Wednesday Book Club meeting

Rockdale Library's Wednesday book club will be meeting on Wednesday 6 August to discuss The man who loved children by Christina Stead. We will meet at Lydham Hall at 10.30am.
If you have read this book, please join us at Lydham Hall.

The Wednesday book club meets on the first Wednesday of every month.
In September we will discuss The cry of the curlew by Peter Watt

In July we discussed The ancestor game by Alex Miller. Some of the issues we discussed was where the characters belonged, as two of the main characters came to Australia from other countries and the third was 1st generation. We discussed how this was reflected in society today.

For more information please call Deanna 02 9562 1821

Threatened fauna in Rockdale - Childrens competition

Did you know we have a number of local threatened fauna species at Rockdale?

including:

• Green and Golden Bell Frog
• Grey-Headed Flying Fox
• Pied Oystercatcher
• Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
• Bar-tailed Godwit

The last 3 are birds.

Children in Rockdale can help save their local threatened species by entering the Dymocks Golden Paw Award. By creating a drawing of these animals the children will show the community what they look like, and people will recognise them when they see them. Entries close 7 September 2008. To enter visit the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife website at http://fnpw.org.au/goldenpaw.htm

Celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Culture at Arncliffe Branch Library

Here are examples of the murals on display at Arncliffe Branch Library.

The murals were done by local kids for the library's NAIDOC week celebrations. The murals are on exhibit until mid August at Rockdale, Sans Souci, Arncliffe and Bexley North branches.

Celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Culture at Rockdale Library and Community Information Service

Local kids were celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Culture during the school holidays in July at Rockdale Library. NAIDOC week kicked off with craft activities and mural painting with Aboriginal motifs. The murals are on exhibit until mid August at Rockdale, Sans Souci, Arncliffe and Bexley North branches.

A number of performers visited the libraries in the second week of the school holidays.

Reuben Andrew brought many Aboriginal artefacts and explained their significance to the children




On his way to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Sean Choolburra stopped by to show local kids traditional dancing, music and an amazing array of Aboriginal inventions.




Col Hardy and Matt Dea visited from Taronga Zoo to introduce kids to "Animals of the Dreamtime". Matt brought a snake, a baby crocodile, an echidna, a possum and many more animals and Col sang Dreamtime stories about the animals.

Rockdale Readers

Rockdale Readers will meet again on the 18th July 2008 at 5.30pm

We will be discussing March by Geraldine Brooks.

March is the father of the family in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women.

If you have read this book feel free to come along and join the discussion.

In June we discussed Carpentaria by Alexis Wright. This was a hard book to get into and only 2 of the group managed to finish it. Nonetheless we had a great discussion about the way it was written where dreamtime stories, myths and current events were woven together and told in the oral tradition. We also discussed the many characters in the book.

Interruptions to service

In late July the library will be updating it's computer systems. This means there will be an interruption in services for three days. You will still be able to borrow and return items, and join the library.

The catalogue and online and phone renewals will be unavailable. When the system is up again, you will be able to add ratings and reviews on items you've enjoyed.

We will notify you closer to the day when this is scheduled to occur. You can keep up to date by subscribing to Rockdale Library News. There are two ways to do this.

1) enter your email address in the subscribe via email box on the left hand side of the screen

2) you can subscribe in a reader of your choice by clicking on the icon.

June Bookvoucher Winners

Congratulations to Xin Er Yan, Bing Chen & Betty Mak who are our June winners of the Borders book vouchers.They have won a $25 borders gift card for renewing their loans on the web during June 2008.

Simply renew your loans during any month in 2008 exclusively via our catalogue in the library or on our website at http://library.rockdale.nsw.gov.au/ to go into the draw for a gift card

NAIDOC Week

It is NAIDOC week from the 6 - 13 July.
Please join Rockdale Library and Community Information Service in celebrating this week with our School Holiday Program.
For resources about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and issues see the list of websites below.

Subscribe to Rockdale Library News

You can keep up to date with what's on at the library by subscribing to Rockdale Library News. There are two ways to do this.
1) enter your email address in the subscribe via email box on the left hand side of the screen
2) you can subscribe in a reader of your choice by clicking on the icon

That way you will never miss the library news.

Picture from Author talk

On the 26th June Rockdale Library hosted a talk by Barbara Ferguson. About 20 people attended to hear her amazing talk about the time she spent in Vietnam from 1967 to 1975. It raised our awareness of what children faced in times of war, and continue to face in places of civil unrest.

Photo courtesy of Nguyet Huynh-Saunders