The Mayor's Column
Beware of looking at Mosman Council’s Library website! It’s hard to get away!
There is so much happening and so many services offered, that you find yourself unable to resist delving into one more thing and then another. It’s addictive.
Most people are aware of the great children’s services available at the Library. The kids are there in droves, borrowing books, joining the clubs, listening to story time, and doing homework.
But there are new and exciting services for adults too.
The wintertime Adult Reading programme encourages you to curl up with a good book and write a review to enter the weekly prize draw. Review forms are available at the Library or on line. The only thing better than reading a book is to share it and hear other opinions, made possible through joining the Book Club, which meets on the first Tuesday of the month at 2.30 pm.
If you are housebound volunteers will deliver your books through the Home Library Service. There are large print books, talking books and the Mosman Lions Club has donated digital audio players that hold up to five books at a time. For those who are learning English, there is a literacy collection of book/CD kits and graded novels.
A selection of the popular ‘Authors at the Library’ events are video streamed so that they can be enjoyed after the event.
I especially love the Local Studies information with images and stories about our community. The Oral History Collection gives us the opportunity to actually hear people’s stories in their own words, such a valuable wealth of material for now and future generations. You might be interested in contacting the Library to add your story. Discover how to research the history of your home as well as your family’s genealogy.
The Library also has some wonderful online resources. Good Reading on line has a wide variety of interesting information on everything about books, including reviews. Arrow Discovery Service is a tool provided by the National Library of Australia to give instant access to scholarly resources for students, academics and members of the public. If you missed something in the Sydney Morning Herald, you can look up any page, article, photo, crossword or cartoon since January 2006.
Libraries continue to be the repository of books. There is no greater joy than holding a book and being transported by your own imagination. Books are here to stay.
But the Internet is an important additional source of information. The Library provides public access Internet, wireless access and Internet training.
Visit our Library website for information on all these services and more. But beware of getting hooked!
Cr Denise Wilton, Mayor of Mosman
