24 January, 2012
Here at the State Library of WA we’ve started a Reading Wall in the Nook area near the south entrance of the Library. People can write a label to share their favourite quote from a book as part of the National Year of Reading 2012.
But what if you’d like to share online? Add a comment to this post and share your favourite quote from a book! (We’ll keep posting to encourage and you can click on the Reading Wall category to check on all the posts.)
24 January, 2012
Use Search and Rescue: the new touch screen, information kiosks, located near the library’s main doors. The kiosks are designed to help you find your way around the library when staff are busy at the Welcome Desk. We are interested in your feedback. Let us know what you think of them.
12 January, 2012
Visit the Love2Read Café this summer!
The Love2Read Café will be open from Saturday 21 January – Sunday 26 February, and is situated in the canopied area out the front of the State Library. It will be filled with brightly coloured chairs and tables, and book trolleys featuring a range of reading materials for all ages and interests. There will be a range of programs and events which are free, with no bookings required.
The launch event showcases author Adam Morris and his Murder Mouse Blues Band on Friday 20 January from 4.30 – 5.30pm, then author Andrew Relph will speak about his book, Not drowning, reading on Saturday 21 January from 3.30 – 4.30pm.
For additional events, please check the events page on the website – there are hints and tips about writing, a crafternoon for families, and every Saturday visitors to the café can Play with Words borrowing a variety of word games. On Sunday afternoons at 5.00pm, classic Australian films based on books will show on the big screen. People will be able to share a quote from their favourite book on the Reading Wall inside the library.
The Café is open from Monday – Thursday (10:00am – 7:30pm), Friday (10:00am – 5.00pm) and Saturday and Sunday (10:30am – 5.00pm).
Love2Read Café program brochures can be downloaded from the website, and collected at the State Library and in public libraries soon.
16 December, 2011
The State Library has approximately 90 wonderful people who volunteer for us. They partner with us in all sorts of ways, with all sorts of skills and are vital to the work of the State Library. Over the last year they have had many achievements and without them there is much that would not have been done.
In Collection Services, volunteers in the Liaison, Acquisition and Description teams processed and housed archival material, cleared 27 metres of ephemera, identified photos, created contents lists for Oral Histories, checked catalogues against items to be donated and assisted to make our collections more accessible to clients.
In Preservation and Maintenance volunteers cleaned and re-housed slides, made boxes for preserving materials, cross checked and matched scanned negatives and researched the history of photographs.
Volunteers in Community, Learning and Development were in The Place during story-time and school holidays, set up activities, keeping the noise to a soft roar and entertaining children.
Volunteers in Better Beginnings packed over 5000 packs for the birth to three years program as well as additional packs for the kindergarten pre-primary program. We could not have rolled out the program to libraries without their efforts. They also assisted with the packing of read aloud book sets and discovery backpacks for the Kindergarten pre-primary program.
Volunteers in Research and Discovery numbered and listed performance sets in score order, processed new donations and entered information onto spreadsheets.
Volunteers handed out information, were ushers and promoted future events at:
• WAAPA Concerts
• The Seniors’ Week Concert
• Wednesday Matinees, and
• The WA Week Concert
The Western Australian Genealogical Society volunteers have staffed the WAGS desk on the 1st floor and taken approximately 3 500 enquiries. They also provide invaluable support during Family History Week.
The State Library Foundation volunteer was integral part of their Heritage Mapping Project, widening its scope and making it a more valuable resource.
In Client Services volunteers have given administrative support, assisted the Library in the Discarded Book Sales and shelved a staggering 65 000 discard items in the Shop, assisted with events and helped research speeches.
Many, many thanks to our wonderful volunteers who are worth their weight in gold.
12 December, 2011
46% of Australia can’t read newspapers, follow a recipe, make sense of timetables, or understand the instructions on a medicine bottle.
On Saturday January 21st the Love2Read Cafe opens at the State Library of WA. For five weeks there will be an outdoor reading room with free events and activities including giant scrabble, music gigs, yoga classes, chalk art, word games, baby rhymetime, family storytime, school holiday activities, author talks, book signings and more.
To help promote literacy and be part of this fun event volunteer at the Love2Read Cafe.
For more information, leave a response here or contact volunteers@slwa.wa.gov.au
9 December, 2011
Culture and the Arts Minister John Day yesterday announced the Call for Entries for the 2011 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards.
Mr Day said “The State Government recognises the importance of literature and stories to inspire creativity and record the history of a culturally rich society. The Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards, now into its 30th year enables the celebration of the best writers and publishers in this country.”
“The Awards have historically attracted a high calibre of entries, with Miles Franklin Award and Oscar Award winners amongst the contending authors.”
Entries for the 2011 Awards are now open and the online entry form and guidelines can be found on the State Library of Western Australia’s website www.slwa.wa.gov.au. To be eligible authors must be citizens or permanent residents of Australia, or their work must have Australia as its primary focus.
The closing date for entries is 5pm Tuesday 31 January 2012.
The Award categories are: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Children’s Books, Writing for Young Adults, Poetry, Scripts, West Australian History, and the Digital Narrative Award, which recognises the use of new media in storytelling/writing. The popular People’s Choice Award to select the favourite book from the shortlist in one category will again be held for these awards
The Premier’s Prize of $25,000 is presented to the overall winner, who is chosen by the Judges from the category winners.
“The State Government is proud to make the prize pool available for these Awards and I would like to acknowledge the State Library for managing the Awards and also sponsoring the West Australian History Award”, said Mr Day.
Short listed entries will be announced in June 2012 with the winners announced in late August 2012.
28 November, 2011
Do you enjoy working with people?
Do you love books and reading?
Want to combine the two?
The State Library of Western Australian is celebrating the National Year of Reading in 2012, and we’re looking for volunteers to help enthuse people about books and reading in our Love2Read café. It is an exciting time to be involved with the State Library and we are inviting motivated volunteers to participate in and share Australia’s love of language, literature, books and reading in all its forms.
The Love2Read café is the State Library of Western Australia’s flagship initiative to kick-start the National Year of Reading. It will be based on the Bryant Park reading room model in New York. Trolleys full of new and pre-loved books, magazines, comics and newspapers will be wheeled out under the canopied area in the front of the State Library, which will be transformed into a book café and open air library from 21 January to 26 February 2012.
The Love2Read café will feature bright, engaging decor with colourful chairs, tables and beanbags to encourage people to sit down and discover or rediscover the joy of reading for pleasure. There will also be a range of events and programs to attract a wide variety of audiences to take part in the Love2Read café, from author talks and book signings, to fitness classes and festival fringe events.
You will be working with other State Library staff members to make the Love2Read café a must-visit destination within the Perth Cultural Centre.
Volunteer Position: Love2Read Café Assistant
Directorate: Community, Learning and Discovery
Team: Participation and Learning
Reports to: Manager: Participation and Learning
Primary purpose of position:
To assist and support all day-to-day operations required for the smooth running of the Love2Read café at the State Library of Western Australia. This may include:
• Responding to queries and/or providing assistance to clients in the Love2Read café.
• Keep the area clean, tidying tables, reshelving books, arranging and stacking chairs.
• Being aware of stock levels, and restocking book trolleys when necessary.
• Assisting with all aspects of events, including event set-up and take-down.
Volunteers must be:
• Able to work well with State Library and Aroma café staff in contributing to a team environment which ensures the delivery of quality services to clients.
• Physically capable of working both outdoors and in a library environment, for example shifting and lifting of books, stacking of chairs and tables, pushing trolleys.
• Available to work the hours to which they have committed, which may include evenings and weekends.
Desirable qualities and experience:
• Excellent interpersonal skills, and the ability to connect with a wide range of people.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Experience in the administrative and logistical aspects of running events and programs.
• Experience in a library, bookstore or other customer service-driven environment.
• An awareness of Occupational Safety and Health requirements relevant to the position.
For further information contact Mary Doyle, Volunteer Coordinator, on 9427 3327. To apply, tell us in 250 words or less what you’d bring to the Love2Read café, and send a 2-page (max.) résumé with contact details of 2 referees, to Mary Doyle (mary.doyle@slwa.wa.gov.au) by 5 December 2011.
If successful, applicants will be invited to attend an interview on Monday 12 December at 2.30pm. Volunteers should also be available to attend a training session on Monday 16 January, 2012.
22 November, 2011
We couldn’t think of just one book that describes what it means to live in Australia, so the search has begun, for not one book, but eight, that together paint a picture of the Australian people and the land we live in.
This is your chance to read the short list of books representing each state and vote for the one you think best represents your state or territory, to become part of the National Year of Reading collection.
Check out the books and cast your vote here:
http://www.abc.net.au/arts/yearofreading/wa.htm
Tell a friend, get your bookclub involved, curl up with these great books and start reading!
21 November, 2011
After six years of operation, MyLanguage, a web portal to multilingual information resources for new and emergent Australian communities, has been relaunched in Adelaide at the FECCA (Federation of Ethnic Communities Council of Australia) conference on Friday November 18.
Mr Hieu Van Le, Lieutenant Governor of South Australia and Chairman of the South Australian Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission, launched the new MyLanguage web portal saying: ‘What we have in MyLanguage is perhaps one of the most valuable tools for living that newly arrived Australians can get their hands on today. It provides a whole suite of important pieces of information – and in more than 65 languages. If you’ve just settled here, if your English is still developing, and if you’re looking to find your feet in a rather unfamiliar place, then this is the website for you’.
MyLanguage reflects Australia’s position as one of the most multicultural countries on earth and seeks to simplify access to important online information resources for a culturally and linguistically diverse population.
The new portal provides clear links to multilingual search engines, web directories, government websites, online dictionaries, and syndicated news headlines. It also contains translations of online government and community information relating to health, legal issues, settlement, education and public libraries along with information on multilingual library collections around Australia.
MyLanguage national manager, Brendan Fitzgerald, says the new MyLanguage website is all about making life easier and more inclusive for Australia’s non-English speaking population. ‘Through the delivery of quality language services MyLanguage ensures that individuals from non-English speaking communities have fair and equitable access to services such as health, education, housing and the justice system.’
MyLanguage is a joint partnership between the State Libraries of Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia; Public Libraries Services South Australia, the Northern Territory Library and Libraries ACT.
The new MyLanguage website is now live at: http://www.mylanguage.gov.au
18 November, 2011
Have a look at a new web page for Choral Music on the SLWA site. Here you will also find a list of choral music including popular, rock, jazz, film, show and television music. It is difficult to isolate these works via a traditional catalogue search, so we’ve done the hard work for you. Also check out some of the internet resources for choirs and choral music in WA and make sure your choir is listed. If you have produced a recording, we’d love to have it in our collection.
Staff from the State Library of Western Australia (SLWA) run this blog. It's in perpetual beta - meaning we're always adapting and improving it.
Anything written here is our individual opinion rather than an official SLWA statement. We blog about news from SLWA and from WA public libraries as well as our library's focus areas of Western Australia, family history, music, indigenous affairs and children's literature
The SLWA is located in the Perth Cultural Centre on Francis St. Our phone number is (08) 9427 3111 and our website is www.slwa.wa.gov.au
All contents copyright © State Library of Western Australia. With the exception of coats of arms, emblems, images, other third party material or devices protected by a trademark, the content of this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Australia Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 3.0 Licence.
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