New Phone System: Teething Problems

The City of Boroondara is currently installing a new Council-wide VOIP telephone system. Library Services was the first area of Council to go live this weekend. Unfortunately, we are currently experiencing a number of problems with our external lines with customers. We apologize for any inconvenience we are causing customers while these issues are resolved.

Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2008

The prestigious Victorian Premier's Literary Awards will be announced at a dinner at Zinc in Federation Square on Monday 1 September. The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards were established in 1985 by John Cain, the Premier of Victoria at that time, to mark the centenary of the births of Vance and Nettie Palmer. John Cain is now President of the Library Board of Victoria.

These awards have grown greatly since the first few award categories in 1985. The categories for the 2008 awards are as follows:

2008 Awards

The Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction
The Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-fiction
The Prize for Young Adult Fiction
The Prize for an Unpublished Manuscript by an Emerging Victorian Writer
The CJ Dennis Prize for Poetry
The Louis Esson Prize for Drama
The Alfred Deakin Prize for an Essay Advancing Public Debate
The Prize for a First Book of History
The Prize for Indigenous Writing
The John Curtin Prize for Journalism
The Prize for Best Music Theatre Script
The Grollo Ruzzene Foundation Prize for Writing about Italians in Australia

To see all the titles which are shortlisted for 2008, read here.

New Library Phone Number!

From today, 30 August 2008, the City of Boroondara Library Service will have a new telephone number. It's 9278 4666. So in future if you want to ring the library service or any of our branches, you just need to remember the one number. How easy is that! So remember:

9278 4666

Melbourne - Unesco City of Literature

Melbourne has been named the second Unesco City of Literature. The timing of the announcement is apt as the Melbourne Writers Festival begins today.

Edinburgh became the first City of Literature chosen by the United Nations' cultural arm in 2004.

For more info about the City of Literature click here.

New Youth Services Blog

Last night was the grand finale of the About the Boys About the Girls series, entitled About us All - Crossing Boundaries. John Marsden and Anna Ciddor took it in turns to discuss the gender issue in writing for children and young adults, as well as discussing writing in general and the way in which they approach their writing. The evening was very interesting and a great hit with the audience who enjoyed hearing about the very different way in which authors plan (or not, in the case of John!) and write their books.

We also launched our new Youth Blog last night, it is called About the Books and the web address is www.aboutthebooks.blogspot.com. There is a link from our website as well.

Check it out for all the news and reviews from the Youth Services Team.

The 2008 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards

Short list for Fiction

• Burning In Mireille Juchau
• El Dorado Dorothy Porter
• Jamaica: A novel Malcolm Knox
• Sorry Gail Jones
• The Complete Stories David Malouf
• The Widow and Her Hero Tom Keneally
• The Zookeeper’s War Steven Conte

Short list for Non-fiction

• A History of Queensland Raymond Evans
• Cultural Amnesia: Notes in the Margin of My Time Clive James
• My Life as a Traitor Zarah Ghahramani with Robert Hillman
• Napoleon: The Path to Power, 1769–1799 Philip Dwyer
• Ochre and Rust: Artefacts and Encounters on Australian Frontiers Philip Jones
• Shakespeare’s Wife Germaine Greer
• Vietnam: The Australian War Paul Ham

The Australian Government has introduced the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards to recognise the major contribution of Australian literature to the nation’s cultural and intellectual life.

The awards offer a tax free prize of $100,000 for both a fiction and non-fiction work judged to be of the highest literary merit in each category.

For more information or to subscribe to the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards e-newsletter click here.

To check the library catalogue click here.

Click goes the Library series - eBay: an introduction to buying and selling

Enjoy the thrill of the chase and fossicking for treasures.

Learn to navigate the website, register as a member, list an item to sell, place bids to buy and discover some handy hints to make the most of your eBay experience.

The session is free but bookings essential.

When: Wednesday 10 September at 2.00pm
Where: Hawthorn Library Meeting Room, 584 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn
Phone: 9278 4666 or book online

Author Talk - Give your home a green makeover

Stuart McQuire is an environmental scientist who is focused on sustainable living and working. He is past President of the Alternative Technology Association, and is author of two books on water, including Water not down the drain, A guide to using rainwater and greywater at home. He developed the Waste Wise Program in Victoria, and worked on that program for a decade from 1995 to 2005 helping businesses and organisations transform their operations.

Stuart will talk about giving your home a green makeover.

This event is free, however bookings are essential.

Light refreshments will be served

When: Wednesday 10 September at 7.30pm
Where: Balwyn Library, 336 Whitehorse Road, Balwyn
Phone: 9278 4644 or book online

Author Talk - Healthy Ageing

Do you think about improving your lifestyle but don’t know where to start?

Come meet Suzanne Porter, author of several best selling books including ‘The anti-arthritis diet’ & ‘Cholesterol: keeping it low’.

Suzanne will speak on general health, relationships, low fat diets and positive ageing. She is a nurse and a former Deputy Director of Nursing. She has many years of experience helping people improve their health.

The event is free but bookings are essential.

When:Friday 5 September at 2pm
Where: Ashburton Library, 154 High Street, Ashburton
Phone: 9278 4633 or book online

Man Booker Long List announced

The judges for the 2008 Man Booker Prize for Fiction have announced the longlist for this year's prize.

The longlist of 13 books, often referred to as the ‘Man Booker Dozen', was chosen from 112 entries; 103 were submitted for the prize and nine were called in by the judges.

The titles are:

• Aravind Adiga The White Tiger
• Gaynor Arnold Girl in a Blue Dress
  
• Sebastian Barry The Secret Scripture
  
• John Berger From A to X
• Michelle de Kretser The Lost Dog
• Amitav Ghosh Sea of Poppies
• Linda Grant The Clothes on Their Backs
• Mohammed Hanif A Case of Exploding Mangoes
  
• Philip Hensher The Northern Clemency
  
• Joseph O'Neill Netherland
  
• Salman Rushdie The Enchantress of Florence
  
• Tom Rob Smith Child 44
  
• Steve Toltz A Fraction of the Whole
  

Click here to check the library catalogue.

Click here for a list of previous winners.