Friends of the Wagga Wagga City Library
PO Box 5571
WAGGA WAGGA
No 4, May 2014
One Book, One Wagga: “Spirit House” by Mark Dapin
This program concludes with a Gala Dinner at the RSL Club on Friday May 9 th . The cost is $40 for a three course meal and complimentary glass of wine. Bookings for tables are being taken at the loans desk of the library, payment is required at the time of booking, and the tickets will ensure the holder receives the glass of wine.
The dinner will have the author Mark Dapin, as guest of honour. Mark will talk about the background to the book. The Friends have booked one table, so please ask for that
when booking. The Australian Army Band Kapooka will provide live music for the evening, and
Simon Wallace from ABC Riverina will be the compere for the evening.
In conjunction with the Mark Dapin Author visit, there are 2 other events planned as part of the
“One Book, One Wagga program.
On Friday 9 th May at 10am at the RSL Club, in the Mirage Room. There is an event for HSC students. “Meet the author Forum”. A Q & A forum with
Mark, dealing with the struggle of the hero of the book to come to terms with his experiences as a Prisoner of War in the notorious Changi Prison, and on the Thai-Burma Railway. This fits in with the theme of Belonging, and is well suited to senior
English and History students.
Bookings are essential, but the program is free. Phone 69269700, or email wcl@wagga.nsw.gov.au
Another event in conjunction with the One Book, One Wagga program, is the
Writer’s Workshop to be conducted by Mark Dapin. This will be held on
Saturday 10 th May, from 10am till 12.20pm, at the library. The cost is $20,
and bookings are essential. Ph: 02 6926 9700
Law Week talk: Best interests of the child. This seminar will be held by the
Riverina Family Law Pathways Network, on Tuesday 13 th May, from 4 to 6pm, in the Community Learning Space in the library. The topic is “Best interests of the child – What really is in children’s best interests”. This is a free session, but bookings are essential as refreshments will be provided. Book with Keryn
Foley, phone 02 6923 9100, or Keryn.Foley@racr.relationships.org.au
.

Club Celluloid: This month the movie is “Mary and Max”. An animated film by
Adam Elliot, it stars Toni Collette, Eric Bana and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. It is a tale of 2 unlikely pen pals, 8 year old Mary in Melbourne, and 40 year old Max in New York, and follows their life and its interconnects over 20 years. It will be screened on Thursday 8 th May, at 7pm.
There are a couple of author visits coming up. Firstly, Monday 12 th May, at
5pm in the Community Learning Space, Psychologist Rita McInnes is the author of “The i-brainmap”. Developed over a number of years of clinical practice, it aims to help people handle life stresses and move on in life. This new book is also available as an e-book for purchase. The author’s website is: http://ibrainmap.com.au/ This session is free.
Next in line is Janet Werkmeister, with her new book, “From wireless to
wallabies: a life of Norman McCance”, her grandfather. Norman led an interesting life as a high-profile radio broadcaster, and then as a naturalist. Anybody interested in the process of writing a biography of an ancestor, and the research processes, would value this session, as well as the general interest in a fascinating person’s life story.
And last one for the month, on Tuesday 27 th May, at 5pm, John Sheahan will speak about his first novel, “The bracelet”. John was a teacher who lived in Wagga for many years before relocating with his family to a new lifestyle in Penguin on the north coast of Tasmania. This session is free also.
Some very interesting new statistics, now available about our Wagga City library usage. The door count for March 2014 is 16% up on March 2013, which means 19,000 people used the library to
attend events during the month, use Wi-Fi access, and/or borrow materials of all sorts. Remember, this doesn’t include the small children who don’t trigger the counter, or are in a pusher or pram as they arrive.
To help with this increase in usage, the library has installed some new technology called Smart Bin, which automatically returns the item to be available, and off your own borrowing record, so there are no holdups when you go to borrow again soon after returning the items. There are also three new self-check
outlets, one is especially a child-sized kiosk, which the kids love to use. This new equipment allows for more time for staff to provide quality personal customer service, programming and technology assistance for users.
Next monthly meeting for the Friends is on Tuesday 13 th May, in the level zero staff area at
5.30pm.