On Thursday 15th August, after the Annual General Meeting of the Friends, Andrew Piper of the Sate Library of South Australia will tell the story of South Australians of World War I.  They are the subject of a special project of the Sate Library run by Andrew, who is also working on a related project which will include a new web resource of the records of South Australian Red Cross Information Bureau.  This should be available by early 2015, in time for the 100th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli.

This will be a very interesting talk given by a person who has a deep knowledge of the State Library’s preservation archives.  Andrew has also developed the exhibition programme, websites and the content delivery system.  Further details are available on http://guides.slsa.sa.gov.au/content.php?pid=423077&sid=3774493.

All members of the public are mist welcome to attend.  After Andrew’s talk, we will be offering a cup of hot soup and a convivial beverage.

All members of the pubk

The Annual General Meeting of the Friends of the Barossa Library will be held at the Nuriootpa Council Chambers on Thursday 15th August.  This year we have changed the time for the meeting to 5.30 pm, recognising that the nights are cold and most people can get there more conveniently at the earlier time.

President Jill Stevens will present her Annual Report, and Treasurer Paddy Carter will present her report on the finances for the year.  Then the election of office-bearers will be held: all positions are open for nomination, including President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Committee Members.  THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME  INVOLVED!  The Friends Committee is devoted to assisting the work of the Barossa Library, not only financially, but also in improving the literacy and love of literature essential to our Barossa community.  We are looking for new ideas, different approaches, other viewpoints, and we would love to get your contribution.

After the elections, Guest Speaker, Andrew Price of the State Library, will talk to us about “South Australians in World War 1: their story”, which will no doubt be of great interest to many of the Friends.  The evening will end socially with a cup of soup and a convivial beverage.

WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOU THERE!!

President Jill Stevens and Bill Biscoe attended the recent forum of the Friends of the Libraries Association at Partridge House, Glenelg, hosted by the Holdfast Bay Friends.  A most interesting day which reinforced how much work the Friends do to support their libraries.  The forum was addressed by long-time President and library advocate Dr. Alan Bundy, AM, who is always inspirational in his enthusiasm for the importance of libraries in the cultural life of Australia. 

The feature address of the day was a talk by the past Mount Gambier Library Manager who used a slide show to illustrate the development of the library there, in  a new, stunning $6m. building.  Most libraries are community centres; Mount Gambier has built a library which is state of the art designed to fulfil almost any community need.  The architect also showed how the design enables users of all levels to quickly access their desired area.  A great example of what can be done by a clear vision for the future.  (I might add that all of the delegates from other libraries were green with envy at just how Mount Gambier has ticked every box in our wishlists!  Alan Bundy, who has looked at libraries all over the world, said that he considered it possible the best designed library in the world).

By the way, one of the photos that popped up during the slide show was of the new head librarian at Mount Gambier, Vicki Hutchinson, who moved there from the Barossa a couple of years ago.  She must have known the new library was going to be built!

If you would like to look at what is happening with the Friends Association go to their website: http://www.fola.org.au/

The annual Book Sale at the CWA Hall in Tanunda was held over Thursday, Friday and Saturday 20-22 June.  Once again it was a great success – we not only raised much-needed funds for the library (a profit of over $500), but we relieved the pressure on the storage facilities at the library.  In addition there were many happy people who were able to stock up their winter-reading supplies at a very small cost.

Many thanks to all the Friends who came and helped out over the three days, and particular thanks to Tania Paull, our tireless Library Services Manager who did much of the hard work, helping with the setup and then the packing up, then returning to clean up the hall on her day off!

Next sale will be in November at Mount Pleasant.

The Barossa Library officially launched the State One-Card system, which means that we can now obtain books from any library in South Australia simply by logging on to the web site http://sapln.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/barossa/

This means that even if your local branch of the Barossa Library does not have a copy of the book you want, you can search for it by genre, title or author on the website and place a hold on it.  When available the book will then be delivered to the branch of your choice! How good is that!  This new system means that we now have access to some 3 million books.

The official launch was conducted by Barossa Council Mayor Brian Hurn at a ceremony at the Nuriootpa Library.  The picture above is of President Jill Stevens, Mayor Brian Hurn and Library Services Manager Tania Paull cutting the celebratory cake at the Nuriootpa Library..

New cards with a design featuring one of Dragan Radocaj’s fabulous photo-portraits of Barossa scenery are now available in exchange for your old library card at any branch.

Each year we raise funds for the Library service by selling books at various venues.  On Thursday 20th, Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd June, at the CWA Hall in Tanunda, we will be offering a huge range of fiction, non-fiction, children’s books, magazines and so on – all items surplus to the library’s requirements.  This is a great chance to stock up  your library at a very reasonable cost.  Hardcovers are $1 each, paperbacks 50c, children’s books 20c to $1.  Or the real bargain – fill a shopping bag for just $5.  All proceeds go to library services,

Welcome to the website for Friends of the Barossa Library.  We are a group dedicated to assisting the work of the Barossa Library Service, not only by raising funds to improve or update equipment, but by increasing awareness of and access to all forms of literature by all sections of our community.  We believe that our civilisation is based on our ability to communicate and record through literature, but we also recognise that our technology is evolving and changing and we must adapt to those changes.  Books now are accessible in electronic form as well as the traditional printed form and more and more people, particularly the young, access much of their lives through digital media.

Thus, this website is a way of offering a conduit to news about what we do, and, we hope, encouraging the people of the Barossa to access the wonderful world of literature.  We hope that you will bookmark the site address and visit us regularly for news on forthcoming events and what is happening in our Libraries.

You can also keep in touch by joining us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FriendsOfTheBarossaLibrary

Our thanks to Prodos Marinakis, who has been invaluable in getting this website up and running, and has helped so much with the technical aspects.