Fast Back.....!

Our Brisbane City Council Libraries have displays set up with popular titles which are available for loan. But there is a catch if you do choose to borrow these books...instead of the customary month for a loan, these books must be back in 7 days. Too easy I thought, after all I'm retired, so on Saturday I borrowed a big bundle  of books for Christmas reading and one was a FastBack. By Tuesday evening it became obvious that I hadn't got much reading done...

Yesterday I went to a Knit and Natter in the morning and then out to lunch with DH and some friends...no time to read. So late in the afternoon into the evening I was busy reading, reading,reading!!! 

This morning DH and I were out yet again...so no reading! 

But I was back reading this afternoon...and I'm almost at the end of the book...I'll be able to return the book to the library tomorrow, one day early. Phew...lol

So soon I'll be able to go back to some stitching, some tidying, some more decorating for Christmas, wrapping gifts and some folding/hanging up of clean laundry which is sitting in full baskets at the moment. 

In other words 'normal transmission' will resume! Lol

Peter James was an author recommended to me and this series features DS Roy Grace and this is the first one I've read...it was 'edge of seat' stuff but I did pick the 'bad guy'! I will certainly look for more of this series in the library...but maybe not a Fast Back :-)

Another BCC Library...

I recently wrote a post about my visit to the Grange City Council Library. There is another Northside library which has been a favourite of mine for quite a few years and not just for borrowing books! And that is Chermside Library.

There were even parking spots for seniors near the library steps...and seniors in this case meant 55+!

It was one of the first libraries to open on a Sunday and I have spent many a Sunday afternoon there, browsing the shelves or sitting in a comfortable chair looking through quilting mags while I sip a cappuccino. Yes, this library had a coffee shop!
After I retired I started going to Sisters of Stitch; a group who meet fortnightly in a meeting room in this library.

I once wrote a post about a visitor who came to Sisters of Stitch. Bob had taken up tapestry when he retired and he stitched his own designs.

This 90 year old charmed us,and we all loved his work especially his Tewkesbury Cathedral tapestry which had won a first prize in show.
I've been to an author talk in this library as well.

William McInnes

Then early this year I found out that the library was going to be demolished and a new 'you beaut' multi level building would replace it. There would be 2 levels of car parking, the library and also Council Offices/Business centre. This is all predicted to take 18 months. The library closed on July 19. Until the new library and Business Centre is built, there is a temporary Chermside library in some council offices on Gympie Rd,just past Chermside Shopping Centre. 

The temporary Chermside Library is inside this council offices building

Luckily Sisters of Stitch were allocated a meeting room in this temporary library accommodation. I've only made it to 1 SoS afternoon so far, and the new meeting room was fine, but I've heard that finding a park has become a bit of a problem. 

Yesterday I went to check out what was happening at the redevelopment site on Hamilton Rd...

The library building is well and truly gone now...and there is a huge hole. 

 While I was there, trucks kept leaving the site filled with dirt.

Very dusty!

The Chermside Pool Complex is still operating so the roadway is there for patrons to access the car park. 

Here is an artist's impression of what the finished Library/Business centre will look like by the end of 2016.

Just hope the cafe comes back! :-)

Some signs I've seen...

 Firstly a couple of signs that caught my interest in New Zealand last year...
The first one was truly amazing for someone who comes from a country where you are not supposed to take shopping trolleys out of the supermarket carpark. Of course people do and we see trolleys abandoned around the streets waiting to be collected. I guess you could say that this NZ supermarket takes a proactive stance and good on them!

 Since coming home I've seen that we have these here in good old Brisbane...but such a concept was new to me last May! lol

Talking of dogs...look at the signs at the front of the Albany Creek Library...

 And a 'little dog height' water bowl...

And talking of libraries...last year in the BCC Chermside Library car park these designated spaces were provided right next to the ramp and near the front steps...and apparently 'senior' in this case is defined as over 55!

Next is an old photo taken 2 years ago. This is the sign on the back of the door of a public loo in Warwick (Qld not UK). The local council is obviously concerned with a person's modesty and dignity...love it!

And now another 2 older photos; these signs annoy me .
Outside the local post office...I can accept that AP vehicles can park there because they are excepted or are an exception to the rule.

The next sign was in a local department store. Friends whom I showed the photo to were quick to point out that 'Blaq' is a brand name...but I wasn't concerned with that...so I then asked them about the word 'buisness'...they hadn't seen that. I wonder if every Myer store in Australia had the same sign?

The last sign photo is not one of my photos but is one that was circulated on Facebook a few years ago...

Over my almost 40 years in the classroom, I saw children making the same mistake as the sign maker did in this poster...cringe...hope this wasn't made by one of my former students. Your eyes are drawn to the 'you save' part so maybe many didn't notice the mistake in the subtraction. :-/ 

What's on at the local library...

Last Tuesday I went to a workshop at the local library. It was an 'Introduction to downloadable books from the library'. The workshop promised, 'Take a guided tour on how to borrow and download free digital books from the library catalogue. Discover where to find help when downloading these digital books at home'.
So it was, that clutching my iPad, I turned up at 10.30 to meet Bronwyn, the librarian running the workshop. There was only one other student.

Here's Bronwyn, just starting the workshop...

I've copied the list of items/services that are available through Brisbane City Council when you click on 'eBooks and downloads'...quite a lot eh!

  eBooks & Downloads
1. Bolinda Digital eAudiobooks
2. OverDrive Download
3. OneClickdigital eAudiobooks
4. Freegal Music Downloads
5. EBSCOhost Clipper DL eBooks
6. Good Reading Magazine Online
7. in2Era (Interactive Children's books)
1. International Children's Digital Library
2. RealTime Health
3. Safari Books Online
4. AudioBookCloud (formerly Tumble Talking Books)
5. TumbleBooks - eBooks for eKids
6. beamafilm


Here is the same list as you would see it on the computer screen when you access the library on the internet.

Now this workshop concentrated on #2,  OverDrive Download. We learned how to install the  OverDrive Media Console on a device (IOS,PC, eReader etc).  OverDrive is American, but a consortium of Australian libraries has been formed so that members can access the thousands of e Books that are available.  We were told that 3 of the world's 6 major publishers have joined OverDrive so there is a wide variety of literary genres available for loan.

A Kobe eReader, Sony eReader and an iPad. But if you don't have an eReader device you can install an app to a PC or Mac which will allow you to upload digital books :-) and read them on the computer

You use your library ID to access this and it's free! You can borrow these eBooks for 7, 14 or 21 day loans...you select the time period you want. When the time is up...the book disappears from your device...and as Bronwyn the librarian said, the days of overdue books are over! (my '1950s model' brain , found this part difficult to comprehend, lol )

Now I would suspect that if Brisbane City Council libraries offer this eBooks' loan service, other public libraries would too. Here in Brisbane, local libraries run these workshops on a regular basis, so you just need to enquire. It's worth it.

 Bronwyn also  drew our attention to #4 on the list...Freegal Music downloads. Library patrons are able to download 3 music tracks per week, absolutely free. The amount of music available through Freegal to choose from is quite large. I would not have known about that if I hadn't attended the workshop. I think our local library staff should become everyone's best friends!

I have installed the appropriate software on my iPad but have not as yet, borrowed an eBook because I have 3 'real' library books that I'm still reading. But I've surfed through the titles and have my eye on a couple of craft books on quilting and some mystery genre novels as well.