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Edition 28, November 2009
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Library eNews
Welcome to Library eNews, where we keep you up to date with all the latest news, events and happenings at Gold Coast Libraries.
Library happenings
For the latest information on what's happening at your local branch library, go to the current Calendar of Events.
In this issue
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Useful links
Download one of these great eAudiobooks now!
Contact us
We hope you enjoy this issue. We value your feedback. For comment or enquiries, please email:
lcs@goldcoast.qld.gov.au
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Mac compatible eAudiobooks now available for download!
We've just added a new format of eAudiobooks to our OverDrive downloadable eAudiobook, eBook and Music service. With the new MP3 format, customers can now download books directly to Mac computers. This new format also expands the range of eAudiobooks that are compatible with iPods.
In addition to the MP3 format, we've also just added EPUB eBooks. EPUB is the emerging standard for eBooks and is increasingly the format that publishers are using for new release books. For instance, the latest Dan Brown book, The Lost Symbol, is available to check out and download on the OverDrive service as an EPUB eBook. A hot tip for eNews subscribers: You'll find there are far fewer holds on the eBook than the print version. Why not jump the hold queue and borrow the eBook instead of the print?
Need help using OverDrive? Ask at your branch library or email the OverDrive support team.
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Readers' rendezvous with Di Morrissey
Di Morrissey is one of the most successful writers Australia has ever produced, and with 16 consecutive bestsellers to her name, she shows no sign of slowing down. Meet Di and hear her talk about her latest novel, The Silent Country, at our next Readers' rendezvous event.
Places are limited. Please phone (07) 5581 1555 or email brolibrary@goldcoast.qld.gov.au to book.
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Free wifi, BYO laptop
Did you know that branch libraries across the Gold Coast now offer free wireless Internet access? Library Hotspots have been progressively rolled out to branch libraries over the last 12 months and free wireless access is now available at Broadbeach, Burleigh Heads, Burleigh Waters, Coolangatta, Elanora, Helensvale, Nerang, Robina, Runaway Bay and Southport branch libraries.
To use this great service, simply bring your wireless device with you when you next visit and see staff at the Information Desk to get a wireless access receipt. It's your ticket to wireless connectivity at Gold Coast libraries!
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All aboard for a journey through the Coast's railway history
Are you a railway enthusiast? In November, the Local Studies Library is presenting a session on the history of the railway lines of the Gold Coast. Now that train travel is expanding on the Gold Coast, it's the perfect time to find out about the original rail line. Through anecdotes, photographs and documented histories, we'll explore the route the line travelled, how the train impacted tourism and business and how the Gold Coast was affected by the closure of the line.
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Cultures on the Coast: Saudi Arabia
Join Gold Coast Libraries for a day of free cultural activities brought to you by the Saudi Club, Gold Coast. The program for the day features a Saudi reception, complete with Arabian tent, as well as a documentary screening and a chance to taste traditional Saudi coffee and desserts.
Please phone (07) 5581 7200 or email soulibrary@goldcoast.qld.gov.au to book.
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Money management and more at Helensvale Branch Library
In September, the Smith Family presented a four-week course at Helensvale Branch Library on how to manage your money. Topics covered included:
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how to set financial goals
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how to identify spending leaks
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how to manage your debt
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information on accessing your credit file
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all you need to know about superannuation
After four weeks, friendships have formed and participants have made plans to catch up at a local cafe. Of course, participants will know how to budget for the outing!
Due to its success, Helensvale Branch Library will again host the Learn to manage you money course in January 2010. Book now for this or for one starting on 26 November 2009 at Nerang Branch Library.
Please check the details in the library Calendar of Events. Bookings are required and places fill quickly. Contact the host branch library to book.
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Bringing Gold Coast Libraries to you!
The Mobile Library offers a great service to residents across the Gold Coast, particularly for those customers who live in the northern region. We've added a number of new stops this year, so customers in the Coomera and Ormeau areas have been enjoying increased access to the Mobile Library.
Did you know that we manage to squeeze more than 8000 library items on the truck? You'll find all of the types of materials you'd expect to find in a branch library, including books for adults and children, audiobooks, magazines, and DVDs. Better still, if the item you want is not on the shelves, the friendly staff will show you how to search the online catalogue and place holds on the items you want, which will then be made available to you to pick up from the Mobile Library.
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Get writing... write here, right now!
Have you always wanted to be an author? Wherever you are with your writing, whether you've got a few scribbled lines or a completed manuscript, this inspirational and instructional series of talks is right for you.
Join published authors for an afternoon of professional tips, tricks and advice.
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Get started at 12.30pm. Kick-start your writing with a session of creative ideas, character development and plotting
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Keep going with the 1.30pm session. Learn how to research, how to get organised and how to avoid writers' block
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Wrap it up from 2.30pm. Writing 'The End' isn't the end. This session covers editing your work, finding an agent and getting published.
Places are limited. Please phone (07) 5581 1600 or email roblibrary@goldcoast.qld.gov.au to book.
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November is NaNoWriMo
Continuing on the writing theme, if you're keen to get started on your first novel, then perhaps NaNoWriMo is for you.
They say everyone has at least one book in them. NaNoWriMo is your chance to write yours! From 1 November, participate in 30 days and nights of literary abandon. By 30 November, you'll have a 50,000 word novel to call your very own.
NaNoWriMo is an international event that has tens of thousands of participants annually. The idea is that you write every day, with a focus on getting words on the page. Because you've got such a limited window of time in which to produce your novel, the emphasis is on output, not quality. Focussing on actually getting words - any words, regardless of quality - on the page is a great way to overcome writer's block and the daunting task of facing a blank page.
For every budding author who was ever too overwhelmed by the enormity of the idea of writing a novel, NaNoWriMo is a fun way to get the creative juices flowing.
Intrigued? Find out more on the NaNoWriMo website.
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Beyond The Lost Symbol
The latest instalment from Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol, continues the adventures of Robert Langdon. This much anticipated novel has generated significant hype, as well as spurned interest in freemasonry. For those who are interested in developing their knowledge of the freemasons, we've compiled a list of books you can find in the collection that will give you an insight into this somewhat mysterious group.
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Book review: Literary (and not so literary) travels
Each month, a library staff member will share a review of a book they've read recently. This month, Marian, Manager of Library Services and Cultural Development at Gold Coast City Council, shares what she's been reading in the last month.
Holidays are also a great chance to catch up on reading - not the high brow, 'important' kind, but the fiction that I don't get to read throughout the year. Long plane trips and layovers in foreign airports provide opportunities for me to indulge in some guilt-free leisure reading: there is no housework calling me in the background; no kids' sporting events to be at; no errands that need running. Just long stretches of empty time begging to be filled up with fantastic fiction.
On a recent trip, I picked up the latest from two of chic lit's greatest, Marian Keyes and Sophie Kinsella, before I even left the airport. Keyes delivers in The Brightest Star in the Sky a surprising narrative, full of the three dimensional, slightly dysfunctional characters we've come to expect from this chic lit great. Kinsella's Twenties Girl was just what I needed in a holiday read: lots of laughs. Interestingly, both books featured a ghostly presence.
Neither of these books could be considered a 'heavy' read, and I found myself powering through them. Luckily, I'd planned ahead, and had preloaded my iPod with a couple of eAudiobooks from OverDrive. I listened my way through Golden Mountain, the true and gripping story of Irene Kai as she struggles with the transition from very traditional China to the western world. The story is told via the lives of four generations of women in her family. Quite a contrast to my first two holiday reads, this was a somewhat confronting yet inspiring read.
So, a lesson for my next trip: pack more eAudiobooks It was a pleasure to listen to Golden Mountain on my flight home - no tired eyes, no knocking elbows with my next door neighbour, and no heavy books to lug on board!
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Gold Coast City Council, PO Box 5042, Gold Coast MC Queensland 9729 |
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© 2009 Gold Coast City Council
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