Summer Reading Club Presentation


On Wednesday 16th February over 30 kids and Teens attended the Summer and Teen Reading Clubs Presentation at Sutherland Library. Councillor Margaret Hargrave and Graham Hill, President of the Tradies presented the prizes to our lucky draw winners. Our winners received prizes such as vouchers, books and stationary.

Our major prize winners were also announced on the day. Our 0-4 year old winner received a bag of goodies, our 5-8 year old winner a digital camera, our 9-12 year old and teen winners both received an IPod touch. Congratulations to all.

1,208 kids took part in the Summer Reading Club reading a total of 15,165 books!

100 teens took part in the Teen Reading Club reading a total 781 books!

A big thank you to major sponsor: The Tradies
and our other sponsors:
  • Sutherland Shire Leisure Centres
  • AES Library Supplies
  • Bloomin' Books Caringbah
  • Sydney Tramway Museum
  • Hazelhurst Regional Gallery
  • Australian National Maritime Museum
  • Child's Play Australia
Sutherland Shire Libraries hold a a range of fun Kids activities every school holidays. Keep an eye on our events calendar to find out what's coming up.

Carter's Price Guide to Antiques

Carter's Price Guides to Antiques and Collectables
The Library now subscribes to Carter's Price Guide to Antiques. Formally available in hard copy, the 2011 edition is now published online only. It contains over 85000 items dating from 1500BC to the present.

Remember that McDonalds Snoopy toy you got when you were a Kid?
Well, now you can find out how much it's worth using this fascinating database. Each item entry includes a professional photograph, an expert's description and the current price range for similar items. You can search the database by category, keyword or dealer and refine the search by manufacturer, date of manufacture, size, shape etc. You can also view an alphabetical index of all items. Once you find the item you're looking for, you can email the record to yourself or share it via social networking sites such as Facebook.

So have a look around this great site and take a trip down memory lane. Even if you don't own antiques, you'll love the wide range of vintage products including barbie dolls, jewellery, furntiure, Star Wars figurines, stamps, coins and ancient antiquities.

You can access this database from any Sutherland Shire Library PC (excluding Bundeena).

Library Lovers Day Raffle Winner - Sylvania Library

Dianne (right), our lucky draw winner at Sylvania, received her beautiful hamper from Lynette on Saturday morning!

Census 2011 needs workers

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) requires 43,000 people from the community to help count our nation.
They are currently recruiting Area Managers and will soon be calling for expressions of interest from Census Collectors. Local people are wanted.
If you wish to find out more about the upcoming Census positions go to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Website and register your interest.
Statistics from the census are necessary for communities, private institutions and all levels of government when planning infrastructure, community services and facilities in your area. Federal funding arrangements to the states and territories, including allocation of GST revenue, are also based on Census information.
You can use them too. For statistics specifically packaged for Sutherland Shire, view the Sutherland Shire Council Community Profile on Council's website. It offers a topic and/or suburb view from the last census in 2006.

Library Lovers' Day Engadine Raffle Winner

Romance was in the air at Engadine Library on Library Lovers' Day.  Pictured left is our very excited  raffle winner being presented with her Library Lovers' Day hamper.

MOVIE LOVERS UNITE

It’s Oscars time and an enthusiastic group of movie buffs met at Engadine Library on Tuesday, February 15 for the premiere gathering of our Film Discussion Group.

The film screened was “
Evelyn”, a David and Goliath story set in 1950’s Ireland, a cross between “Angela’s Ashes” and “The Castle”.

After viewing the film, a lively discussion followed over a reviving cup of tea or coffee.
Keeping the movie under wraps until the day only seemed to heighten the anticipation, and a great time was had by all.
If you are over 18 and would like join us for the next screening please ring Engadine library and book your seat.

Next Date : Tuesday 15 March 9.30-12.00
Engadine Library, 116E Caldarra Ave, Engadine
Phone 9548 6003 (bookings essential)

What's not to Love?

To celebrate library lovers day, now is the time to share the love and remind ourselves why librarians are so loved.
Librarians:
· Celebrate- anything and everything, from birthdays to book week.
They are:
· Charming- Have you ever had a library fine? If so, you know librarians can indeed be charming under adverse circumstances.
· Chic- The stereotypical librarian with a bun, peering over glasses perched half way down her nose, does not exist in the library service.
· Chatty- There’s no ssshing going on here either!
· Cheerful- Librarians love libraries, and what they do, so of course they are cheerful.
· Clever- Not only do librarians have library science (as well as other) qualifications, but they are very useful to have on your team at trivia nights.
· Collaborators- Librarians are great team players and love to create partnerships with other community groups.
· Committed- to great customer service, finding customers the books of their dreams, and chocolate.
· Communicators– Sutherland shire library staff are at the cutting edge of social networking- blogging, texting, contributing to wikis, our very own facebook page (and hopefully twitter in the near future).
· Competive- Librarians compete very successfully with their arch nemesis the Internet! Library content is current, correct and of high quality.
· Computer literate- a.k.a. nerds.
· Connected- if you’ve ever needed an interlibrary loan, you’ll know just how well connected this library service is to other library services.
· Contemporary- Librarians provide access to all the very latest information and entertainment.
· Contributors- to the community by creating cool programs, activities and services for all our customers.
· Co-ordinated- Our library service now has a Co-ordinator of Community Programs - welcome Jess!
· Correct, (politically that is), Librarians offer access, equity and advocate freedom of information.
· Crazy- you may think so after attending a book week presentation!
· Creative- If you’ve ever participated in creating craft for a story time you know what I mean.
· Cultured- well, at least well read.
· Curious- about all sorts of things, librarians just love information- it is, after all, their business.
· Current- Librarians are information brokers who offer up to date information in a wide variety of formats, both digital and print (they are also competent at retrieving this information).
· Customers- Librarians too, are customers. They all have library cards that are in constant use, but, although we all know librarians love books, they certainly don’t sit around all day reading them!
- Monique

Proquest Research database gets a makeover!


Proquest, one of our most popular research databases, has had a makeover and is easier to use than ever before!

You can still search for information using basic or advanced search -  only now Proquest will suggest keywords as you type - just like Google!

You can now personalise your experience by creating a My Research account. This allows you to save results in a virtual folder, set up alerts and RSS feeds for specified searches, tag articles and share your research with the community. This is great for students or anyone working on a research project.

You can also search within a specific subject area. Current available subjects include: arts, film & music, business, general research, health & medicine, history, literature, news, science & technology, social science and student resources.

The results screen has been revamped as well. You can now hover the mouse over an icon to view a preview of the articles. You can also narrow your search by date range and publication type. If English isn't your primary language, you can have the full text machine-translated in up to 13 languages. Proquest also provides suggested related articles making research that much easier.

There's a lot more to discover so check out the new-look Proquest today for new and improved research. Proquest can be accessed from home or in the Library with a valid Sutherland Shire Libraries card.

Meet Up Group for Immigrants in the Sutherland Shire

A new community group has recently started up at the Sutherland Library for people who have either recently immigrated to Australia or who are interested in meeting other immigrants in the area.

It's an informal group and all are welcome to attend. It would be a chance to chat, meet people and practice speaking English if not too familiar with the language and generally swap stories and tips about moving to a new home.


When:
First Friday of each month,

5.30 to 6.30 pm, the next meeting will be held March 4, 2011.

Where:
Meeting room at Sutherland Library

30-36 Belmont St, Sutherland.

If you have any interest or know of anyone who might be interested in this group please call Annalie Snyman on 9520 5638.

Love is in the air!

Love is in the air!
To celebrate Library lovers day on 14th February, why not snuggle up with a romance novel from the library. While for many people romance conjures up images of a broad chested hero sweeping a clinging, swooning female off her feet, in reality there are many subgenres of romance novels to set any heart fluttering. So open your heart and try a romance, as you never know, your perfect match may well be in one of these lists.
Classic romances- for the romantic at heart, and those who want to read a truly romantic tale.
Historical romances have a historical setting (generally before World War II) and are often rich in historical detail. This enhances the story, providing an element of realism. They remind us romance and love have been present throughout the ages.
Paranormal romance involves an element of unreality, whether it be ghosts, vampires, time travel or reincarnation. They prove that love transcends all barriers.
Other subgenres include Contemporary romance and Romantic suspense. These titles are for those who would like to read something set in modern times, with romantic suspense books combining a mystery or thriller story along with the romance. These books show us that even today, even under adverse conditions, romance is still alive and flourishing.

Some other romance authors to consider include:
Balogh, Mary
Banks, Leanne
Beverley, Jo
Brockway, Connie

Campbell, Anna
Coulter, Catherine
Macomber, Debbie
McNaught, Judith
Quick, Amanda
So please don’t leave our romance books on the shelf, unopened and lonely, make a date with one of these lovely books. Happy endings mean new beginnings, so this might just be the start of a lifelong love affair… with romance.

Summer Reading Club: Wow! What a great result!


Congratulations to the 1208 shire children who registered for our Summer Reading Club over the Christmas-January school holidays. You read a combined 15, 165 books! Fantastic!!!

At the end of the program we have a variety of prizes to award to some of our "busy" readers : books and vouchers donated by our sponsors. In addition, we have three lucky children who won a major prize. All prize winners will be contacted by phone and invited to a presentation afternoon with Councillor Margaret Hargrave and the President of the "Tradies", our major sponsor, Graham Hill.

This program would not be possible without the generosity of all our sponsors : Tradies, Sutherland Shire Leisure Centres, AES Library Supplies, Australian National Maritime Museum, Bloomin' Books, Caringbah, Child's Play Australia, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Sydney Tramway Museum.

Learn a language online for free!

Interested in learning a new language this year?

Well now you can with Mango Languages - a new online language learning resource. Mango is free of charge to all Sutherland Shire Library members and is available to use from the comfort of your home. There are two types of courses available:

Mango Basic teaches everyday greetings, basic conversation and helpful phrases in just 2-5 hours. It's great for travellers needing last minute language lessons.

Mango Complete offers a 100-lesson course that digs much deeper into the language and culture, teaching practical grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary.

Members can create an account and work through the lessons at their own pace. There is also a translation service and modules for those learning English as a second language.

Languages currently available include Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dari, Dutch, Farsi, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norweigian, Pashto, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Slovak, Tagalog, Tamil, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu and Vietnamese.

So enjoy learning a new language or two with this fun, interactive online resource.

Happy Chinese New Year 2011

The Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year or Spring festival, starts with the new moon on the first day of the Chinese Lunar calendar, and ends fifteen days later. It is regarded as one of the most important holidays on the Chinese calendar, and is celebrated across the world in many countries, including Australia. This year is the Year of the Rabbit and it starts on 3rd February. According to Chinese astrology, 2011 is the year to slow down, calm your nerves and catch your breath, this being a quieter year than 2010, which was the ferocious year of the Tiger. Hopefully this means you have more time to relax and read! (Particularly as, according to Chinese tradition, you should not be doing any housecleaning through out this celebration, as this may cause you to accidently throw out the good fortune brought in by the New Year). So with this extra time available, here’s a list of Chinese authors you might like to try.
Chang, Jung. “Wild swans: Three daughters of China”, “Mao, the unknown story”
Chua, Amy "Battle hymn of the tiger mother" and others...
Chung Martin, Helene. “Ching chong china girl: From fruit shop to foreign correspondent.” (Biography) "Lazy man in China"
Gao, Xingjian. “One man’s Bible” (Noble prize winner 2000.) "The case for literature" "Soul mountain"
Guo, Xiaolu. “UFO in her eyes” "20 fragments of a ravenous youth" "A concise Chinese-English dictionary for lovers" "Lovers in an age of indifference"
Hong, Ying. “ Daughter of the river: an autobiography.” “The concubine of Shanghai”
Jian, Ma. “Stick out your tongue” "Beijing coma"
Jin, Ha. “The bridegroom: stories”
Lee, Janice Y.K. “The piano teacher"
Li, Cunxin. “Mao’s last dancer”
Liang, Diane Wei. “ The eye of jade” Paper butterfly" "The lake with no name: a true story of love and conflict in modern China"
Min, Anchee. “Empress Orchid”, “The last empress” "Pearl of China"
Mo, Yan. “Red sorgum” “Big breasts and wide hips”
Ouyang, Yu. “The English class” "The Eastern slope chronicle" and more...
Rong, Jiang. “Wolf totem”
See, Lisa. “Dragon Bones” “Snow flower and the secret fan” and more...
Su, Tong. “Raise the red lantern: Three novellas” “My life as emperor”
Tan, Amy. “The bone setters daughter” “The kitchen Gods wife” “The joy luck club” and others...
Wong, Jan. “Red China blues: My long march from Mao to now” "Beijing confidential"
Wu, Fan.(1923-) "February flowers"
Wu Fan (1973-) "Beautiful as yesterday"
Xinran. “Miss chopsticks” China witness:voices from a silent generation" and more...
Yen Mah, Adeline. Author of Chinese Cinderella series and “Falling leaves” and more…

Another tradition of the Chinese New Year you may like to celebrate is cooking and eating with the family. Why not whip up a Chinese dish to celebrate? The library has heaps of Chinese cookbooks (found under 641.5951) with delicious recipe ideas available. Do you know which of the twelve animals in Chinese astrology represent your year of birth? It is believed that you take on the characteristics of the animal representing your year of birth, see if you agree! Perhaps you have always yearned to travel to China. The library has a great selection of travel guides you can check out to help you plan a trip- maybe in time for 2012 Year of the Dragon celebrations.

Gung Hei Fat Choy,
Monique

Library Lovers Day

Valentines Day is a time to spend with that special someone in your life. You could share a romantic dinner, walk hand in hand along the beach or  . . .

Give that special someone the flick and love your Library instead.

That's right, February 14th is Library Lovers Day and to celebrate, Sutherland Shire Libraries will be decked out with fabulous displays on authors we love and play host to events that celebrate loving your Library. Here's some of whats on:

Elisabeth Storrs - Author Talk

Sydney author Elisabeth Storrs will be giving a free talk on her debut novel. The Wedding Shroud is a beautifully written and thoroughly researched novel on love, life and ancient culture in Italy.

Elisabeth Storrs has long had a passion for history, myths and legends of the ancient world. She graduated from the University of Sydney majoring in Arts (English) / Law and currently lives with her husband and two sons. The Wedding Shroud was researched and written over a period of 10 years. Elisabeth was inspired to write the novel after finding a photo of a 6th Century BC sarcophagus of a husband and wife. The image of the lovers remained with her prompting her to ponder questions about ancient cultural views of women, sensuality and fidelity. Discovering the answers to these questions led her to the decadent and mystical Etruscan civilisation and the little known story of war between Rome and Veii.

When: Monday 14th February 10.30am - 11.30am
Where: Cronulla Library
Cost: Free!
RSVP: Call 9523 4980

Introduction to Romance Writing

Unleash your inner Romeo and Juliet with the help of talented authors Annie West and Cathleen Ross in this exciting and intriguing romance writing workshop. Bring along a pen, notepad and an amorous imagination.  The workshop will cover:
  • What is a romance?
  • Constructing a hero? Participants can suggest what makes the 'perfect man'
  • Conflict in romance
  • How to start a romance novel - the importance of the hook
  • Participants will write a hook for a romance novel and gain feedback from other participants
Afternoon tea will be provided and bookings are essential, so secure your spot today.

When: Monday 14th February 2pm - 3.30pm
Where: Miranda Library
Cost: $5.00 (sorry no refunds)
Bookings: Call 9524 8217

Library Lovers Day Raffle

To celebrate this fun filled day, all Sutherland Shire Libraries will be holding a free raffle. You can win a great gift basket to share with your loved one . . . or keep it all to yourself. To enter the draw just fill out a ticket at any Sutherland Shire Library. Winners will be drawn on Monday February 14th. Good luck!

So now there's no excuse to stay home on Valentines Day. Come to the Library, get inspired and discover a new love.

Happy Library Lovers Day!

Safer Internet Day 2011

February 8th is Safer Internet Day.  The theme of this annual event is It's more than a game, it's your life.  This year's theme will be used to promote safer and more responsible use by children and teens when using social networking sites and will highlight the importance of protecting privacy and other related issues.
The libraries all hold information pamphlets on cyber safety topics including:
  • Cybersmart guide for families
  • Dealing with Offensive Content
  • Guide to Online Safety
  • Mobile Phone Safety
  • Sexting
  • Cyber Bullying
Keep your family safe and be cyber[smart:].