Thursday, July 29, 2010

Election Time


Unless you have been living under a rock for the last month you may have noticed it’s election time!

What is all the fuss about? How does voting work? What can I expect on polling day?

Hurstville Library in partnership with Hurstville Council and the NSW Electoral Commission will be holding an Elections & Voting Community Information Session on Wednesday 18th August from 5-6pm at Hurstville City Library.

This is your opportunity to get a free, straightforward introduction to voting and ask any questions you may have about how the process works. Your vote is a valuable thing, make the most of it!

Find out about:
- Enrolment: getting on the roll and staying on the roll
- The 3 different elections: (federal, state, local)
- How to vote: at federal and state elections

It’s important for people to understand why they vote and how they vote.

It is compulsory for all Australian citizens who are 18 years of age or older, to put their name on the list of voters (the electoral roll) and to vote at all federal, state and local government elections.

Federal, state and local governments are responsible for different things. When people go to vote at an election it is important that they understand what they are voting for.

People need to know where to go and vote and how they can vote if they are not near home on election day. Most importantly, people need to make sure their vote is counted by filling in their two ballot papers correctly.

The community information sessions run by the NSW Electoral Commission provide information to the community about all these things, in a simple and clear format that everyone can understand.
It’s not about politics or candidates. It is about using your right to vote wisely and making sure your voice is heard.
We look to seeing you at this free event, for more information please contact the Library on 9330 6111.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Bonsai Exhibition and Demonstration at Hurstville City Library


Bonsai is the art of growing trees in miniature. Come and view a collection of these beautiful trees and watch a demonstration by the Illawarra Bonsai Society on repotting and shaping a tree.

Saturday 7 August 2010
10am-2pm
Exhibition Area - Hurstville City Library Crn Queens Road and Dora Streets Hurstville
Free event
Details: 9330.6135










Thursday, July 22, 2010

Prime Minister's Literary Awards Shortlisted Books at Hurstville Library, Museum & Gallery

The Prime Minister's Literary Awards are held annually to celebrate the contribution of literature to Australia's cultural and intellectual life. Recently those fiction and non-fiction titles in contention were narrowed down to a short list. Most are available from Hurstville City Library, or are on order - try one, see if you agree with the judges!


Non-fiction shortlist
The Water Dreamers: The Remarkable History of Our Dry Continent by Michael Cathcart
Strange Places: A Memoir of Mental Illness by Will Elliott
The Colony: A History of Early Sydney by Grace Karskens
The Life and Death of Democracy by John Keane
The Blue Plateau: A Landscape Memoir by Mark Tredinnick
The Ghost at the Wedding by Shirley Walker

Fiction shortlist
Summertime by J.M. Coetzee
The Book of Emmett by Deborah Forster
The Lakewoman by Alan Gould
Dog Boy by Eva Hornung
Ransom by David Malouf
Lovesong by Alex Miller
As the Earth Turns Silver by Alison Wong

Prime Minister's Literary Awards website for more information

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Digital or Hardcopy?

Amazon.com have recently issued a press release stating they are "...selling more Kindle books than hardcover books". Over the last three months, for every 100 hardcovers sold, 143 Kindle editions were sold.

It's easy to get caught up and think this is the death of the book. Amazon is an online buisness and there are many thousands of bookshops still fulfilling the demand for an actual (as opposed to digital) book.

Even so, it does make you think. Generations grow up on the technology that has developed so how long will it be before the majority, however slight, will be accustomed to doing their work and especially leisure reading off a screen rather than a page?
Of course there will always be purists and the sheer convenience of a paperback is still genius. But technology is only going to improve so how much of this is personal choice and how much might it be catching the incoming tide?
Can you resist or do you even want to?

Monday, July 19, 2010

Top Ten Best Sellers


Have you seen whats in the Top Ten Best Seller list from the Sydney Morning Herald?

This Week July 17-18

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner -Stephenie Meyer
A Novella based on the Eclipse Vampire Series.

Sizzling Sixteen- Janet Evanovich
Stephanie Plum the Bounty Hunter is back.

Eclipse -The Offical Illustrated Movie Companion - Stephenie Meyer

The Search - Nora Roberts
The past catches up with a woman that runs a rescue service

The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo - Stieg Larsson
An epic about seial murder and corporate skulduggery.

The Girl who played with fire - Stieg Larrson
Two journalists investigating sex trafficking in Sweden are killed.

The Girl who kicked the Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson
The Third book in the Millennium series.

Blind Fury - Lynda La Plante
A triple- murder investigation begins after the discovery of a young woman's body.

The Dukan Diet - Pierre Dukan
A French doctor's weight -loss program.

Family Ties - Danielle Steel
A young Architect takes in her three orphaned nieces.
All these Titles and more are now available at Hurstville City Library

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Library Work - if it were only this simple...


How many times have you woken up in the middle of the night needing to tidy non fiction shelves as a monkey? If you're like me it's too many. Thankfully the University of Texas' Order in the Library game will fulfil these profound urges.

Order in the Library allows you to sort, shelve and reorder, otherwise known as shelf tidy, across a range of difficulty levels up to 11 (Master of the Universe) all under the guise of a fun critter.

But wait - there's more! Once you recover from the unbridled fun you are awarded a certificate of achievement. Hell yeah!

The internet really is magic.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

New DVDs available soon

  • The Hurt Locker -winner of six Academy Awards including "Best Picture". Described by movie critics as "one of the great war movies". This movie is based on the accounts of freelance journalist Mark Boal who's aim was to show what soldiers actually experience during a tour of duty during the Iraq War. Starring Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Ralph Fiennes and Guy Pearce.

  • Shutter Island - directed by Academy Award winner Martin Scorsese. This movie is based on Dennis Lehane's 2003 novel of the same name. A psychological thriller set in 1954 about an investigation at an asylum for the ciminally insane which is on Shutter Island. Teddy Daniels (Leonardo Di Caprio) investigates the disappearance of a murderess who is presumed hidding on the remote Shutter Island. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo and Michelle Williams.

  • Don't Move - this movie is set in Italy and tells the story of a surgeon who must confront the choices he has made in his life as his daughter hovers between life and death. Story and Screenplay by Sergio Castellitto, Directed by Sergio Cstellitto. Starring Penelope Cruze, Sergio Castellitto and Claudia Gerini.

  • Red Like The Sky -is based on a true story about a Tuscan boy who is blind and rebels against being sent to a School for the Blind. His life changes when he is given a gift of a sound recorder. In real life he went on to become one of Italy's most successful film sound designers. Directd by Cristano Bortone. Starring Luca Capriotti, Paolo Sassanelli, Marco Cocci, Simone Colombari and Norman Mozzato.









Saturday, July 10, 2010

Taronga Zoo visits the Museum & Gallery!


LMG staff member getting up close and personal with the animals from Taronga Zoo!
Originally uploaded by Hurstville City Library, Museum & Gallery

You couldn't pay me to do this!...

One of our lovely Historical & Cultural staff members getting up close and personal with one of the animals from Taronga Zoo!

The Taronga Zoomobile visited the Museum & Gallery as part of our 2010 School Holiday Programs. Check out the other animals they brought with them too!

Exhibition changeover time!

June was a busy month for the Museum & Gallery! We said goodbye to travelling exhibition 'There's a War On!' and hello to our newest exhibition 'Making a Difference: Lions, Lioness & Leos'.

Check out some photos below of the exhibition changeover process -
Acting Curator David deep in thought about the exhibition layout!


Wednesday, July 07, 2010