Kew Library Recollection
"I started going to the Kew Library about 20 years ago. It isn’t my local library, and that was back in the days when you usually had to prove you lived or worked in the area to join a public library. Kew Library, however, had a specialist Genealogy section, and people out of the area were permitted to join. Being a keen family historian, I joined up. The great thing was, that all the books usually reserved as reference books at the State Library or the Genealogical Society Library were borrowable at Kew, which was great for me as I had a small child and couldn’t study the books in the library.
While I was there, my daughter, Lili, climbed on the big bear, I borrowed books for myself, and for her. So it wasn’t unusual for me to emerge with a stack of books.
Once I became a writer, I need books for research and I’ve borrowed books from Kew on many diverse subjects such as Ned Kelly, the Olympic Games and Russian folk tales.
Through inter-library loans, Kew Library has also been my gateway to books in libraries in other suburbs, other states and even other countries. Nowadays, you can join any public library, but Kew is still my borrowing library of choice."
Carole Wilkinson is an award-winning author of books for children. She has a longstanding fascination with dragons and is interested in the history of everything.
