Sutherland Shire Libraries News

'In the early 1980s the experience of making prints became a passion for me.'

The display of Sharon Langhan's prints at Sutherland Library showcase various printmaking techniques. Sharon's underlying influence for her choice of subject of her prints is the natural beauty of Sutherland Shire's beaches and waterways.

A selection of Sharon's prints are on display during July and August so come along and see them on the Southern Lounge Wall of Art at the rear of the library. You won't be disappointed.

Interested in finding out what's been in the news about the law? Are you studying HSC Legal Studies and need help identifying recent legal issues?
The Legal Information Access Centre (LIAC) at the State Library of NSW have created a news watch service to help you find information about recent changes to the law, recent cases and new legislation.

Due to the overwhelming popularity of our series of HSC Lectures we have squeezed in another one before the end of term.

On 7 July former Shire resident and school teacher Bernie Howitt will be giving Society and Culture students advice about finishing your PIP (Personal Interest Project) and preparing for the HSC.

Bernie Howitt is a co author of the Heinemann Society and Culture text, an experienced head teacher, senior marker, lecturer, rock historian and writer. In addition Bernie was part of the team that wrote the current Society and Culture syllabus.

Bookings are essential. These HSC lectures have proven extremely popular so check out the Events Calendar for the full details and reserve your place ASAP.

You might also want to snap up one of the last few places remaining in the Legal Studies talk being held this Thursday, 25 June.

You can now play OverDrive WMA (Windows Media Audio) audiobooks from Sutherland Shire Libraries Digital Downloads on your iPod. Until now iPod owners have been limited to mp3 format audio books from our Digital Downloads collection due to rights issues, which has meant that iPod owners have missed out on many of the best sellers and most popular audio books. (Typically mp3 files have been restricted to classics and out-of-copyright titles)

That has just changed!

Nearly all OverDrive WMA Audiobooks in our download collection are now compatible with the iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPod nano, as well as Zune and thousands of other portable devices.

To access this new functionality all you have to do is upgrade OverDrive Media Console to version 3.2 on Windows PCs.

There are a few requirements for transfering WMA audiobooks to Apple devices, which you can read about in the Overdrive Help.

OverDrive Media Console's enhanced Transfer Wizard will expand the largest selection of iPod-compatible audiobook titles for libraries by making the vast majority of existing audiobook titles playable on Apple devices.

Last night Tim Winton won an unprecedented 4th Miles Franklin award with his latest novel, Breath. I thought it was a nice touch when honouring the other books on the shortlist he suggested that he felt like 'the kid who's left holding the parcel when the music stops'.

While Tim Winton couldn't attend the announcement of the winner in person he did prepare a video acceptance speech.



It was interesting to note that Tim Winton used his acceptance speech to defend Australian authors territorial publishing rights in light of the Productivity Commission's review of Copyright Restrictions on the Parallel Importation of Books. This has become quite a hot topic in the Australian book industry as a quick blog search shows.

What about you? Do you have an opinion on this issue? Does the promise of cheaper books outweigh the potential for reduced opportunities for Australian authors to be published, as many authors and book industry professionals have argued?