Storytime

February 14th is a day to celebrate. I'm not talking soppy sentimental cards and last minute dash to the florist or petrol station for a bunch of sad flowers...but.....LIBRARY LOVERS' DAY. Time to celebrate ALL the reasons why we love our libraries. I've spent this week getting some really intense feedback on why some of our patrons love the library. The fact that all of these patrons were under the age of five is irrelevant...they have legitimate reasons why the library is the place to be. Go Sophia! And of course libraries have moved on from simply having print books, we have audio and e-books and e-audio. We have magazines, both in print and online. Non-fiction, biography, graphic novels, manga, genres, newspapers, books in other languages.... Yes, we are a definite base of learning. Both in person with a huge variety of workshops, seminars and classes being held, weekly or monthly. Everything from yoga to gardening, digital education and making preser...

I'm one of those people that will  have to read, every day. It is part of the going to bed ritual, I have to read. If I don't, I feel that my day isn't complete. Something is missing. At a restaurant I'm one of those that will read all the signage, the menu again and the specials board at least a few times (just in case I missed something that first time). I will read the back of the muesli packet, the side of the biscuit box. I will read junk mail and signage of all descriptions. Working in a library means I have access to so many books. At times it's a bit of overkill. So many books, so little time..what to read next? And the more people I meet in the library the more I realise that reading isn't for everyone. That a lot of people struggle with it...and one of the joys of my job is to find something that will work for them. The other day a man came in, toting his eleven year old son. Marched up to the desk with 'we need to find him a book. He d...

Yes. Once again the school holidays are done and dusted. Once again we were busy--crazy busy. (which of course is excellent for the library, just hard physically...and mentally... on those that work there). So many people came to borrow, to read, to take home DVD's, to play console games. Dare I talk about console games? Lovely sunny days, warm days, and the console games were booked solid from morning to night. And at any mention of 'it's a beautiful day out there, wouldn't you rather be playing in it?' ...was met with a blank stare. From children...and their parents. What was encouraging were the numbers of children borrowing books. Lots of books ...piles of books...bags of books. Simply to get them through the next few weeks. Great sight. It was also nice to see everyone's creativity with the school holiday program. There were budding pirates complete with parrots---big machines, diggers and tractors, being created---live entertainment with st...

Must admit to a bit of bias...I think libraries are great places. All those books, free to take home. Row after row of them, all lined up in easy to navigate order. What more could a person want? And libraries today have changed dramatically since the days of the frowning spinsterish badly-dressed older woman telling everyone to shhhhhhhhhh! Today they are a vital part of the community....in some cases they become the hub of the community. Whether you use a library to borrow books, CD's or DVD's (cheaper than the video store), to do research, use a computer or game station, a quiet place to study or even to sit down and catch up with the paper...it's all good. And if you thought working in a library only meant dealing out books, here are some of the things I've done over the past few years * Read blurbs to the visually impaired to help them decide which ones they would like * Found the local pound *Using the Melways to find not only local addresses - but how ...

At work last week a patron came to the desk, frustrated because the catalogue told her the book she was after was on shelf but she couldn't find it. Quick glance at the catalogue and I found the book she was after, in the YA section. No, don't want it, she said. I checked the title and author. This was the book she was after. She refused, saying she wouldn't read a kid's book. Frankly I was surprised. Especially after Stephenie Meyer's success with the Twilight series- that has people from all ages reading her books. ( I remember one elderly lady requesting Twilight saying her grand- daughter recommended the book ). The same happened with the Harry Potter series, some books catalogued in the children's area, the later, darker ones in the young adult area- and how many adults read those?  I really thought that the whole 'young adult is just for kids' attitude was well over. I read a lot (one of the joys of working in a library) - and I don'...

By day I work part time in a public library (Youth Services where I run a weekly Storytime), I write by night. Well that was the original idea....By day earning a dollar, being surrounded by people (see material for my work), allowing my day/s off to be used for my writing. However did I mention I'm very good at procrastination. I would seemingly rather mop floors, vacuum, dust, put a load of washing on and even clean the oven - then face the cold blank space of my computer screen. And today I scoured my en-suite- I think this is due to a friend's influence who is spring cleaning her house ready for a sale. I'm not selling my house but I appear to be infected by the spring cleaning bug :( However I do write. The guilt of not writing builds, as well as the urge to create. And with the support of family, friends and my writing group (Lazy River Writers) I do manage to put words down, to try and pin down those whirling thoughts, to make sense of what I'm thinking. ...