Borrow and read this year's Stella Prize winning book 'The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka' by Clare Wright online!

 

Just visit our eLibrary and have your library card number and pin handy

Hurstville Library members can also borrow and read up to 5 novels shortlisted for this year's Stella Prize and Miles Franklin Literary award on their computer, tablet or smart phone, for a 7 or 14 day lending period.

Melissa Lucashenko’s novel  ‘Mullumbimby’ nominated for the Miles Franlkin Literary Award, is available to  borrow as an ebook from Overdrive or in hard copy from the Library shelf.
More about about this years Miles Fraklin Literary Award longlist here


eBooks of the following shortlisted Stella Prize novels are also available on Overdrive and Library shelf :

Night Games by Anna Krien (Black Inc)

Boy, Lost: A Family Memoir by Kristina Olsson (UQP)

The Swan Book by Alexis Wright (Giramondo)

More information about this years Stella Prize shortlist here

IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK

Stories from 14 MacMahon Street - Weddings

Many happy couples have celebrated their wedding receptions at the restaurants and functions centres of 14 MacMahon Street.

Prior to becoming Hurstville Museum & Gallery in 2004, 14 MacMahon Street was home to MacMahon’s Manor, MacMahon Street Galleries & Restaurant and Fanari Restaurant & Bar, just to name a few.

Image courtesy of Julie Meredith

Julie Meredith is one of the many brides who celebrated their reception with family and friends at MacMahon Street Galleries & Restaurant. For Julie, the venue was a last minute decision as their prior chosen venue was undergoing construction work. With only six weeks to go, 14 MacMahon Street saved the day with it’s homely feel and inviting atmosphere - “We liked that it was a bit of a gallery, something a little bit different rather than just four walls.”

They had 80 guests at the wedding reception – the maximum number if you wanted to have a dance floor as well! One of the standout memories for Julie was the speech her husband gave – “he had the whole reception in tears, then in laughter, he made a beautiful speech.”

Image courtesy of Julie Meredith

See snippets of Julie’s special day on our iPad and find out what made her wedding cake so extravagant by visiting the exhibition  IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK STORIES FROM 14 MACMAHON STREET.

Exhibition proudly sponsored by 

Top 10 Fiction January to March 2014

Ever wondered what other people in Hurstville are reading? Well here's our Top 10 titles for January to March this year. What does it say about the reading habits of the people of Hurstville? Action and adventure currently seems to be the order of the day, along with a walk on the dark side. But I'll leave that for you to decide.

1. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
2. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
3. The Affair by Lee Child
4. Infero by Dan Brown
5. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
6. I, Alex Cross by James Patterson
7. The Five Greatest Warriors by Matthew Reilly
8. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
9. A Wanted Man by Lee Child
10. The Reversal by Michel Connelly

IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK

Stories from 14 MacMahon Street – MacMahon’s Manor

14 MacMahon Street transformed into MacMahon’s Manor – a fine dining and theatre restaurant – in 1983 after being sold by the St George Rugby Union Club to John & Annette Ibbitson. After renovating, restoring and redecorating the venue for six months, MacMahon’s Manor became a very popular venue playing host to theatre productions, numerous weddings and various special events.

Courtesy of John Ibbitson

The first room on the right as you enter the property was a fine dining area with an open log fireplace, a small grand piano and lace tablecloths set with “real true silverware and crystal glassware.” The second room along was the cocktail bar – the bar itself was rescued from an old ferry that was in the process of being dismantled!

In what is today the main gallery space of Hurstville Museum & Gallery, was the theatre restaurant, with a small stage that held big costumes! A new show was put on every three months, with at least a dozen changes of costumes for an audience of approximately 150 people 6 nights a week. The shows became so popular they were booked out 3 months in advance, and every show had a corresponding themed menu and signature cocktail.

Courtesy of John Ibbitson

Bruce Scott, costume designer and choreographer for the stage shows at MacMahon’s Manor, describes  the recipe for a successful night of entertainment at ‘The Manor’ as “variety and comedy that’s it, there's no ifs or buts that’s all you do in theatre restaurant.  You’ve got to entertain the masses when they're eating and drinking and so if you’ve got colour and movement on stage and you've got comedy that’s success, that’s it.”

See some of the original costumes worn on stage at MacMahon’s Manor on display today in the IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK exhibition.

Courtesy of John Ibbitson

These are just some of the stories of 14 MacMahon Street. Come and visit the multisensory exhibition IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK to find out more about the building’s past.

Exhibition proudly sponsored by

Freegal Music Newsletter for April 2014: Been to see Strictly Ballroom the Musical recently?

 

 

Source: Original Sountrack Cover from
Freegal Music Catalogue freegalmusic.com

As a Hurstville Library member, you can download up to 3 songs per week from the Original Soundtrack for free!

Just go to the eLibrary, click ‘Freegal’Music and have your library card and pin handy to log in.

 

Then all you have to do is search ‘Strictly Ballroom Soundtrack’ under Album, or browse under Soundtracks or Genre

 

 

You can also stream up to 3 hours of music and save songs to a playlist.

So, like they say in the musical and movie ‘Listen to the rhythm, don’t be scared. A life lived in fear is a life half lived’

 

 

For recent chart toppers, new releases, top music videos and more, click the link below

 

http://www.icontact-archive.com/rRNQRindhS7dymwqjcvUTRPHom7qdwLD?w=4

 

St George Art Awards is back in 2014

Staff at Hurstville City Library Museum & Gallery are already very excited as they currently plan for this year’s St George Art Awards. For the third time, Hurstville City Library Museum & Gallery will host this biennial, national art competition. Artists entering an artwork in the Art Prize or 3D Art Prize have to respond to a specific theme. In 2010, artists explored the theme “Relationships” through a wide range of mediums. View the 2010 winners.
In 2012, we saw many great artworks which related to the theme “Beginnings”. Have a look at the winning artworks from 2012.

Now we can finally reveal the theme for 2014 – drum roll please – This year’s theme is “Transformation” – a topic with great interpretative potential.

We can’t wait to see what our artists come up with!


Prize categories
St George Art Prize 2014 – $8,000 Acquisitive
St George 3D Art Prize - $3,000
St George Local Youth Prize, Primary student - $250 voucher for art materials
St George Local Youth Prize, Secondary/Tertiary student - $250 voucher for art materials
People’s Choice Award - $500

What comes to your mind when you think of ‘transformation’?

Don’t miss your chance to participate. Get creative and show off your talent.
Entries will open 1 July 2014.
www.stgeorgeartawards.org.au

St George Art Awards 2014 is proudly sponsored by Bronze Sponsor: 

St George & Sutherland Shire Leader

Official opening of St George Art Awards 2012