Monday, December 02, 2013

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor: 100 Women 100 Brooches 100 Stories Exhibition










Maria Ann (‘Granny’) Smith

‘Granny Smith’ apples are an Australian favourite yet many people don’t know where their name originated. Maria Smith migrated to Australia from England in 1838 with her husband and children. In 1856 they managed to buy their own land in Eastwood, NSW where they grew a variety of fruit to be sold. Maria also made fruit pies and would travel to markets by horse and cart to sell her produce and affectionately became known as ‘Granny’.  One day she was given a box of Tasmanian crab apples to use in her pies. Maria threw the peels and seeds into her compost heap and sometime later found a small seedling growing. She cared for the seedling and grew delicious apples. This seedling was to become the famous ‘Granny Smith’ apple.
After Maria’s death in 1870, Edward Gallard bought part of the Smith farm and continued to work on the seedlings which went on to win numerous awards. Today ‘Granny Smith’ apples are enjoyed worldwide and were among the first fruits to become a staple in Australian supermarkets.


Kathy Mclay, Maria, 2011.
Rhodium plated 925 silver, onyx and prehnite, 46x45x23 mm.
Photograph Rod Buchholz.


















Maria is celebrated in the Tinker, Tailor Soldier, Sailor exhibition by a brooch crafted by Kathy Mclay. The brooch uses onyx to represent an apple seed and a semi-precious stone, prehnite, to emulate thinly sliced cooked apple.[i]



Don’t miss your chance to see this brooch and many more!
Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor: 100 Woman 100 Brooches 100 Stories is on show from 26 October - 15 December 2013 at Hurstville Museum & Gallery.

Visit our website for more information.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor is an artisan travelling exhibition, toured by Museum & Gallery Services Queensland.












[i] Information taken from Franzidis, Evie: Tales of 100 Inspirational Australian Women, in: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor: 100 Women, 100 Brooches, 100 Stories, artisan, Fortitude Valley, Queensland, 2011, p. 24.


Thursday, November 21, 2013

It's Party Season


Party season is upon us and a great way to get your party started for 2013 is with a karaoke CD, one of the best is by Jennifer Lopez.

Another great idea for your party this festive season is to create your own mixed tape.  Go to the eLibrary page and login to Freegal.  You can download three free tunes per week so start downloading NOW!

X-Factor fan's will be pleased to know that the top 4 new singles are also available to download from Freegal.  Yes, that's right, Dami Im, Jai Waetford, Taylor Henderson and Third D3gree all available now from Freegal for FREE!


DVDs Coming Soon

Check the library catalogue and put in your reservation now!

How about:
The Call - starring Halle Berry
Power Games - TV mini-series about James Packer and Rupert Murdoch.  Starring Lachie Hulme
Thérèse Desqueyroux   - a French drama which closed the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.
The Prize: the Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power - based on Daniel Yergin's Pulitzer Prize winning book.
Michael Mosley's Science Of You - documentary
Growing Our Future - documentary
David Attenborough: 60 Years In The Wild - documentary

If you're a fan of older movies:
Conspiracy Theory - Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts
Escape From Alcatraz - Clint Eastwood
The Great Escape - Steve McQueen
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - Robert Downey Jr.
The Outlaw Josey Wales - Clint Eastwood
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Jack Nicholson
The Peacemaker - George Clooney and Nicole Kidman

As an LMG member you can borrow and reserve DVDs for free.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Celebrating 50 Years of Adventures Through Space and TIme


It was on the 23rd of November 1963, at 5.15pm, that Doctor Who made its debut. About 25 minutes later the 4.4 million people who were tuned to BBC Television saw the TARDIS take off for the very first time. Television history was made and cemented four weeks later when the most fearsome sink-plunger in the universe made it's first appearance and  Dalekmania seized the UK.

This November marks 50 years since Doctor Who made its debut. To have lasted 26 years as the classic series did is a remarkable achievement. To still be on air 50 years after it began and arguably more popular than ever is something few TV series have done. To date eleven actors have played the role of the Doctor, with a twelfth joining their distinguished ranks when Peter Capaldi takes over from Matt Smith on Christmas Day. Incidentally at 55, Peter Capaldi is exactly the same age William Hartnell was when he first set foot on the TARDIS  in 1963. Spooky, eh?

While we wait for the screening of the anniversary special The Day of the Doctor why not delve into Doctor Who's past and present with the great range of materials held by Hurstville Library. Explore the 50th Anniversary Collection featuring stories of all eleven Doctors or watch DVDs of the classic adventures, The Twin Dilemma and  Lost in Time which contails all the "orphaned" episodes. The soon to be released  The Vault; the official history of the show's production will be a must read. There's something for all Doctor Who fans at Hurstville Library.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor: 100 Women 100 Brooches 100 Stories Exhibition











Stella (‘Miles’) Franklin - Novelist and Prize Founder
Miles Franklin was an iconic Australian author and an obvious choice to be included in an exhibition revolving around remarkable women. Growing up in rural Australia at the turn of the 20th century, Miles witnessed daily the hard work, pain and sacrifice her mother experienced maintaining a household and raising children. Miles resolved to never marry to save herself this physical and emotional hardship, and though she had several partners, she stuck to this decision.

Miles was taught to read and write by her mother and at the age of 16 began work on her most famous novel My Brilliant Career. The book was published when Miles was 19, and shortly thereafter removed from print by Miles herself after family and friends complained about the intimate nature of the contents.
In 1906 Miles travelled to America where she remained for 30 years doing various work, most notably with the National Women’s Trade Union League of America and as a volunteer nurse in WWI.

In the 1930s Miles relocated to Australia and took over the family home in Carlton, in the St George area. From this home she wrote one of her most successful novels, All that Swagger (1936).

Miles Franklin is commemorated in this exhibition with a brooch created by Roseanne Bartley from found plastic. She has aimed to represent the ideal behind the Miles Franklin Award and indeed My Brilliant Career, in showing that items that seem of little cultural significance, such as a discarded plastic spoon or the life choice of one young woman in rural Australia, can be shaped to reflect the cultural experience of a generation and of course, to create something beautiful.[1]

Roseanne Bartley, M is for, 2011.
Found plastic, 925 silver and stainless steel, 68x74x76 mm.
Photograph Rod Buchholz.



Don’t miss your chance to see this brooch and many more!

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor: 100 Woman 100 Brooches 100 Stories is on show from 26 October - 15 December 2013 at Hurstville Museum & Gallery.

Visit our website for more information

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor is an artisan travelling exhibition, toured by Museum & Gallery Services Queensland.











[1] Information taken from Franzidis, Evie, Tales of 100 Inspirational Australian Women, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, artisan, Fortitude Valley, Queensland, 2011, p.52.

Monday, November 04, 2013

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor: 100 Brooches 100 Women 100 Stories










The Honourable Dame Roma Flinders Mitchell

Roma Mitchell was Australia’s first female judge. Born in Adelaide in 1913, she followed her father’s footsteps and won a scholarship to study law at the University of Adelaide. She was one of only 10 graduates, and the only woman, who successfully found employment during the difficult Depression era.
Roma served as a barrister for 28 years, specialising in matrimonial law and eventually became a partner in a law firm. In 1962, she became the first Australian woman to be appointed Queen’s Counsel, a title recognising her expertise and seniority.  In 1965 Roma became a judge in the Supreme Court. She remained the only women to be appointed a judge in an Australian superior court during her 18 years of service and made many significant contributions to landmark cases and reports.  

Dame Roma Mitchell supported legislative action aimed at the equality of women, lobbied for and chaired the Human Rights Commission and endlessly strove to encourage more women to take up academic appointments. Roma became the first woman to be appointed Governor of South Australia in 1991 and was a well-loved figure.
Katheryn Leopoldseder, Roma Mitchell hair brooch, 2011.
Nylon hair, oxidised 925 silver and stainless steel.
Photograph Rod Buchholz.

Katheryn Leopoldseder created a brooch symbolising the legal wig, exploring the symbolic notion of hair and the way in which Roma symbolically exchanged her own hair for the legal wig and the leadership and authority associated with it. The brooch was crafted using nylon hair, oxidized 925 silver and stainless steel.[i]

Don’t miss your chance to see this brooch and many more!

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor: 100 Woman 100 Brooches 100 Stories is on show from 26 October - 15 December 2013 at Hurstville Museum & Gallery.
Visit our website for more information.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor is an artisan travelling exhibition, toured by Museum & Gallery Services Queensland.




[i] Information taken from Franzidis, Evie: Tales of 100 Inspirational Australian Women, in: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor: 100 Women, 100 Brooches, 100 Stories, artisan, Fortitude Valley, Queensland, 2011, p. 84.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor: 100 Women 100 Brooches 100 Stories Exhibition










Hurstville Museum & Gallery is opening an exciting new exhibition Tinker, Tailor,Soldier, Sailor: 100 Woman 100 Brooches 100 Stories on the 25 October 2013. 

It is the largest jewellery exhibition ever seen in Australia and was originally created to celebrate the 2011 centenary of International Women’s Day.
The exhibition is an artisan travelling exhibition, toured by Museum & Gallery Services Queensland.


Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor relates to an old nursery rhyme sung by little girls to predict the profession of their future husband. ‘Not in their wildest dreams could they have imagined that all the professions recited, from priest to lawyers, would one day be occupations for women.’[1]

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor celebrates the professional achievements of 100 Australian women through the creation of 100 brooches, crafted by 100 of Australia’s finest female jewellers. The women featured were chosen by Dr Dorothy Erickson, an eminent jeweller and history enthusiast and their achievements are in every field imaginable – from tinker to tailor; bishop to soldier; bullocky to lawyer. Amongst the famous women included are Saint Mary Mackillop, Cecilia May Gibbs, Miles Franklin and Kylie Kwong.

The exhibition will run from 26 October - 15 December 2013. Don’t miss out on your only chance to see this exhibition in Sydney!

You are welcome to join us for the official opening on
Friday 25 October 6.00pm for a 6.30pm start. 
Please RSVP to (02) 9330 6444 or museumgallery@hurstville.nsw.gov.au












[1] Erickson, Dorothy: What wonderful women, in: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor: 100 Women, 100 Brooches, 100 Stories, artisan, Fortitude Valley, Queensland, 2011, p. 1. 

Friday, October 18, 2013

DVDs Coming Soon



Below are some new DVDs that will be available for loan soon.Reserve one now!

Still Mine - Official selection for Toronto Film Festival 2013.  James Cromwell winner for Best Actor at the Canadian Screen Awards 2013
The Page Turner - Festival De Cannes Official Selection 2006
The Hunt - Mads Mikkelsen winner for Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival 2012
The Tall Man - starring Jessica Biel
Changi - Australian TV mini series
Anthony Callea: Live In Concert - performs songs from his first album including The Prayer and Bridge Over Troubled Water


Fat As Butter Festival & Free Music CDs

The Fat As Butter Festival is on Saturday 26 October on The Foreshore, Newcastle. Can't make it to Newcastle? Hurstville Library has some great albums by bands appearing at the festival. Borrow them for free.

Halcyon Days - Glass Towers on order
To You - Battleships on order
Bombs Away - Scams on order
Think Bigger - Cosmo Jarvis on order
Audio Projectile - Dialectrix on order
Night Swim - Owl Eyes on order
Rubens - Rubens
Head of the Hawk/Company/Triple J's Hottest 100 Volume 19- Bluejuice
Harlequin Dream - Boy & Bear/  - on order
Circus In the Sky/Flowers In the Pavement/So Fresh Hits of Spring 2013 - Bliss n Eso
Controller - British India

You may also be interested in our free online music/music video collection.  All members of Hurstville City Library are entitled to three free downloads per week from Freegal.  Why pay for music and music video downloads when all your favourite Sony artists are available for free? For more information see one of our friendly staff at the information desk.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

25 Books You DON'T Need to Read Before You Die




It seems to be a fashion of the times to publish various lists relating to the X number of things you need to read/watch/visit before you die. In July a writer in the Sunday Telegraph decided to buck this trend and publish a list of the 25 books you don't need to read before you die.

While all this is a matter of individual taste, the list is printed in full below. And the good news is Hurstville Library holds all the titles included so you can read them for yourself and make up your own mind.


  1. Eucalyptus by Murray Bail
  2. Ulysses by James Joyce
  3. Cloudstreet by Tim Winton
  4. The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart
  5. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
  6. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
  7. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
  8. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
  9. One the Road by Jack Kerouac
  10. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
  11. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
  12. Oscar &  Lucinda by Peter Carey
  13. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Pocoult
  14. Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence
  15. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
  16. 50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James
  17. Crime and Punishment by Fydor Dostoyevsky
  18. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
  19. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
  20. Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
  21. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl
  22. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
  23. The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Wesiberger
  24. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
  25. The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield

Thursday, September 26, 2013

The National Geographic for Kids database (NEW)

Photo: A young Nenets boy stands in the sub-zero cold near his home in the Siberian Arctic, Russia. (Steve Raymer/National Geographic Stock)
The award-winning National Geographic for Kids database is now available 24/7 from Hurstville City Library's website. A great resource for homework and school projects with information on a wide range range of subject areas including: Animals, the Environment, History, Peoples and Cultures, Place, Science and Technology.

Did you know, for example, that:
* About 12,000 years ago, the Sahara was covered with millions of trees;
* Hurricanes north of the Equator spin in the opposite direction to those south of the Equator;
* The earth rotates on its axis faster than a pistol's speeding bullet. (1)

The National Geographic for Kids makes learning fun, with online eMagazines, eBooks, photos, videos and games that include action adventures, puzzles and quizzes. Login with your library card's barcode and help your child access a world of amazing information.

Reference
Petit, Zachary. "30 Cool Things About The World." National Geographic Kids May 2013: 24. National Geographic Kids. Web. 25 Sept. 2013.



Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Australian Top Ten Free Video Downloads


  1. Ooh La La (from The Smurfs 2) - Britney Spears
  2. Best Song Ever - One Direction
  3. Acapella - Karmen
  4. Want U Back - Cher Lloyd
  5. Kiss You - One Direction
  6. We Can't Stop - Miley Cyrus
  7. To The End Of The Earth - Jessica Mauboy
  8. White & Nerdy - Weird Al Yankovic
  9. Wonderful - Annie Lennox
  10. Thriller - Michael Jackson
Is your favourite music video clip included in the top ten list? If not, check out the Freegal catalogue and see if  it is available for free download. Make sure you have your Hurstville City Library membership card and pin number handy so you can log into Freegal.  Go to the library website and click on eLibrary catalogue  which will take you to our free online services.  

Thursday, September 19, 2013

What is the role of the community gallery in museums today? - Guest post by Dr Nina Parish & Dr Chiara O'Reilly

Part of the Greek community display at Hurstville Museum & Gallery

We recently hosted a workshop at the Australian National Maritime Museum to present some of our research on telling migrant stories in Australian museums.One of our research areas considers the community gallery and here we discussed the Spotlight space at Hurstville, which is currently showing an exhibition on the Greek community, as a strong example of this type of gallery in Australian museums. 

The exhibits in this space are community-led and reflect a collaboration between the local community of the St George region and staff at the Museum and Gallery. Although it’s just a small space – with three dedicated cases - it plays an important role in crafting particular stories of identity, belonging and in showcasing diversity. At Hurstville, as elsewhere, the community gallery is also vital to the generation of community events – as Gemma Beswick, the Historical & Cultural Services Coordinator at Hurstville, explained in an interview with us, the openings of exhibitions in the community gallery often turn into a festival, a party. And it doesn’t take much to understand why a celebration of your community, a chance for you to see yourself in a museum, to have some sort of input into this type of institution, this type of representation, would be so popular.

This type of dedicated community-led space is essential to modern museums – not only does it celebrate specific communities but it also has the potential to increase participation. Our research is interested in how this space is able to include new voices in the museum and open the museum up to the community. We are particularly focused on how museums today can best balance the tensions between telling local history, celebrating achievements and reflecting critically on sometimes difficult stories of diversity and its significance. Spotlight spaces like that at Hurstville are key to understanding the role of museums in twenty-first century life and we will keep you up-to-date about our research project as it develops.

Dr Nina Parish (University of Bath)
Dr Chiara O’Reilly (University of Sydney)


Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Download Your Free eMagazines and Enjoy Them Wherever and Whenever You Want to!



Hurstville City Library customers can now download and enjoy their favourite eMagazines on their Ipads, iPhones, Android devices, Macs and PCs. Just go to the Hurstville City Library website, click on the link for the eLibrary catalogue and then click on the link for Zinio eMagazines.

To access Zinio, you need to first create an account on our library page of Zinio. Once this is completed, you're ready to start downloading! Enjoy an unlimited borrowing period, full colour pictures and interactive elements, such as video and audio. Magazines can also be read offline once they are downloaded. eMagazines include Gardening Australia, GQ, Marie Claire, Forbes, Newsweek, Good Taste Magazine and more.

So, what are you waiting for? Enjoy your own eMagazine collection today!

Wednesday, September 04, 2013

Stroke Awareness Week, 9th - 16th September, 2013


Illustration of an embolic stroke, showing a blockage lodged in a blood vessel (Wikimedia Commons)
A stroke is a medical emergency and rapid access to medical care may mean the difference between life and death. In most cases, a stroke occurs when there is either a disruption to the flow of blood to the brain, (which results in the death of oxygen-depleted brain cells) or when blood vessels burst and the blood  spreads into nearby brain areas (haemorrhage). Warning signs may include: dizziness, unsteadiness or headache; any change in mental abilities; numbness, weakness or paralysis in face, arm or leg on one side of the body; garbled speech or inability to speak; and eye problems, such as double vision. (1)

The Stroke Recovery Association of NSW has played a major role in the support and recovery of  many stroke survivors. The services that they provide include:telephone counselling; stroke information kits; seminars and workshops; newsletters on stroke issues; a library of books, videos and brochures; referrals to other services; and coordination of Stroke Awareness Week.

If you would like to find out more about strokes, login to EBSCOs Consumer Health Complete database or Britannica database with your library card's barcode, or ask staff to help you find such topical books as, Brain injury and stroke : a handbook to recovery by E.A. Freeman (616.8043 FRE) or Stroke : a guide to recovery and prevention by Vladimir Hachinski and Larissa Hachinski (616.81 HAC). To find out more about Stroke Awareness Week 2013, go to the website of The Stroke Recovery Association of NSW.

Reference
The Stroke Recovery Association of NSW. (2013). Retrieved August 22, 2013, from http://www.strokensw.org.au.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Chinese Rock/Pop: Free Music Downloads









Our free online music collection Freegal has a wide variety of genres to choose from, including Chinese Rock/Pop. Below are just some of the many artists and bands available.

Female artists/band - Joanna Wang, Karen Mok, Iris Lin, Jia Jia, RainieYang, Penny Tai, Jolin Tsai, Fish, Princess Ai Tai, and  2 Girls.

Male artist/band - Jay Chou, EvanYo, Yen-j, Carlson Cheng, Kai Ko, Leehom Wang, May Day, Alan Kuo, Ye Wang, KaiLin Zhang and  Tianxiao Xie.

To find more of your favourite Chinese music or artists take a look at Freegal.  Freegal is very easy to use.  If you are already a member of Hurstville City Library go to the library website and click on eLibrary Catalogue.  This will take you to all of our online sites.  Under the Freegal logo click on Library members enter here and type in your membership number and pin number.  Click on genre and scroll down to find your favourite genre. You are entitled to three free downloads per week.

If you aren't a library member and wish to become one just bring along two forms of identification and remember that one of the forms of identification must have your current address on it.  All you need to do now is to go to the service desk where one of our friendly staff will gladly assist you in completing your membership.
 



Monday, August 26, 2013

What's popular in One Click digital audiobooks?


What's popular in One Click digital audiobooks at the moment? A surprisingly diverse range of audiobooks are being downloaded from Hurstville City Library's new audiobook collection. Popular fiction choices include titles written by JoJo Moyes, Harlan Coben, Marian Keyes, Stieg Larsson, Freya North and John Sandford. Charlaine Harris' fans of the Sookie Stackhouse series (The Southern Vampire Mysteries),which HBO based its hit television series True Blood on, may like to download Grave Surprise (Harper Connelly series), and listen to the story of a college class that gets more than it bargains for when Harper gives a demonstration of her uncanny talent.

Popular non-fiction choices at the moment include the landmark biography of Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson, who paints a definitive portrait of a truly remarkable man. For those who would like to understand the real meaning behind Einstein's most famous equation, there is Why does E =mc(2)? which explores the principles of physics through everyday life.

As a Hurstville Library customer, you can download an unlimited number of One Click digital audiobooks, for up to three weeks. Titles may be downloaded to your computer or burnt to a CD, or transferred to a wide range range of portable devices (MP3 and iDevices).

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Free Music Video Downloads



Now available as part of our Freegal music collection are free music video downloads. These video downloads are MP4 format with no DRM. A video counts for two of your weekly downloads but just like the music they are yours to keep!

Examples of artists available include Pink; Beyonce; Miley Cyrus, Carrie Underwood, Sara Bareilles, Kelly Clarkson; Alicia Keys, Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Pit Bull, Ricky Martin; Bruce Springsteen, One Direction, Train, Pearl Jam, Aerosmith, Santana, Dixie Chicks, AC/DC
Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Elvis, Annie Lennox, Billy Joel, The Clash, Heart, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin and The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Classic clips include Thriller, Bad, Uptown Girl, You Can Call Me Al, Knockin' On Heavens Door, I Will Always Love You, Born In The U.S.A. and Drops Of Jupiter.

Some recent clips available are Try, Perfect, Take Back the Night, Mirrors, Shut It Down, We Can't Stop, Best Ever Song, One Way Or Another and Oh La La.

If you are a member of  Hurstville City Library take a look at what our free music online collection has to offer. Go to the library website and click on eLibrary Catalogue to get to our online collections. The best part is that it is all free for your enjoyment.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Are Australians being ripped-off with IT goods?

Photograph: Choice Online. Retrieved 7th August, 2013.
According to a recent Choice article, Australians are paying 50% more for computers, software, games and music. Choice's in-depth analysis reveals that Australians are paying on average 50% more for PC games, 34% more for software, 51% more for iTunes music, 88% more for Wii games and 41% more for computer hardware than our US counterparts.
One software package in particular, the Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate (with MSDN), was $8, 665.29 more expensive in Australia. Choice notes that 'for this amount, it would be cheaper to employ someone for 46 hours at the price of $21.30 an hour and fly them to the US and back at your expense. Twice'.
Federal Labor politicians are seeking an enquiry into why Australian consumers are paying so much more than overseas consumers, for identical products.To read more about this and to discover ways in which you can try to circumvent these outrageous price differences, ask staff at Hurstville City Library to log you in to Choice Online for the full free article.

Thursday, August 01, 2013

National History Month - August 2013

Celebrate National Family History Month with Hurstville City Library's free family history resources. Explore Ancestry.com, the world's largest genealogy database, with over 10 billion historical records from the UK, Australia/NZ, North America and some European countries or browse numerous birth/death/marriage indexes, parish records, military records, migration records, electoral rolls and more, from the Find my Past collection (UK/Ireland/Australia), just by logging in with your library card on Hurstville City Library's computers. If you're particularly interested in records from NSW, try the Internet History Resources database, which contains over 30,000 pages of online records related to family history in NSW.

Hurstville City Library is also pleased to announce that the latest edition of the eMagazine Inside History, can be downloaded free from our new Zinio eMagazine collection. Inside History is a great resource for the family history enthusiast, with advice, articles and expert tips on genealogy.Look out for The [online]Sydney Morning Herald Archives 1955-1995 and The [online]Sydney Morning Herald 1996 onwards databases, which are coming soon to Hurstville Library.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Author Talk at Penshurst Branch Library: Will Davies

Join writer, historian and filmmaker Will Davies at Penshurst Branch Library when he introduces his new book, The Boy Colonel, the story of Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Marks who became a Colonel at just 22, the youngest battalion commander in the AIF in WW1 and highly regarded as a future leader. He returned to Australia after the war, aged 24 years, anticipating a bright future.

On the 25th January 1920 at Palm Beach, to the north of Sydney, the surf was wild. Two attempts had already been made to save a young woman caught in an undertow and dragged out when a young man - skinny, gangly and frail, and known to be a poor swimmer - threw off his coat and shoes and raced into the surf. As his fiancée and young nephew watched, the sea closed over him and he disappeared. His body was never recovered. This was the tragic fate of a gallant, highly decorated and promising young man named Douglas Gray Marks.
Will Davies works include Beneath Hill 60, a great Australian war story that was made into an award-winning film, Somme Mud: the war experiences of an Australian infantryman in France 1916-1919 and In the Footsteps of Private Lynch published to acclaim in Australia and the UK. Will’s talent is sharing the often unknown stories of the frontline, using personal letters and firsthand accounts to reveal the human faces of Australian soldiers.

Thursday 8 August @ 10.30am
Penshurst Branch Library
630 Forest Rd, Penshurst
Free event: bookings essential 9330 6422
Books available for sale & signing

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Graphic Novel Expo

Come to Hurstville Library's Graphic Novel Expo

Check out the latest graphic novel releases, meet other enthusiasts,choose stuff for the library to buy.
Date:Wednesday 31 July 2013
Time:7.00 pm
Venue:Hurstville Library, Cnr Queens Rd & Dora St, Hurstville.
Contact:9330 6142



Exercise: What's in it for you?



According to a recent media release from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2013), Australian adults spend an average of four hours a day engaged in sedentary leisure activities (such as watching television), compared with only half an hour of physical activity. In fact, the ABS (2013) claims that Australians spend one month a year watching TV.

Most Australians have at least some knowledge of the benefits of exercise, such as: exercise improves the health of the heart, lungs and circulatory system; strengthens the bones and prevents bone loss; improves the quality of sleep; and reduces anxiety and depression.

Recent studies have provided further evidence that exercise is one of the most important factors that determines not only the current state of your health, but the future health of your brain, reducing the risk of dementia and other mental disorders in older adults (i). To read more about this important issue login to EBSCO's Consumer Health Complete with your library card's barcode.

Overdrive has some inspirational ebooks and videos that library members can also download from the Hurstville City Library website (see below).


References
'Women's Health Advisor', Oct 2012, vol. 16, Issue 10, pps. 6-7, EBSCOhost Consumer Health Complete Database.






Friday, July 19, 2013

Get ready for Living Hurstville: Portraits of a Community!

Hurstville City Library, Museum & Gallery is about to open a new in-house exhibition Living Hurstville: Portraits of a Community.

Living Hurstville is an exhibition all about peering into the lives and interests of our neighbours. That’s right, we’re giving you permission to be nosy!

Our photographer has captured some beautiful images of people who live, work and play in the Hurstville local government area. Come and see your barista, your pharmacist, your taxi driver, your personal trainer, to name a few. Most importantly, find out what really makes them tick.

The exhibition shares some amazing and intriguing stories and highlights the diversity of our community. Stay tuned over the coming weeks as we share some of our participants' interesting stories with you.

Living Hurstville: Portraits of a Community will be on display at Hurstville Museum & Gallery from 20 July - 20 October 2013.

Living Hurstville: Portraits of a Community

Thursday, July 04, 2013

Community Consultation


Residents are invited to contribute to the revision of Hurstville City Library Museum and Gallery's Collection Development Policy at a consultation workshop to be held on Thursday 11th of July 2013.

The current policy can be viewed online at http://lmg.hurstville.nsw.gov.au/LMG-Policies.html or at Hurstville or Penshurst Libraries and the Hurstville Museum & Gallery.

Time: 6.30pm – 7.30pm

Location: Miles Franklin Room, Hurstville Library, corner of Queens Road and Dora Street, Hurstville

RSVP: to confirm attendance telephone 9330 6142

Can’t make it to the workshop? Comments can also be sent via email to hcclibrary@hurstville.nsw.gov.au and by mail to Hurstville LMG, PO Box 205, Hurstville BC NSW 1481

Deadline for comment: Friday 19 July 2013