Costa Book Awards Book of the Year Winner

Earlier this month the five Costa Book Awards Category Winners were announced. On the 26th of January the overall winner was announced in London.

Poet Christopher Reid has won the 2009 Costa Book of the Year award for his collection, A Scattering, a tribute to his wife Lucinda Gane following her death in 2005.

Following the judging, Josephine Hart, chair of the final judges, said: "Out of a personal tragedy, Christopher Reid has written a masterwork which has universal power. Austere, beautiful and moving - we all felt this was a book we would want everyone to read. Packed full of unforgettable lines - A Scattering is a remarkable piece." Read on here . . .

Storytime, Babytime and Fab Friday return for 2010

The wacky tales, rhymes and rhythms, arts and crafts, songs and silliness of Storytime, Babytime and Fab Friday return from February 3, 2010!

Come along & join the fun at one of the following locations:

Storytime:
Blaxland Library every Friday 10:30am
Springwood Library every Thursday 10:30am
Lawson Library first Thursday of every month 10:30am
Wentworth Falls Library “Grandma’s Read” every Tuesday 10:30am
Blackheath Library first and third Thursday of the month 10:30am

Babytime
Blaxland Library first Wednesday of the month 10am
Springwood Library first Friday of every month 10am

Fab Friday
Springwood Library first Friday of the month 4pm

Katoomba Library Storytimes and Babytimes are postponed until March due to the construction work.

Katoomba Library closures

Please note that the Katoomba Civic Centre is currently undergoing a refurbishment program which at times involves a lot of noise and dust. The Library will endeavour to operate as normal throughout this construction, however, it may be necessary, due to access restrictions, to occasionally close the Library at short notice.

Library staff apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and will compensate with longer operating hours at Wentworth Falls or Blackheath Branch Libraries when Katoomba Library is closed.

The After Hours Returns Bin at Katoomba Library will remain open for returns.

Please ring Springwood Library on 4723 5040 for opening/closing updates.

Going to the dogs

I was reading today about READ (Reading Education Assistance Dogs), a reading program for children in America where the children read aloud to specially trained dogs but there are similar programs here in Australia (I know I blogged about a South Australian one somewhere but can't find the blog post now).

On the READ website you can see pictures of the dogs and children reading together, they are very cute (click on the small Next link underneath each picture).

Apparently dogs are a great audience and assist children with reading difficulties to become more confident and then more competent at reading as the dogs are uncritical and don't stop to correct pronunciation every other word. The dogs in the pictures seem to be enjoying being read to, don't they?

The little girl in the picture above looks like she's reading a book called Mutt Dog by Stephen Michael King which I remember reading to my duaghter when she was little. It's about a dog that is found wild on the streets and adopted by a nice family. Ishbel loved the page that showed him just after his first bath and the page where they considered what name to give him. I had to read and re-read those pages. I'm sure our dogs would enjoy it too.

What Library staff are reading . . .

How did library staff pass the Christmas break?

• Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje
• Liz Byrski’s Gang of Four - light reading try where the reader gets to know each of the four women in the story and gets to witness their friendship
• Then for an interesting but disturbing memoir try Hilary Mantel’s Giving up the Ghost
• One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell
• Scar Tissue by Anthony Keidis (lead singer of Red Hot Chilli Peppers)
• Havoc’s Sword, an Alan Lewrie naval adventure by Dewey Lambdin
• The Household Guide to Dying by Debra Adelaide – a humorous, sensitive and interesting story about a woman coming to terms with her terminal illness
• The Getting of Wisdom by Henry Handel Richardson – an Australian classic – boring!
• I read the wonderful Alex Miller’s latest book, Lovesong. I am hopelessly addicted to his fiction and have no hopes of a cure
• Auggie Wren's Christmas Story by Paul Auster - a simple, delightful Christmas story, even my 9 year old gave it a go
• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
• Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys - tells the story of Rochester's mad wife, Bertha. A wonderful read
• Why Dogs are Better Than Cats by Bradley Trevor Greive - lots of material for dog and cat lovers to argue about
• Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger - not a patch on The Time Traveller's
  Wife
• The Lore of Scotland: A Guide to Scotland's Legends, from the Loch Ness Monster to Sawney Bean the Cannibal by Jennifer Westwood - one to dip in and out of, I just looked up the places I know
• El Dorado by Dorothy Porter

Katoomba Library closure

Katoomba Library will be closed all day on

Wednesday 27 January

while the pebblecrete from the front door area and side windows is removed (this involves jackhammers and other very loud equipment). This work is not related to last week's flooding but is part of the renovation of the Civic Centre.

Staff rostered to work at Katoomba Library that day will help open Blackheath and Wentworth Falls Libraries as a compensation for the public with

Blackheath and Wentworth Falls Libraries

open 10am–5pm

The book bin will remain open at Katoomba Library during this work.

Thanks for your understanding and apologies from Library staff for the inconvenience.

Australia Day

All branches of the

Blue Mountains Library

will be closed on

Tuesday 26th January

for

Australia Day

We will be open as normal on Monday 25th January (Robert Burns birthday) and from Wednesday 27th January onwards

Visit the Australia Day website for news, events and information about Australia Day including the Australian of the Year Awards

Digital Photography Workshop at Springwood Library

The ominous grey skies didn't at all diminish the energy and enthusiasm of five budding photographers last Friday - and happily, the rain held off for the duration of our class.

After learning the way around our digital cameras, we went over some of the vital techniques, hints and tips for taking great digital photos. We watched a slideshow about how to utilise angles in shots for interesting effects (some of which are hilarious - check out these funny photos) and another slideshow about composition and lighting.

Then, the fun stuff: we went outside to run around have a go ourselves. Despite the gloom overhead, the light was good enough and there were many textures, subjects and shapes to explore, including: lichen, dandelions, paperbark, buildings and, of course, each other!

With full memory cards, we went inside Springwood Library to learn about getting images onto the computer, as well as explore the photo storage and sharing website Flickr. And lastly, to play around with manipulating images on Dumpr (which you can use to morph pictures of faces with a 'goo' tool, or turn your photos into Rubik's cubes, jigsaws, Easter-eggs.). The students left the class with the basic techniques under their belt, ready to get out there get snapping!


Naomi Oliver is a Library Assistant at Blaxland library, as well a Blue Mountains-based artist who has exhibited her artwork both nationally and internationally. She has been involved in art gallery public programs and has contributed to HSC study material for NSW students. Naomi has her own website for you to look at.


John Merriman is the Local Studies librarian at Springwood library and fantastic photographer. You can check out his work on John's Flikr page:

Goodnight Beautiful by Dorothy Koomson

Plot outline : In Goodnight Beautiful Norma was never supposed to be a mother. Especially not to the child of a man she's spent her whole life loving, but relegated only to the status of best friend. But when Mal and his wife approach her and ask her to be a surrogate for them, she can't say no. She knows Stephanie has a history of mental health issues, much like Mal's mother did, but she also knows Mal will be the best father possible. Norma has always loved Mal, and he loved her but the timing has never been right. Mal won't leave his wife because of things that have happened in the past. When Stephanie discovers a text Mal sent to Norma while pregnant that says only 'Goodnight Beautiful', she changes her mind. She can't be the mother to Norma's child, and so she and Mal walk away without glancing back.
Five years later, Norma is married and raising Leo, her son who reminds her of Mal in every way possible. Since the night that Mal told her they didn't want the baby, she has systematically cut her family from her life as they were Mal's family too and the pain is too deep. One day, Leo has a bike accident and apart from a nose bleed seems fine. But the nose bleed persists and only gets heavier before Norma takes him to the hospital. By the end of the night, Leo is in a coma and her entire world has come crashing down. Her family and Mal enter back into her life as she fights to save her baby's life. (Precis source Angus and Robertson).


Review : This novel is evocative, and has several different layers to peel back. The author doesn't focus on the character development of one central character, but on several. It is a story of mental illness, the depths of human strength, the bonds that hold marriages together, and the deepest, purest love that can exist between a man and a woman. These two characters knew each other from birth, grew up like family, were soul mates and best friends, but their destiny was to always be each other's support, each other's everything, yet never lovers or spouses. Most enjoyable.

Reviewed by : Carolyn

Springwood Library Back in Business Today

With thanks to all the staff that have worked so hard, Springwood Library is back in business and open as normal.

Our thanks also to the library patrons who helped staff in the desperate dash to move books and other assets out of the way of the water. Your assistance was very much appreciated.

Springwood Library Storm Damage

Springwood had an amazing storm yesterday. The Library was inundated by rainwater. Here is a video that one of the Customer Services staff took.....



Here are photos of the damage to the books, equipment, carpet, ceiling tiles.....
The staff are doing a major cleanup today and hope to be open again tomorrow.

Springwood Library Closed Today

Springwood Library will be Closed today, Wednesday 6th January due to flood damage sustained in yesterday's sudden downpour.

Staff apologise for the inconvenience. Items can be returned to the After Hours Return bins. Other library branches open as normal and can be visited or called to renew items.

Blaxland Library 4739 4284
Lawson Library 4759 1446
Katoomba Library 4780 5750

Costa Book Awards Category Winners

The winners of the Costa Book Awards 2009 Novel, First Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book categories were announced in the UK overnight.

The Costa Novel Award was won by Colm Tóibin for Brooklyn.

"Poised, quiet and incrementally shattering - we all loved this book and can't praise it highly enough."

The Costa First Novel Award goes to Raphael Selbourne for Beauty.

"Pitch perfect on every level - we loved this book."


The Costa Biography Award was won by Graham Farmelo for The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Quantum Genius

"The extraordinary mind and achievements of Britain's Einstein are rendered here in the most compelling biography of the year."

The Costa Poetry Award went to Christopher Reid for A Scattering (on order at present), a tribute to his wife following her death in 2005.

"Intensely moving, compelling and honest - this is a highly readable collection of wonderful poems."

The Costa Children's Book Award was won by Patrick Ness for The Ask and the Answer (Book Two of the Chaos Walking trilogy - also on order at time of posting)

"From the first word, we were gripped by this dazzlingly-imagined, morally complex, compulsively-plotted tale. We are convinced that this is a major achievement in the making."

Follow the links from the judges comments for more information on each winner.

Follow this link for the Costa Awards Shortlisted books.

The Costa Book of the Year will be announced on 26th January 2010.

Discover World Heritage sites with Google Street View

I just had to share this : UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) has partnered with Google so that you can take a virtual walk around some World Heritage listed sites with Google Maps and and Street View. Look at it here.

(Double click on the picture to see it larger)

Among the sites listed so far are Pompei and Herculaneum, Santiago de Compostela and Stonehenge.

With Street View you can have a good look around these sites. It's very exciting. I had a keek at Stonehenge, you can get right in amongst the stones like you could when I was a little girl - nowadays tourists are kept at several metres distance.

Wonder how long before there's a pin in our own beloved Blue Mountains World Heritage Area?

Carolyn's Books of the Month - January 2010

Best read for the month : Goodnight Beautiful by Dorothy Koomson

Thriller : Girl Missing by Tess Gerritsen and 206 Bones by Kathy Reichs

General : Still Life by Joy Fielding

Australian Author : Ghost Child by Caroline Overington

Saga/Romance: Between Sisters by Kristin Hannah

Crime : Don’t Look Back by Scott Frost