Youth Week Art Exhibition Winners Announced

This was the first year that the exhibition was held in a professional art space, Gallery NTK in Croydon. It showcased works by 39 local young artists, aged between 12-24 who either lives, studies or works in the Ashfield Council area. During the exhibition, people were invited to vote for their favourite artwork. We received 90 votes in total. The Winner of the Most Popular vote was Nicolette Khoury for Still Life with Flowers.

to read more...

New Books

Book Reviews featured in the upcoming Library Gazette

Confessions of a liar, thief and failed sex god by Bill Condon YF COND
If you loved Craig Silvery's Jasper Jones you will be hooked on Bill Condon's latest novel.
It's 1967. Young Neil is about to lose his brother to War, be faced with the brutal death of one friend and discover another, he falls in love and unwillingly treads a path that may lead to murder.
A great gut twisting read, highly recommended for older readers.

Matty forever by Elizabeth Fensham JF FENS
With a friend like Matty nothing else matters. A beautiful tale of friendship, racial tolerance and family, that could be set in any Australian suburban community. Ideal for children aged 7 to 9, this story is broken into short accessible chapters and will be easy for children to emphathise with.

The greatest blogger in the world by Andrew McDonald JF MCDO
Charlie's mission is to Be the Hero, get the Girl and Save the Day, oh, and win the Greatest Blogger in the World Competition. He has plenty to Blog about – a mate with an illegal red-cordial business at school, a little brother who only wears a tuxedo, a mother who wants world dominanion and a duck named Barcode. A quirky book that is targeted for years 5 and 6, but is a challenging read.

Pink by Lili Wilkinson YF WILK
Ava is intelectual, uber-cool, black, seriouse and a lesbian; But she wants to be perky, pink and popular. So she is stripping the black from her hair, hanging with the pastels and joining the school musical. Ava is determined to be everything the world wants her to be. Pink is witty, sharp and chocked full of awesome.

The poison throne by Celine Kiernan YF KIER
Set in a fantastical medieval Europe, fifteen year old Wynter Moorehawke is a unique girl; qualified in a man's trade, best friends to the princes, speaks to the kings' cats and knows a few spectres to boot. This first book of the Moorehawke Trilogy is compelling storytelling. If you liked Phillip Pullman's Dark materials trilogy you will love this.
Eight must read picture books:

Crazy hair written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Dave McKean : Obscurly amazing!

Work Experience

We have had two lads from Sydney Tech this week working with us, Suvra and Jeffrey. They have done a few different things and gotten out and about.

A few words from the boys:
Jeffrey : This week we did a lot of things such as scan books, stack books, move books into boxes, help the little kids at summerhill community centre, and then we helped with the setup of a harmony day concert. yes indeed it was a great week i would for sure definitely recommend this to anyone for work experience and, a little bit, of hard...work. yes thats right this place is no bludge this is full of hard work, **edit**. it has been a great week (Y) =]
Suvra: This week at work experience we met alot friendly faces who made us do countless task over the week. My favourite was getting the old books and recycling them **edit**. We were playing basketball with the books. However packing reference books into boxes then palcing them in the foyer was quite boring and repetitive but it was worth it because there would be nothing else to do. It was "definately" fun watching little kids being entertained. But overall I would recommend this job to anyone looking to do work experience.

Just more words...

An update on stuff in Library world! New Ashfield Library

Work continues on the new Ashfield Civic Centre redevelopment which includes the building of a larger library and a youth centre. As a result Ashfield Library will relocate for approximately 13 weeks from Friday 18 December 2009. A temporary library will open on January 4 underneath Ashfield Town Hall. Library hours: Monday–Friday 9am–5pm, Saturday 9am–4pm, Sunday Closed.

More info on the redevelopment

New World Music
Ashfield Library now has a gorgeous new World Music collection – "music from around the world". Karen writes: "World Music may include: non-Western music, folk music, music played with traditional instruments, music from urban communities and modern interpretations and adaptations of traditional music. Our collection includes a fusion of musical styles. Some of the new CDs featured include: ‘So Frenchy, So Chic: the unofficial soundtrack to the French Film Festival’, ‘The Rough Guide to the Music of Sudan’, ‘The Rough Guide to the Music of China’ and many more. "

Some new stuff:

Bustin’ Down the Door narrated by Edward Norton ASH DVD Lifestyle category
In the 1970s a group of young ambitious surfers from Australia and South Africa headed to Hawaii to prove themselves by surfing the biggest waves on the planet. The Hawaiians welcomed these brash upstarts, but the relationship turned sour when the newcomers became successful and a violent clash of cultures resulted. When this was finally sorted out these surfers pioneered their sport and lifestyle and made surfing viable as a professional career, unheard of up to then, as surfers were perceived as hippy dropouts. There is beautiful photography and intimate interviews with surfers even I have heard of, including Rabbit Bartholomew, Kelly Slater and Mark Richards – household names now. You don’t need to be inside the surfing culture to appreciate the passion and important history portrayed in this touching and lovingly produced film.

Summer Blonde by Adrian Tomine ASH Graphic Novel collection

There are four separate stories in this exquisite graphic novel. Tomine’s strength lies in the depth of his character writing. Tomine is a young, alternative graphic novel writer, who paces his stories sparingly. His characters are lonely, disillusioned and very real. The stories end with you not knowing what will happen next – will there be a happy ending? – probably not. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

What's comin up:

Teen Book Group
RED Book is a book group for young people. Its next meeting is Thursday 29 October and then Thursday November 26 at the Summer Hill Community Centre at 5. 00pm- 6.30pm.

William Kostakis- Being an teen author writing for teens
William is the award-winning author of Loathing Lola, the side-splittingly funny story of Australia's newest reality TV star, fifteen-year-old Courtney Marlow, with a love story, some mystery, betrayal, cuss words and Lola to boot.

In 2005, William won Sydney Morning Herald Young Writer of the Year. Come and meet William and find out the stories behind the book and on being a young writer. Don't miss your chance to meet this talented young author and get copies of the books signed.

Williams webpage and on twitter
Date Friday 6 November

Venue Ashfield Council Chambers, 260 Liverpool Road Ashfield

Time 10am arrival, talk 10.15am till 11am

RSVP 9716 1827

INKY Awards - Vote Now

The Inkys are international awards for teenage literature, voted for online by the readers of http://www.insideadog.com.au/. There are three awards: the Golden Inky for an Australian book, the Silver Inky for an international book, and the Creative Reading Prize, won by a young person for a creative response to a book they love, in any format they choose.

[voting is open to anyone under 20 years of age] http://www.insideadog.com.au/inkys/index.html

A Rose for the Anzac Boys

A Rose for the Anzac Boys by Jackie French is a CBC Shortlisted title for the Older Readers category. It is a heart wrenching novel on the ‘War to end all Wars‘, we follow Midge Macpherson on her journey in search of her 'missing' twin brother Tim, and her determination to do her bit for the cause.

Midge and her friends Ethel and Anne start a canteen in France, caring for the endless flow of wounded soldiers returning from the front. Midges' experiences as an ambulance driver are horrific, she is thrust into carnage and terror scenes I could never have imagined. But there is also courage, love and friendship - this book brought a tear to my eye many times.

I highly recommend this book and I thank Jackie French for sharing this story with us. It is a must read for every Australian and holds the true spirit of ANZAC between it's covers.

Jackie French wrote on her Blog a response to the many letters and requests for a sequel:

"I don't think I'll write a sequel to ‘A Rose for the Anzac Boys’ but I have always known what happened to them afterwards.

Midge spent the first few days at the farm crying, finally letting go of all she had seen – which helped her relationship with her mother-in-law to be, who fussed over her so protectively that she didn’t mind as Midge slowly took over managemnt of the farm and their lives. .

Midge and Harry built the new house up on the hill. The farm became one of the most prosperous in the region. Midge had three daughters, and then one son – he enlisted in World War Two but developed appendicitis so never went overseas. She and her Harry lived a long and happy life together, surrounded by many grandchildren. She died at 89, asleep on the verandah looking out at her farm and her family.

Ethel never married, but grew closer to her brother, finally recognising his courage too – how he had supported her and the canteen, organising supplies, refusing to fight for a cause he didn't believe in. Ethel was offered to be made a Dame of the British Empire for her work organising food supplies in World War Two. She refused, and with her brother's support, entered Parliament. She died relatively young, at 62, still fighting for her causes.

Anne and her Gavin worked in Mesopotamia till the late ‘30s, when political tensions made it too dangerous to work there. Anne's daughters were born in 1937 and 1939.

Anne's scars faded with time, and her consciousness of them faded too. Gavin worked in Intelligence in World War Two; Anne ran the local billeting for refugees.

After the war Gavin was offered a professorship at the University of Queensland. Anne finally took her degree, and eventually became a part-time tutor. Although not wealthy by the standards of the aristocracy, Anne's family money meant they lived comfortably and generously, in a large house on the Brisbane River near the university, filled with students, discussion and laughter.

The three girls met only once more altogether, at the christening of Anne's first daughter, but kept in touch with love and letters throughout their lives.
When Anne moved to Australia one of Midge's granddaughters lived with them while she studied in Brisbane."

Other historical novels by the author:
The Goat Who Sailed the World
Pharaoh
They Came On Viking Ships
Hitler's Daughter
A War for Gentlemen
Tom Appleby Convict Boy
Macbeth and Son
Walking the Boundaries

Further Reading:
Australian War Memorial Kids HQ in Flanders Fields

Supanova: did you go?

Supanova was great!

The Dome was packed, so much bigger than last time.
The Madman panel was interesting, lots of new things coming our way. 'Loveless', you will know it if your into yaoi, is being released as a complete series later this year. 'Blood the last vampire' has been out in anime but is now Live action! The clip looked good. You can check out the new Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood full episodes at Madman.
The noise was a bit much though, coudn't really hear Sly, even with the mic.

I bumped into Wolverine (pictured), I love CosPlay! This guys must have spend ages working on his claws, they look fantastic! My friend Jane was happy to see so many Sailor Scouts this year.

We got to have Q&A with Twilight superstar Rachelle "Victoria" Lefevre (pictured), she was so sweet - didn't seem evil at all. She shared many stories and told us about what it was like on set and that she is in Team Edward. Her favourite book is SHE’S COME UNDONE by Wally Lamb - am ordering a copy today!

Hey did you know there is a Dr Who Club of Australia - I saw K9 but there was no sign of the Dr!

If you didn't make it this year, it's back in 2010.

Supanova Pop Culture Expo

The Supanova Pop Culture Expo hits Sydney this weekend, June 26th to 28th, at The Dome in Olympic Park. If you don't know, Supanova is an annual celebration of pop culture, featuring manga, anime, stars and merchandise from film, television, gaming and other forms of comics.

Clipped from SMASH newsletter 13:
A taste of some of the awesome guests instore for Sydney this year:* Karl Urban - DOOM, Pathfinder, The Chronicles of Riddick, The Lord ofthe Rings, The Bourne Supremacy* Dirk Benedict - Battlestar Galactica, The A-Team* Jake Lloyd - "Anakin Skywalker" - The Phantom Menace* Richard Hatch - Battlestar Galactica - the Original and theRe-Imagined* Spike Spencer - Neon Genesis Evangelion, Martian Successor Nadesico* Christopher Sabat - DragonBall Z, One Piece, Fullmetal Alchemist,Tsubasa Chronicle* Dave Gibbons - The Watchmen, Star Wars: Vader's Quest, Dr. Who, ThePhantom* Stanislav Ianevski - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire* Rachelle Lefevre - Twilight, New Moon* Herb Jefferson Jr. - Battlestar Galactica, Rich Man, Poor Man, TheYellow Rose

See you there!

Vampires, Aliens and Monsters Cartoon Workshop

Join us after school on Thursday April 2 for a Youth Week Fun activity.

You will learn to create stacks of your own crazy cartoon character vampires, aliens and monsters in no time at all. Cartoon Dave will lead the way and you will see how easy cartooning can be. The event is free just drop in at 4pm.

Dave has even written some books (click here so you can get them at your library).

Trends in borrowing

Just a quick note, It has been a few weeks since an update on any library activities - that's not because I haven't done anything - rather that I have been doing to much.

All the Summer Reading Challenge stuff is almost ready to launch, are you ready to Get in the Game? Along with the joy of reading, and of course the thrill of the competition (I know you don't have to be the best - but you cant help wanting to win can you!) There will also be some Board of Studies afternoons in December - that's board games and snacks in the libraries after school (Homework is on hold, but the tutor will be there if you have a mean teacher who has given you some) . As well as after Christmas we have a heap of holiday activities all in the sporty theme to go with the Summer Reading Challenge (not that I normally accessorize).

In the theme of reading, I was hanging out with a group (45) of childrens' and youth librarians on Thursday and we discussed what you and your friends are reading. That's right we do talk about you amongst ourselves (hope that doesn't sound too creepy). Did you know that there has been a state wide drop of 13% in kids and teens reading non-fiction (that's information books for you non library types) and a gigantic 43% increase in teen books being borrowed! What's so amazing is that traditionally librarians have said 'those teens don't read' and scarily some still think that (they arn't childrens' or youth librarians though).

So in accordance with this trend and many other little things I've noticed about our reading community at Ashfield, I am planning on merging (read mash-up) the kids and adults non-fiction (info books) together and expanding the teen area a bit further. Now of course you do get a say, so if you think its a horrifically catastrophic mistake feel free to email me and say so alexanderm@ashfield.nsw.gov.au.no.spam.

Something else I probably should tell you is that the Council will be advertising shortly for people aged between 12-24 to join a youth council advisory thingy. So if you are (or know) someone who is passionate about our community start thinking about joining. It wont actually be called the youth council advisory thingy, but you will know it when you see it (and I will point it out here anyway).

Oh, and next week we have Mike who will be spending some time with us at the library for work experience, so he will be featuring here soon!

Ok, that's enough procrastination, I have an essay to finish.
Have fun.

PS. Did you know JK Rowling has a new book coming out soon?

SMASH 08 - pre register

Now I know that you know, but just in case you dont know (what SMASH is that is), let me tell you. SMASH is an Anime con. Just in case you dont know what an Anime con is:

An anime convention is an event or gathering in a venue where the primary focus is on anime and manga as a fan driven event. An anime convention allows fans to meet and interact with other like minded people, show off their own creative talents, buy anime and manga related goods and celebrate their fandom in a social environment. Simply put, an anime con is a place for anime fans to gather and have fun, spend all their yearly savings and buy art & merchandise until they go bankrupt. source

SMASH is a one day Anime convention on August 2nd at Roundhouse@UNSW with a $10 entry fee if you pre-register, $15 if you pay at the door.

Hidenobu Kiuchi

SMASH! 2008 is going to have the very first Japanese Voice Actor to make an appearance at an Australian Convention!

Kiuchi is a talented seiyuu, well known for his role as Oshitari Yuushi from Prince of Tennis, and more recently, Ryohei Sasagawa from Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

He has also starred in a number of leading roles including, but not limited to, Kenzo Tenma (Monster), Ren Honjo (Nana), Hei (Darker than Black), Ryuuren Ran (Saiunkoku Monogatari), and José (Gunslinger Girls); his credits also include Rurouni Kenshin, Death Note, Pokemon, Hunter x Hunter and many more!

Now do you know what I'm talking about?
See ya there!

the Gnomes are coming, the Gnomes are coming!!!

This school hols, get down, dirty and express yourself with a warrior Gnome.

Terracotta Warrior Gnomes
For teens who would like to exercise their artistic side,
Clay modelling to design your own warrior Gnome.
2pm Tuesday 2 Oct @ Ashfield Library

2pm Tuesday 9 Oct @ Haberfield Library

Contact the Library or speak to Children’s Librarian for more details (02) 9716 1827

For the full holiday program checkout the library website.

I'm here and there's no excuses!

Hey, I have finally got the guts to mash up my 'library world' with your online reality, and yes there is a library world, you just need to discover it!
This Blog is called Pretxts, cause it is subliminally providing you with cool library world things like, interesting information, what's happening updates, links that make homework easier and more.
ta

“Youth does not require reasons for living, it only needs pretexts.”
Jose Ortega y Gasset Spanish philosopher / humanist.