytime was held on Wednesday and we also unveiled a pile of new books as part of What's Under Wraps.

It was a busy week but it was great fun. Thank you to all who helped us celebrate Library Week at Engadine Library and we hope to see you back soon.

Michael.

The Journey of Paper Cranes

On Wednesday 21st May Sutherland Library hosted an inspirational talk by Cheryl Koenig, author of Paper Cranes. The audience heard how a single tragic event took Cheryl's family on a journey which began with heartbreaking despair, led them through dark tunnels of sorrow, over major potholes of indecision and through crossroads of anger and resentment. The family were ultimately guided to a very special place - a place of understanding, a place of self discovery and a place of healing.

Paper Cranes: a mother's story of hope, courage and determination is a very moving account of a mother's love and deternimation to regain her son.

Sylvania Library Unwrapped during Library Week

What's under wraps at Sylvania LibraryDuring Library week Sylvania Library unwrapped a whole bunch of new books for our users. We set up the display two and a half weeks before the big unveiling and it created a lot of curiosity and interest. For the big moment 12 people were present and each went away with several exciting finds. Throughout Saturday morning the pile dwindled - in fact it was the busiest Saturday for a while.

Our hamper raffle was drawn the following Monday, and the lucky winner was a lady who has been using Sylvania Branch since Boomerang Hall days - easily 26 years. All in all a successful Library Week.

Thanks to all who visited us during Library Week,
Sylvania Library team.