Palmerston North City Library

Staff Picks: Bob the Builder

2012-01-26T16:13:00.000+13:00

Bob the Builder has probably the most catchy kids theme tune of all time. Except for perhaps, the Munch Bunch. Or Danger Mouse. Or Bananas in Pyjamas. Or Pokemon...Actually most kids shows come complete with catchy theme tunes don’t they?! Bob is a builder in a rural English village. Together with his colleague Wendy and his talking work vehicles, Bob helps solve everyones’ problems with his catch-phrase “Can we fix it?!” echoed panto style by the audience shouting back “Yes we can” long before a certain US President thought to ask the same question. Bob the Builder is now a classic children's show that generations of kids will reminisce over in the same way I do about Danger Mouse.

The Library has heaps of ‘Bob’ related items ranging from DVDs of the series, to picture books, board books and puzzles. Our Bob the Builder items can be found in the Children’s Zone on the First Floor of the Central Library and at our Branch libraries

Staff Picks: The Finn Brothers

2012-01-09T16:10:00.001+13:00


781.66 FIN Sound & Vision Zone

Together Alone: The Story of the Finn Bothers by Jeff Apter

Often described as New Zealands answer to ‘Lennon and McCartney’, the Finn brothers presided over one of the most prolific and successful eras of New Zealand popular music. In the 1980s, both brothers played in ‘Split Enz’, the band responsible for hits such as Shark Attack, History Never Repeats and Message to My Girl. In the '90s, it was Neils band ‘Crowded House’ who ruled the airwaves with Four Seasons in One Day, Don’t Dream it’s Over and Fall at Your Feet. This book charts the rise, splits, solo efforts and reunions of the Finns and is a great account of some of New Zealands recent music history.

Our books on the New Zealand music scene and can be found primarily in the Sound & Vision collection on the Ground Floor of the Central Library. With your library card, you can access our Biography in Context database from home where you can read recent magazine and newspaper articles on the Finn bothers.

Staff Picks: Wearable art

2012-01-09T10:05:00.000+13:00

Off the Wall : the World of Wearable Art photography by Martin de Ruyter, Neil Price, Rohit Chawla and Daniel Rose.

Be inspired by some of the beautiful, complex and controversial designs from New Zealands unique World of Wearable Arts festival. Held every year in Wellington, the festival has grown exponentially since its inception in Nelson in 1987 and has garnered world wide acclaim. However, this post must issue a warning - this book features a brassiere made from taxidermied Budgerigars!

Our books on the wearable art phenomenon can be found primarily in the ‘Arts & Crafts - Non Fiction’ zone on the First Floor at the Central Library and also at our branches. You can also visit the WOW: World of Wearable Art website for information about this years event.

How Green Are My Wellies?

2012-01-06T13:37:00.001+13:00

Hi, I'm Helen and I work at the library in Events. I am really interested in green/eco/sustainability issues and I read most of what comes through the library to do with these topics. I know there are a lot of people interested in this sort of stuff, so I thought I would start reviewing what I read to share with you all.

This book, ‘How Green Are My Wellies?’ by Anna Shepard came out in 2008, so it isn't a new book, but it is a very good one. The author had a column in an English newspaper called 'The Eco-Worrier' for a long time and this book contains a lot of the adventures she had while researching her column. (Because this book is English, some of her advice doesn't work for a New Zealand setting, but most of it does.)

What sets it out from the manifold other ‘how to live greener’ books, is that Anna Shepard has a very engaging, funny voice in her writing. The book is not a finger-wagging ‘do this now’ kind of book. Her tone throughout is one of light-heartedness and adventure. The best ‘green’ books get people inspired by showing what an adventure green-living can be, how it isn’t about guilt and suffering but enrichment and engagement. This book achieves that with Shepards wonderful witty anecdotes and humour.

The book is divided up into months of the year, and she goes through the relevant seasonal ideas and hints. There are all kinds of interesting tips and asides and resources. Also funny throughout the book are her stories about her long-suffering, not-especially-green partner and her slightly dotty but very green mother. I also like the way she admits her failing and flailings and doesn’t pretend to be perfect – hence she calls herself ‘the eco worrier’ rather than ‘eco-warrior’.

By the time I finished the book, I had learned a lot, resolved to do better, laughed a lot and also, felt like I’d read a warm-hearted memoir, rather than just another green ‘how-to’ manual.

This is a stand-out specimen of the very full ‘green-living’ book market.

You can check the availability of this title HERE.

(Please let us know via the comments if you enjoy reading book reviews by library staff. If you do, we will endeavour to keep them coming!)

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 23

2011-12-24T18:21:00.002+13:00

The library is closed for a few days but you can still keep tabs on your items out and reserves.

Your user account "My Card" stores details on any items that you currently have issued to you, any items that you have requested, blocks on your card, and any lists that you have created or saved. In addition, you can check your personal information.

To log in to My Card:

Click the My Card tab or click the Sign In icon on the Toolbar

You will be prompted to enter:

the digits after the middle zeros from your library card
the last 4 digits of your phone number, or your PIN (Personal Identification Number) if you have chosen one
Click Sign In

You will see the Account Overview page listing the different functions that you can access.

When you are finished, sign out of your account (My Card).

For other help try our how to use the library catalogue page.

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 22

2011-12-24T17:21:00.010+13:00

Trace your family tree

The Genealogy (or Family History) section is part of the New Zealand and Pacific Islands Zone on the 2nd Floor.
We have books to borrow, microfiche, microfilm, magazines, local newspaper index, local photographs, and electronic resources, as well as scanning and printing facilities.

Family history research brochure

Are you new to family history research?
Check out this brochure for some hot tips on getting started and avoiding the pitfalls.
Top tips for the beginning genealogist.pdf

Genealogy magazines

Browse our collection of Genealogy magazines. They have very helpful tips for all genealogists.

Titles include:

Genealogy volunteers

We are fortunate to have experienced Genealogists from the Local Branch of the New Zealand Genealogy Society in the Central Library every week at the following times:

Friday	10:30am-1pm
Saturday	1pm-4pm
Sunday	1pm-4pm

CIty Library Christmas Countdown - Day 21

2011-12-21T22:44:00.002+13:00

School holidays means fun for kids and this summer we have some fantastic storytellers lined up that all the family will enjoy.

Storyteller - Niall de Burca
Niall de Burca is one of Ireland's finest traditional storytellers. He was raised in Galway and displayed a talent for narrative from a young age. Many New Zealand storytellers have called Niall a huge influence for them, and has always enthralled crowds with his storytelling style.
visit Niall's website

Date: Friday 6 January 2012
Hours: 10:30am
Location: Children's Zone, Central Library

Niall de Burca

Storyteller - Levity Beet
Levity performs original quirky songs and stories saturated with Kiwi culture. His performance often features newly invented musical instruments, musical comedy and is an encouraging experience for anyone interested in playing music themselves.

Date: Tuesday 10 January 2012
Hours: 3pm
Location: Children's Zone, Central Library

Levity Beet

Storyteller - Tanya Batt
Tanya has travelled the world telling her stories. Her work is characterized by lively interaction and her use of music, movement and sumptuous frocks. She says 'stories are her habit'.
visit Tanya's website

Date: Tuesday 17 January 2012
Hours: 3pm
Location: Children's Zone, Central Library

CIty Library Christmas Countdown - Day 20

2011-12-20T21:11:00.003+13:00

Christmas is the time for charity, generosity and spreading the love. It’s also very close to that time of year when we make resolutions, vow to change and to start the New Year with a new zest of life and positive outlook.

Capture that enthusiasm and get involved in community projects. Or, use the inspiration for your own personal development.

Need money to do that?

We can help! As a member of the Palmerston North City Library, you have access to funding databases to help get that idea off the ground, advance your community group or help you study what you want.

BreakOut

Aimed at individual development, BreakOut is New Zealand's primary source of funding information for students, researchers, sports people, artists and those wanting professional development, with access to more than 2200 funding sources from around the country.

FundView

FundView has information about more than 1000 funding schemes for voluntary organisations from government, local authorities, statutory and philanthropic trusts, gaming trusts and some service organisations.

It’s completely free to use, very easy, and can help you plan your funding applications for the New Year.

Visit the library website, click on online databases, log in with your card details, select BreakOut (for individuals) or FundView (for group support), answer a few easy questions and access a list of available funding more than 2200 sources around the country.

Poster design competition

Are you a Year 12 or 13 student?

Do you want $300?

Enter the Breakout poster design competition to win. Explore the database, use your design skills, impress the judges and get the cash. Easy!

All you need to do is promote BreakOut to senior students in a positive and innovative way and include the logo.

Enter the competition

If you win, let us know. Good luck.

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 19

2011-12-19T22:05:00.003+13:00

The new books and AV items near the One Desk on the First Floor

New titles in the library

Friday morning is the highlight of the week for many library users...it's New Book Day. What this means is that dozens of new books, DVDs, CDs and more come down from our processing area and go on display as the newest items to be added to the library collections.

It's always interesting to see which books receive the most reserves at the end of the week. There are some authors, John Grisham and Jodi Picoult for example, that we know will have a long waiting list so we buy multiple copies.

Every week list of all the new titles is added to our website - even for kids and youth. Their books don't go on display but we know some of you like to see a list of all the new stuff.

Visit the New Titles page on the website

The last New Book Display for 2011 is this Friday 23rd and that will be up until 13 January 2012. I wonder what shiny new books and CDs Santa will deliver to the library? Perhaps we should write a list.

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 18

2011-12-18T21:04:00.001+13:00

It's going to a busy in the City Library this week. To avoid queuing too long in the Central Library try out one of the 5 self check machines. If you haven't used them before ask a staff member for a demonstration on how they work.

The 4 self check machines are located:

First Floor

Fiction Zone (2)
Childrens Zone 1)
Non Fiction Zone (1)

Mezzanine Floor

Welcome Lounge (1)

While you issue your books you can also:

see if any of your reserves are available for pickup
see when items you have at home are due
renew anything you want to keep a little longer
and find out whether or not you owe money

You can also select to receive:

a paper receipt
an email receipt (if we have your email address on record)
or no receipt

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 17

2011-12-17T22:06:00.000+13:00

Gather the family together and reminisce

While you're all together this Christmas sit down at your computer and have a look at our historical photo collection and don't forget to take your only family snapshots. Like some of these perhaps:

Monrad Family, c.1883

Peter and Maria Bares with 2 of their 3 children 1945

Bartholomew family, c.1913

You can find many more family portraits as well as photos of Palmerston North locations and events in our digital library - Pataka Ipurangi.

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 16

2011-12-17T21:43:00.001+13:00

Christmas food and drinks

It's a week until Christmas and you may still be thinking about what to prepare for meals on Christmas Day...not to mention how to use those inevitable leftovers.

Let's see what we can offer in the Food and Drink Living Room:

These titles were all available in the Central Library or a branch library at the time of writing.

Staff Picks: Mrs Kennedy

2011-12-17T13:33:00.000+13:00

An Inspiring Choice from this weeks Staff Picks Wall:

"Mrs Kennedy" by Barbara Leaming

Prime Television's recent mini-series about the The Kennedy family’s riseto political power in America during the early 1960s has sparked renewedinterest in this fascinating period of world history. From the Bay of Pigs, theCuban Missile Crisis and the Civil Rights movement, to the now infamousassassinations of both John and Robert Kennedy.

Our books about the Kennedy Family can befound primarily in the ‘Countries - Americas’ Zone at the CentralLibrary and our branches.

You can read more about the Kennedyfamily by logging in to our databases using your library card. For example, Ican access Gale Biography in Context fromhome. A quick search for John Fitzgerald Kennedy found journal andmagazine articles, copies of primary documents like the Warren Commissionreport, and a radio documentary about the 50th anniversary of JFKs famous ‘MoonSpeech’.

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 15

2011-12-15T21:45:00.000+13:00

Visit the library shop

If you still have Christmas shopping to complete for the booklover in your life, pop along to the Library Shop.

Open 12-23 December, Monday to Friday between 12 and 2pm.
The shop is opposite the One Desk on the First Floor, Central Library

Stock up on all sorts of products for your book-loving friends and family members.

puzzles
notepads and cards
games
literary tshirts
and more

Enquire at the One Desk outside opening hours

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 14

2011-12-14T23:30:00.001+13:00

Improve your Christmas trivia with our Online Resources

Want to impress at this years’ Christmas function? Explore our Online Resources to equip yourself with fun facts to share around the dinner table.

Did you know that physicists have proven it takes 2-3 seconds for Christmas lights to get knotted when they get put back in the box?
To visit everyone’s house on Christmas Eve, Santa travels at 650 miles a second – that’s around 3,000 times the speed of sound.

(Facts found in our Discovery Collection, Document number A172723562)

Facts are after all a little more fun than the lame jokes found in Christmas crackers.

Who was Frosty the Snowman's favourite Aunt?

Aunt Arctica

Are you hosting a dinner party this year and want to do something a little different? Our Online Resources can help with that too.
Serving red brussel sprouts at Christmas is not only festive, but is ‘sexy’ too. '
(Gale Document Number:A243639063 found in the Culinary Arts Collection.)

If you’re at a function with business-minded people let them know that more than one million acres of land have been planted in Christmas trees. The industry employs over 100,000 people and many Christmas tree growers grow trees on a part-time basis to supplement income. Discuss the possibility of trying this out next year and enjoy the atmosphere as conversation starts to flow.
(Home Improvement Collection, Document number A93611925)

For music lovers, begin comparing your favourite Christmas songs by revealing that ‘White Christmas’ is the most recorded Christmas song.
(Gale Document Number:A194278413 Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Collection).

The best is All I want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey. (In my opinion anyway!)
If politics is your thing, make it Christmas-related by breaking the silence with “It may not be a Merry Christmas in South Korea this year, if they decide to light up a giant Christmas tree-shaped tower near the North Korean border.” A North Korean propaganda media outlet warned South Korea of an "unpredictable situation" if they do light the 30-metre-tall tower.
(Printed in AsiaPulse News and replicated on the RDS Business Suite database).

Find these gems and more in our Online Resources collection and explore any of your favourite topics in depth. You can’t always trust what you read on the web, but with our collections you are guaranteed accurate, up-to-date information useful for the festive season, study, research and everyday life.

Nicole

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 13

2011-12-13T15:48:00.001+13:00

Summer is here! It’s a time for the beach, BBQs and good old fashioned Kiwi roadtrips.

Are you confused about who gives way to who? New to Kiwi roads? Or wanting to get your license?

Traffic is sure to be busy, so now is a good time to brush up on your road rules so you can explore the country with confidence.

Here at Palmerston North City Library, we can make your trip run smooth, with a number of driving simulators and tests to teach you how to be safe on the roads.

Roadcode Testdrive

Great for learning New Zealand road rules, Roadcode Testdrive has official theory test questions you would expect to be asked for your leaners license, and it will give you great tips for driving in different terrain.

Around town, country driving, highway rules, and city spins, this software has it all. Teens, this software is a great way to challenge your parents to see who knows the road rules best, and at the same time will help you all be safer when travelling this Christmas.

CD Drives

Know the rules but want to know what it’s like out on the open road?

CD Drives real world simulator helps drivers practise crucial higher level driving skills such as eye scanning, hazard detection and risk management, all in a fun easy package available for you to use on our public computers in the Non Fiction Zone.

Go on, test it out! Are your driving skills and knowledge really as good as what you thought?

Road Codes

We also have a full set of The Official New Zealand Road Code books - for car drivers, heavy vehicle drivers and motorcyclists. They are in very high demand but you have the option to:

borrow a bestseller copy (and pay a small fee)
reserve a free copy (and wait a few weeks)
or use your card to consult one of our reference copies while you are in the library.

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 12

2011-12-12T16:41:00.001+13:00

What do I read next???

You know what it's like when you find a really good author, read voraciously and then realise you've read them all?

For me, it's Khaled Hosseini (author of The Kiterunner, and A thousand splendid suns) and Vikas Swarup (who wrote Q&A, and The Six Suspects). Hossieni's books were published in 2004 and 2007 and I've been kept waiting ever since for novel number 3. It's agony!! Swarup published his two novels in 2005 and 2008 and again...it's nearing a 4 year wait for the next title to be written. It's hard to read voraciously when your favourite authors have only written 2 novels but I do my best.

What does one do? Give up reading entirely until a new novel is released?

No, you head around to the Fiction and Literature Zone and ask the Roving Librarian for some help finding another author who will write the style of book you enjoy - set in the same country, during the same era or covering similar themes.

We have a number of magic tools at our disposal that can help fill the gap until Hosseini and Swarup put pen to paper and public another novel.

Who else writes like? is a readers' guide to fiction authors and suggests a dozen authors to consider - only 2 that I've heard of, Niccolo Ammaniti and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. It doesn't list Vikas Swarup.

Find Who else writes like? in the library catalogue

Now read this III is another book that recommends fiction and is written by a very well-known Seattle librarian called Nancy Pearl, author of the Book Lust reading recommendation titles. In fact, she is the only librarian with her very own action figure (one of which I own).

Nancy Pearl, her books and the action figure

Find Now read this III in the library catalogue

Find more Nancy Pearl books

Visit Nancy Pearl's website

There are also databases that you can access from home via our website:

Books and Authors
NoveList Readers Advisor

Access them using your libary card

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 11

2011-12-11T20:13:00.001+13:00

Christmas holiday hours and services

Christmas Day is only 2 weeks away and the library will be closed. Visit the library website to find out library services are available over the Christmas/New Year holidays.

The Library 'Staff Picks' Wall

2011-12-11T13:00:00.000+13:00

Have you ever wondered what your librarians enjoy reading? Then you should check out our ‘Staff Picks’ wall near the Issues Desk on the First Floor of the Central Library. This month, the Pathfinders team have selected some of the items in the library that inspire them.

The Pathfinders Department assist customers along the many pathways to knowledge and entertainment. We want to share with you the items that have inspired and delighted us, from the easy summer reads to the theories of the universe. We hope you enjoy our picks.

Some items spotted on the wall this month so far: Lisa Heidke, Terry Pratchett, Carole Matthews, Granta, Thomas Hardy, Bryce Courtenay, Gandhi, Napier, Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure and Michael Palins' Around the World in 80 Days.

Check out the wall next time you’re not sure what to read next.

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 10

2011-12-10T21:46:00.003+13:00

Chokolato Cafe

Open 7 days a week.

Monday to Friday 8.30am-4.30pm
Saturday 9.00am-4.00pm
Sunday 10.00am-4.00pm

Mezzanine Floor, Central Library

Like Chokolato on Facebook

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 9

2011-12-09T14:37:00.001+13:00

Introducing ePukapuka - free ebooks to borrow

A few weeks ago we launched ePukapuka which is the name of an elibrary service provided by the lower North Island public libraries. eBooks are available to borrow with your library card - they come in ePub and pdf formats. There are also downloadable audiobooks in mp3 and wmv format.

If you have said "Buy me an eReader for Christmas" to anyone you might like to have a look at this diagram to work out which type of device will best meet your needs - an eReader (with our without touch screen), a tablet, a smartphone or an iPod Touch.

There are new eReaders available all the time, especially leading up to Christmas. The key question, I believe is, "Do you want to borrow books from the library?". If you do, you'll be looking for a device that supports ePub - which unfortunately rules out the Kindle which is in every other way a very nice eReader.

We have recently bought some new eReaders and tablets for the library and these will be available for you to try out in the New Year.

Website links

Library eBooks

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 8

2011-12-08T22:17:00.001+13:00

Audio Books

Formats

We now have audio books in many different formats:

Books on Compact Discs. These can be played on any compact disc player.
MP3s. These are also on compact discs but can only be played in a CD player that reads MP3 files
Digital Audio Books - this is a portable audio book - you borrow the small book that fits in your hand, plug in some headphones and take your story with you. No CD player needed
Downloadable audio books are available on our eBook service.

eBooks are fantastic for commuters and what a great way to entertain the whole family during a summer road trip.

Even better - they are free to borrow.

Where do I find them?

Playaway Digital Audio Book

Kid's audio books are available in the Children's Zone and adults fiction and non fiction can be located in the Fiction and Literature Zone. You will also find a small selection in the branch libraries.
Website links

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 7

2011-12-07T21:04:00.001+13:00

Free internet at the City Library

The internet and Office software is now free to use with your library card. This is on the library computers that you have previously had to pay to use.

We have prepared some answers to questions you may have about these changes.

Find out more on our website

1-24 December - sharing things you might not know about your Living Room of the City

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 6

2011-12-07T11:22:00.001+13:00

Graphic novels

I remember the first graphic novel I ever read - a comic strip version of The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It is this story that introduced me to Marley, Scrooge and Tiny Tim when I was in my teens.

An adaptation of Dicken's novel, A Christmas carol. A miser learns the true meaning of Christmas when three ghostly visitors review his past and foretell his future. This quick text version reduces the text to as few words as possible while retaining the essence of the story. In graphic novel format. Suggested level: secondary.

A Christmas Carol - graphic novel

It was probably this graphic novel that made classic literature seem accessible to me and I later enjoyed reading Hard Times also by Dickens - this time in a 'real book' with words but not illustrations.

Just this afternoon I came across a graphic novel that appealed to me - it is called Special Exits: a graphic memoir by Joyce Farmer.

It chronicles the decline of the author's parents' health, their relationship with one another and with their daughter, and how they cope with the day-to-day emotional fragility of the most taxing time of their lives. Elderly parents Lars and Rachel, who have enjoyed a long and loving married life together, are rendered in fine, confident pen lines.

Many of you will have come across Asterix or Tintin - I have to admit that I've read neither so I have Asterix the Gaul here beside me. It is my personal challenge to myself.

Graphic novels cover all genres (even non fiction) and should be considered by readers of all ages. You can find graphic novels to borrow in the Youth Space, Children's Zone and Fiction and Literature Zone.

If you have a reader in your family who isn't a big reader, suggest they have a look at the graphic novels - it could introduce them to the enjoyment of settling down with a good book.

Catalogue links

Do you have any graphic novel recommendations? Feel free to comment.

JD@PNLibrary

1-24 December - sharing things you might not know about your Living Room of the City

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 5

2011-12-05T22:12:00.000+13:00

Bestsellers

Get popular books and DVDs without waiting

We have a great range of the newest and most popular books and DVDs.

Also available are recent copies of our most popular magazines.

Find the Bestsellers on the shelves near the main desk on the First Floor.

All bestseller items are also available in the general lending collection although most will have long reserve queues.

What else should I know?

Books are $5 for two weeks.

Magazines are $2 for one week.

DVDs are $5 for two nights.

Overdue charges are $1 per day.

Bestsellers cannot be reserved.

An example of a Bestseller title

1-24 December - sharing things you might not know about your Living Room of the City

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 4.

2011-12-04T23:12:00.003+13:00

Tweet, tweet. We're on Twitter.

http://www.twitter.com/pncitylibrary
Come and follow us.

1-24 December - sharing things you might not know about your Living Room of the City

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 3

2011-12-03T19:56:00.001+13:00

Free wi-fi

Free Wi-Fi is now available during library opening hours, 7 days a week at Central, Monday to Saturday at branches, and Tuesday to Sunday at the Youth Space.

To use Wi-Fi at the library bring your laptop, smart phone, iPad or tablet PC next time you visit your local library. Fast broadband access with generous daily data caps will be available and library staff will be on hand to help.

Wi-Fi is a way of connecting to the Internet without plugging your computer into a phone line or network port on the wall. It’s wireless because instead of connecting with cables it transmits data using radio waves. And it’s free of charge every day, whether you use it a lot or just a little.

1-24 December - sharing things you might not know about your Living Room of the City

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 2

2011-12-02T21:51:00.005+13:00

What's On, What's In
Subscribe to e-newsletters from Your Living Room

Are you looking for...

good books to read,
movies to watch,
events to attend?

Sign up and find out the latest we have to offer in your Living Room of the City.

Read archived newsletters to find out more

1-24 December - sharing things you might not know about your Living Room of the City

City Library Christmas Countdown - Day 1

2011-12-01T20:34:00.001+13:00

Flipback books

The Flipback is a new kind of book. It opens top to bottom and has sideways-printed text, so you get a full length novel in little more than the size of a smartphone.

Available now at the Central Library

View the list of Flipback titles

1-24 December - sharing things you might not know about your Living Room of the City

Look out! It's Craftzilla!

2011-11-25T09:48:00.001+13:00

alt.shift.craft's 'Craftzilla' Night Market and the Palmerston North City Library? That sounds like the best mash-up of the year!

This year you can do your Christmas shopping in the comfort of your favourite library. This popular fair has popped up in different venues around town over the past two years and we are pleased and proud to be hosting it for December.

Friday 9 December, 6-9pm, Sound and Vision Zone, Palmerston North City Library.

HERE is a link to the alt.shift.craft facebook page.

I asked the founders of the alt.shift.craft collective a few questions about the evolution of the fair.

(Helen) How did the alt.shift.craft collective come about? What is your philosophy?

(Gunhild) It started when I was rejected from showing at Craft 2.0 for being too far out. I then approached Meredith and Kirsty with an idea for a local alternative market, and one that would focus on handmade and welcoming to far-out crafters and artisans. So pur philosophy is: No more Nana crafts (even though we learned at our Nana's feet)!

(Helen) Why do you think a platform for local and handmade is important?

(Gunhild) Because Palmy has this staid and bogan town reputation - however, we knew that there was a lot of underground crafting and creating going on, waiting to burst free. The markets have gone from strength to strength and we have raised awareness of the wonderful creativeness in our region!

(Helen) Do you make things yourselves? What do you make? What are your ‘label’ names?

We are 'Aunty Minerva' (Kirsty), making upcyled clothing and homeware, 'So says Smancy' (Meredith), making appliqued bags, brooches, books and albums, boxes..., and 'spaced between' (Gunhild), making embroidered upcycled clothing, jewellery, knick-knacks.

(Helen) What are some of things people can expect from the upcoming fair? Some highlights?

Surreal Silversmiths sells museum quality sterling silver jewellery, Inspire Fibres from Woodville, Smash Palace with her gourmet caramel apples are just three of the exciting vendors. We will also have four musical acts!

(Helen) Any other thoughts?

(Gunhild) This market features high quality handmade crafts produced by local artisans, and that is our point of difference to other markets!

Shop local, shop handmade, support local artisans!

We look forward to seeing you there.

The rich emotional lives of animals

2011-11-01T14:23:00.000+13:00

That animals can experience pleasure will be no surpise to owners of cats and dogs, but it is an area often neglected in scientific studies.

American author and animal behaviour expert Johnathan Balcombe is visiting the library this Sunday to talk about the rich emotional lives of animals. He relates animals ability to experience pleasure to the need to look after the rights of animals: 'The real arbiter of whether or not a being deserves respect and compassion is sentience. Being sensate to pleasures and especially to pains is the true currency of ethics."

Dr Balcombe has written four books and over forty scientific papers on this topic.

A recent New York Times review of his book: 'The Exultant Ark: A Pictorial Tour of Animal Pleasure' said: "It's hard to deny that animals are not sensate to pleasure after studying these joyous photographs, and reading Dr Balcombe's persuasive arguments.'

Sunday 6 November, 2pm, Sound and Vision Zone, Central Library.

A Homegrown Cook: Alison Holst

2011-10-25T12:55:00.001+13:00

Alison Holst is coming to the library next month to talk about her soon-to-be released memoir, 'A Home-grown Cook: The Dame Alison Holst Story'. This is her 100th book!

Alison is held in the nation's affections and is often described as 'the mother of the nation' or the 'queen of cookbooks'. Alison has helped improve the way we prepare food for six decades now. In 2010, her long career was recognised with a Dame hood.

From a modest upbringing in Dunedin to becoming one of our most endearing Kiwi icons, Alison's memoir is illustrated with family snaps, publicity shots, and book cover images from the full spectrum of her family life and career-to-date.

'Alison's story is a real slice of social history' say her publisher Neil Hyndman.

Alison is doing a tour the length of the country, beginning in Southland and will be at the Palmerston North City Library on Monday November 7, at 7pm. Tickets are $5 (includes refreshments) and are available from the library and PaperPlus Palmerston North.

Come and meet our very own 'Queen of Cookbooks'.

Tango! Tango! Tango!

2011-09-27T12:57:00.000+13:00

There is a Tango Night coming to the library this Saturday (1 October, 4.30pm-7.30pm in Sound & Vision, Ground Floor). There will be free tango lessons, live tango music, tango dancing demonstrations plus drinks and empanadas!

The little New Zealand Tango orchestra, 4XTango will be playing live tango music. They have played at the library before and are not to be missed. They are also on Facebook here. For a sample of their romantic, sultry music, check this out:

The tango lessons will be provided by the Dance Pasion and Viva Latina Dance Company. There will be a live tango demonstration by the New Zealand Stage Tango Champions.

Here is a taste of tango from the NZ Tango Festival in June this year:

Don't be shy, put on some dancing shoes and come along for a night of lush Latin American music and dance!

**Update!** Here is the final and full programme for the evening:

4.30-5.30 Beginners Tango Class: Teachers will be New Zealand Tango Stage Champions John and Felicity Flower (Dance Pasion Ltd.)

5.30-6.15 Advanced Tango Class: Teacher will be Alex White (Viva Latina Dance Company.)

6.15-7pm Special Tango Styles: Open Level including Tango, Vals and Milonga. Teachers will be John and Felicty Flower (Dance Pasion Ltd.)

7pm Live Music by 4XTango, with dance performances by John & Felicity Flower (Dance Pasion Ltd.) and Alex White (Viva Latina Dance Company.)

Everyone is welcome to stay on at the library for the England/Scotland RWC Screening, too!

The evening is part of the Our People, Our Place festival and is free.

Award-winning NZ film 'River Dog' to screen at library

2011-09-15T13:56:00.000+12:00

This week (12th-18th September) is Conservation Week.

Here at the library we are holding a Freshwater Friends evening as part of Conservation Week: There will be a talk on freshwater ecology by Massey University Masters student Stella McQueen, followed by a screening of award-winning New Zealand film 'River Dog'. (16th Sept, 7pm, S&V)

'River Dog' was voted People's Choice at the 2011 Reel Earth Environmental Film Festival, for its stunning cinematography and moving story. In the film, farmer Graham Muir tirelessly lobbies for improvements in the way his local river is treated and when little is done, takes matters into his own hands in his own unique way.

You can read a more detailed synopsis here. You can view the trailer here.

Hope to see you there!

The proof was in the pudding!

2011-09-12T10:30:00.000+12:00

We recently had food writer Alexa Johnston visit the library to talk about her new book 'What's For Pudding?' :: a beautiful book that revisits old favourite desserts like pies and steamed puddings and tries to revive puddings which have been on the wane for some time, like junkets and jellies.

Alexa's plane from Auckland was delayed by fog & she ended up being over an hour late! Fortunately, we had made a big selection of delicious desserts out of Alexa's book for the audience to enjoy and so the day was saved by servings of pudding & tea to keep the patiently waiting crowd happy!

Check out these stunning Creme Caramels! Almost too lovely to eat. Alexa's talk was very entertaining and bought up a lot of food memories for everyone. Her book has a great site with recipes, videos & e-cards you can send your friends! And if you like food writers, rumour has it we might be hosting Peta Mathias and Alison Holst later this year. We'll keep you posted!

Man Booker longlist 2011

2011-07-27T08:38:00.010+12:00

The long list for the 2011 Man Booker Prize has just been announced with 4 of the authors being first time novelists - Stephen Kelman, A.D. Miller, Yvvette Edwards and Patrick McGuinness. It also includes Alan Hollinghurst who won the Man Booker Prize in 2004.

We have most of these titles in the library - just click on the link below each title to find it in the library catalogue.

Julian Barnes - The Sense of an Ending (Jonathan Cape - Random House)
borrow this book

Sebastian Barry - On Canaan's Side (Faber)

Carol Birch - Jamrach's Menagerie (Canongate Books)
borrow this book

D.J. Taylor - Derby Day (Chatto & Windus - Random House)

Patrick deWitt - The Sisters Brothers (Granta)
borrow this book

Jane Rogers - The Testament of Jessie Lamb (Sandstone Press)
borrow this book

Yvvette Edwards - A Cupboard Full of Coats (Oneworld)
borrow this book

Stephen Kelman - Pigeon English (Bloomsbury)
borrow this book

Alan Hollinghurst - The Stranger's Child (Picador - Pan Macmillan)
borrow this book

Alison Pick - Far to Go (Headline Review)
borrow this book

A.D. Miller - Snowdrops (Atlantic)
borrow this book

Patrick McGuinness - The Last Hundred Days (Seren Books)

From the longlist a shortlist of six authors will be announced on Tuesday 6 September with the winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize for Fiction being announced on Tuesday 18 October.

This is a significant literary prize with the winner receiving £50,000 and each of the six shortlisted authors, including the winner, receiving £2,500 and a designer bound edition of their book.

If you have read any of these long listed titles, what did you think of them?

Esi Edugyan - Half Blood Blues (Serpent's Tail - Profile)

2011-06-23T15:54:00.001+12:00

See what went on at our Community Workshop
Special thanks to Jennifer Moss who provided the African Drumming exercise.

2011-06-23T15:43:00.000+12:00

2011-06-23T15:41:00.000+12:00

What is the Village Square?

2011-06-23T15:28:00.001+12:00

For more info on Project Manaaki visit the Library website

Watch the video that inspired us!

NZ Music Month!

2011-05-05T12:15:00.000+12:00

What’s happening at the Palmerston North City Library during NZ Music Month?

Why am I asking you, when I already know the answer?

Tell you what, how about I write down what’s happening so you can pass it on.
OK!

We are hosting some musical performances in the

Sound & Vision Zone, in association with Access Manawatu.

Here’s the schedule:

May 4th - Marque Duckmanton

May 11th - Dirt Box Charlie

May 13th - Robin

May 18th - Jason Devlin

May 25th - Chris Cape

All performances run from 6PM – 7PM, and they’re free entry!

And of course we are always buying new CDs from these musically fertile isles. Here are a few examples of recent purchases:

Luger Boa – New Hot Nights

Maisey Rika – Tohu

Various - Dub Zealand

Big water : the best of Wellington blues

Cheers to Access Manawatu for all their help!

A Chaiser question...

2011-04-27T17:01:00.000+12:00

How do you send The Chaisers - beings who live in the mysterious space between the back and the seat of various pieces of library furniture - an overdue notice? It's just as well that since they got their library cards, the Chaisers have yet to incur any overdue fines. How on earth would they pay them? I don't think chocolate fish are still legal tender in New Zealand...

Regarding: What we've been up to lately.

Dear Librarians,

We love our new Library cards! We have been reading non-stop since we got them. We very much like using your computers also. We especially like using the Novelist database we found on your website. Marty in particular loved Walter Moers' Rumo and His Miraculous Adventures. Novelist helped him find other authors he might like. At the moment he is reading Robert Rankin's The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse and Christopher Moore's The Lust-Lizard of Melancholy Cove. It has kept him quiet for days! The rest of us Chaisers thank-you very much for this!

Regards,

The Chaisers :)

24/7 help with those homework questions

2011-03-29T11:56:00.000+13:00

Are the kids needing help with their homework questions?

With your library card and PIN number (give us a call if you don't know what it is) you can access an incredible array of resources to help your child get their homework done - even if it's 9pm when they remember that it needs to be done by the morning. Our online databases are available day and night, even while the librarians sleep.

Just click on the link to Online Databases from the Palmerston North City Library website:

Click Online Databases on our website

JD's recommended homework databases

Australia & New Zealand Newsstand
A selection of full-text newspapers and newswires from Australia and New Zealand covering regional and international topics.

Bateman New Zealand encyclopedia
This authoritative New Zealand encyclopedia is now fully searchable online. It covers a wide range of subjects of historical and contemporary significance to the country of New Zealand.

Biography in Context
Whether it's a few facts or detailed information you require this is a great starting point for anybody researching notable figures in history.

Britannica Online
This popular encyclopaedia is available for library customers to use online. It comes in 4 editions so you can choose the one most appropriate for the age of the reader:

Britannica Library Edition lets you search all the versions at once to see results for students of every level
Encyclopaedia Britannica for adults
Britannica Student for secondary/middle school students and up
Britannica Junior

The home page of Britannica Junior

CultureGrams
Cultural overviews for 206 countries and territories, delivering concise and up-to-date cultural information on the countries of the world, describing backgrounds, peoples, customs, lifestyle and society.

There are different editions which are tailored for different users:

World Edition - Perfect for intermediate and high school students.
Kids Edition - This collection of 68 country reports teaches older primary school children more about the world around them. Each report includes up-to-date, engaging cultural information, complete with images, historical timeline, fun facts, and sections on history, population, “life as a kid”, and more.

Opposing Viewpoints in Context
Need to look at one or both sides of a controversial social issue?

This is an online library of current event topics - the facts, as well as the arguments, of each topic's pros and cons.
With articles on subjects such as the death penalty, nuclean power, gun control and endangered species to name a few and everything in between, this is the ultimate resource for students or anyone researching social issues.


The Opposing Viewpoints page on "nuclear power"

Student Resources in Context
Access reference articles, biographies, primary source documents, images and full-text magazine and newspaper articles. Intermediate school to undergraduate university level. Topics include geography, culture, history, people, literature, science and health.

World History in Context
This database is made up of quality primary and reference sources, magazine and journal articles, images, maps and charts, which provide expansive geographic and chronologic coverage of world history and culture, including ancient Europe, Latin America, the Far East, the Renaissance and more.

Help with database searching

Ask at any library information desk, or your local branch library, if you would like a hand logging in and getting started with your journey through these fantastic resources. We can give you a quick lesson or enrol you in a free info2go tutorial if you'd like more indepth training.

Neighbourhood Reads

2011-03-10T15:27:00.015+13:00

An exhibition focussing on the colourful personalities in our local neighbourhood of George St and Coleman Mall, and their eclectic reading tastes.

View the exhibition in the Central Library during March.

Exciting new magazine subscriptions

2011-03-04T16:45:00.004+13:00

We are always excited to see new magazine subscriptions in the library. These are a few of the new titles we have subscribed to recently.

All magazines can be borrowed for 7 days, excluding the Latest Copy of each title which remains on display allowing borrowers to reserve it.

Browse our entire magazine list

Click on the library catalogue link to locate or reserve one of these new magazines.

Asia Literary Review library catalogue
Australian Cyclist library catalogue
Boating NZ library catalogue
Chitralekha (Gujarati) library catalogue
Cleo library catalogue
Cosmopolitan (Australian edition) library catalogue
CNG (Chinese National Geography) library catalogue
Dish library catalogue
Fetch: New Zealand's magazine for active dogs and their owners library catalogue

Game Console library catalogue
Golf Digest library catalogue
Good library catalogue
International Artist library catalogue
Jamie library catalogue

Kiwi Rider library catalogue
Mindfood library catalogue
Model Flying World library catalogue
New Zealand Lifestyle Farmer library catalogue
New Zealand Mountain Biker library catalogue
PC Authority library catalogue

O: the Oprah magazine library catalogue
Orion library catalogue
Vogue (US) library catalogue
Who Do You Think You Are library catalogue

Some more new books you may have missed

2011-03-04T16:27:00.000+13:00

Joy of Genealogy

2011-02-26T18:36:00.000+13:00

A 'few' words about Births, Deaths and Marriages:

Hello again! In my last post I talked about the discovery of a Magician in the family called Tom Driver (alias Prof. Robert Kudarz) by searching through the National Library's Papers Past website. I wanted to know more about him, so I started with the Genealogists most invaluable triptych of tools - Birth, Death and Marriage certificates - BDMs.

I knew from family oral history that Tom had married Ellen Lingard in 1885. The Department of Internal Affairs has an online database which allows you to search for historical births, deaths and marriages individually. Once inside the database's search portal, I selected Marriage then entered the Bride's maiden name and filled in an approximate range of years to search within (e.g. 01/01/1880 - 01/01/1890). Due to her relatively unusual surname, there were not many results and the right one was immediately obvious. I clicked on the order 'product' button and followed the prompts to purchase a copy of the record.

After a short two week wait, it arrived in the post. It was an absolute treasure trove of information! For example, it gave me the names of both the Bride and Groom's parents, plus the occupations of both fathers. An unexpected surprise was how helpful the named witnesses were. One was listed as Jas. Lingard - Expressman. As Ellen had many brothers and sisters, I've been able to use his occupation as a means of narrowing the field when searching through the electoral rolls (see more on electoral rolls in my next Joy of Genealogy Post). The other witnesses name and the name of the person in whose residence the wedding took place are the same on the certificate. Unfortunately they were largely indecipherable until I discovered a genealogical 'Rosetta Stone' - Toms mothers' death notice in Papers Past. When she died, her name was Mrs Landers - she had remarried! 'Landers' was now obviously the indecipherable name on the certificate! Tom got married at his mum's house, and the other witness at the wedding was his previously unknown foster sister, Emma Landers! Genealogy Joy ensued!

New Zealand online BDM tips:

1. If you don't wish to use a credit card for online purchases - try buying a pressie card from the Post Office - load it with the money you want to spend and use that instead.

2. The database is by no means foolproof - especially if you need to look up very early records. If you can't find the person you're looking for, you may need to be creative with your search terms - different spellings, and in the case of one marriage certificate I was looking for, putting the brides maiden name in the grooms search field! In the end, you might need to revert back to the analogue technology of the microfiche (available at the Palmerston North City Library on Level 2) if that ancestor just won't appear! If you're still having trouble, check out this research guide by Archives New Zealand.

3. Make sure you only search within a 20 year time frame at most. Unless I'm looking for something really specific, I usually start from from 01/01/1840 upwards in 20 year increments to make sure I catch everything.

4. This can be an expensive pasttime. When you search, it might not be immediately obvious which result is relevant to you - especially if you are looking for a record from the 1840s and 50s. Sometimes, even after the careful weighing of names and dates, you might need to take a punt and order something, merely to eliminate that entry from you enquiries.

A Marriage 'print-out'

5. I always order a 'print-out' not the 'certificate'. A certificate is just that - an official, legal document of the birth, death or marriage. The Print-out is NOT a legal document, but is the original document photocopied onto A3 paper. The information is usually filled out by hand (especially for the earliest records) and often has much, much more information than just the certificate - besides, at around $20 it is also a much cheaper option!

Next time on Joy of Genealogy: The Story of a Magician's Moolah and the mysteries weaved by early electoral rolls!

New to Genealogy? Check out Palmerston North City Library's resources.

What's your Genealogy story? Do you have any great tips or advice? Email us if you'd like to have them included in the next Joy of Genealogy, or comment on this diary entry below.

Posted by Jaime (For the Library)

How do you organise your bookshelves?

2011-02-26T18:26:00.006+13:00

More not-reserved new books

2011-02-18T09:20:00.004+13:00

These are a selection of new Non Fiction titles from the last couple of weeks that weren't reserved while on the New Book Display.

An interesting subject coverage this time - dogs, Australia, crafts and gaming technology...oooh and car racing.

Smellorama! Nose games for dogs

Borrow some less-sexy new books

2011-02-08T14:50:00.000+13:00

Pruning for fruit

Every week there are some new books in Non Fiction that either go on the New Books Display but don't get reserved or don't get put on the New Books Display shelf because they're unlikely to get reserved. So I'm calling them some of our less-sexy new books and giving them the attention they deserve.
Here are some of the titles from last week:

Most, if not all, of these books on sitting on the shelf just waiting to be borrowed by you.

Remember, beauty is on the inside.

Guest Blogger: The Gnomadic Librarian

2011-01-19T09:07:00.001+13:00

Today we welcome The Gnomadic Librarian into the guest blogger hot-seat. She is a local who reads and reviews books - mostly in the Young Adult genre on her blog of the same name. Her blog posts have also appeared on the Checkm8 website.

I've read some truly awesome novels in 2010 - so in honour of the New Year - here are my three favourites

1. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Todd lives as a pioneer religious settler on a colony far from earth. A local disease has killed the female population and cursed all the men with a constant barrage of telepathy that can't be controlled - they hear each others thoughts all the time. When Todd finds a small patch of calm silence out in the woods, old histories come to light that force both the sinister Mayor of Prentisstown and Todd into opposite corners, fighting to protect their power over the 'Noise' and those they've come to love. Ness asks some hefty questions in this novel: When is violence justifiable? What is right and wrong when all you want to do is provide protection from threats - both real and perceived? This is the first book in The Chaos Walking Trilogy - the most expertly paced and satisfying trilogy of novels I've ever read - right down to the last line of the last book - something that very few writers manage to achieve.

2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games is set in a dystopian future where 'The Capitol' rules with an iron fist over the 12 Districts. Life is tough, and Katniss Everdeen has to be tougher in order to survive. But there are more reasons to fear the Capitol than the 'peacekeepers' who are sent to ensure the Districts keep in line. Every year the Districts have to contribute to the Hunger Games - a televised gladiatorial battle designed to remind the people what happens when you defy the Capitol. There can be only one survivor - literally - and this year, it's Katniss' turn. How far is she willing to go to ensure her survival? She must win the games, or her mother and sister will starve. But she will have to kill people - people she has grown to love - in order to win. The pace of these books is absolutely relentless. You can read and read and read, totally forgetting to eat ,just to find out what happens next. With this book (and it's two sequels) Collins' shows how to write compelling, exciting action that is in no way gratuitous or throw-away, whilst holding up a mirror to our modern thirst for instant celebrity. Fantastic stuff.

3. Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

Sephy is a 'Cross' and part of the privileged elite of society which is defined by her darker skin colour. She is young, idealistic and unaware of just how safe and pampered her life really is. She is secretly friends with Callum who is a paler skinned 'Nought' and therefore second-class. Callum is bright and principled and wants nothing more than to finish school and 'be somebody'. Sephy and Callum fight to sustain their friendship through the hostility aimed at them by both Noughts and Crosses. The setting is scarily realistic, people make good, bad and indifferent decisions and both sides of the conflict have demons and angels. The situations are immediately reminiscent of the Civil Rights struggles in America in the 1950s and 1960s, but with the tactics and persona of present day Israel/Palestine. As readers we are challenged to asses our own prejudices via the simple device of reversing the historical power v. skin colour ratio. It's tough but essential reading - especially the sequel Knife Edge.

Are you a local blogger who uses Palmerston North City Library? Would you like to write a guest post for us? Then send us an email!

A Very Chaiser Christmas...

2011-01-16T17:41:00.001+13:00

...and a Happy New Year readers! The Chaisers seem to be back from their Christmas Holiday full of 'joie de vivre', 'vim and vigor' and general happy enthusiasm, as they are now officially members of the Palmerston North City Library. Today I found a Chaiser sized box of Christmas themed fudge, several Holiday snaps (keep a look out for these on The Chaisers Twitpic photo site, they're sure to upload them soon) and the first of what promises to be several new book reviews.

Regarding: Nation by Terry Pratchett

Dear Librarians,

Now that we can officially 'emborrow' books from the Library we have decided to more regularly furnish you with reviews of the books we take home to the back of the Chaise. Over the holidays, several of us read Terry Pratchett's non disc-world book Nation. It was a rollicking good tale of a tidal wave, a shipwreck, and the survivors brought together from two different worlds. They discover that people are essentially the same no matter where they've come from. Nation is a colourful, flowing and accessible story, sprinkled with humour, magic, and sometimes gory reality. It also features very good English manners, of which we heartily approve! Compelling - we highly recommend.

Regards,

The Chaisers :)

WOMAD performers on Google Map

2010-12-23T10:49:00.001+13:00

You can now use this Google Map to see find out lots more about the performers who are coming to WOMAD Taranaki in March 2011.

The map shows the countries they all come from and for each performer you can learn more about them on the WOMAD NZ website, the performer's own website, Myspace page or Wikipedia, plus watch videos on You Tube - a total multimedia experience.

Palmy Library members can also find out what CDs and DVDs the library owns that you can borrow so that you can become familiar with the music between now and March.

My personal favourites are Nitin Sawhney (UK/India) and Amadou and Mariam (Mali/France) - we have CDs of both performers in our Sound & Vision Zone.

Enjoy!!

View WOMAD 2011 performers in a larger map

Joy of Genealogy

2010-12-21T11:15:00.004+13:00

Wow! We’ve been busy at the library with missing Facebook pages,Local History Week and now Christmas holidays fast approaching! But now I'mready to resume my tale of Genealogical discovery and share some tips and trickswith you all as I go. Last time I shared my discovery of the ‘true’ storybehind a family legend and promised to tell you all how this then led to theunveiling of an absent Grandfathers history, involving Magic, Moolah andinter-generational alcohol dependence! Well, I am going to tell you about that- but in instalments because I’ve nearly written a novel about it all so I needto do some heavy editing if I'm going to be any help to anyone!

The Uses of Papers Past:Part Two:

Research can often involve toiling through resource after resourcewith no luck at all - but then there are the wow moments, when everything comestogether in a great revelation. My great revelation was lurking under anarticle about a different ancestor that I found on Papers Past. It was simply a name in an advertisement at the bottomof the page: ‘Professor Robert Kudarz’, a noted magician andanti-spiritualist who was due to perform that day. I sat gobsmacked in my chairfor a full five minutes. My mother (here we go with the family stories again!)knew very little about her Fathers family except for a few surviving stories,like the fact that his Grandfather was a famous magician called Kudaz.This was a story she had discounted as rubbish because she had never found anyreference to such a name...I wondered: Kudaz or Kudarz?

Off to Papers Past I went: Key word search:Kudarz. Over 400 entries! A quick squizz through a handful of these revealed the truth.Robert Kudarz was the stage name of one Mr Thomas William Driver - myGreat-Great-Grandfather! Cue embarrassing happy dance of Joy - Genealogy Joy!These articles found on Papers Past revealed that as Kudarz, Tom Driver had anillustrious career as magician (or as he advertised: 'Premier Prestidigitatorand King Illusionist of the World'!) in New Zealand and Australia from the 1880s until the1910s.

Ithen searched Google, Tapuhi:the Alexander Turnbull Librarycatalogue and Archway: Archives New Zealand's onlinecatalogue, to see what I could find. Archives revealed his youngest son's WorldWar One war record. The Turnbull showed they held several items of ephemera intheir collection in Wellington,including a postcard addressed to him from Harry Houdini, and Google gave mesome of the best information of all. Not only did it turn up links toperformance posters stored in Australian archives - it gave me contact detailsfor a man who was researching Tom’s life for a book on magic he was writing.This lovely individual has since revealed so much about his career and taken meto Tom's grave site (owned and administered by the American Society ofMagicians no less).

Now,I know that this is a truly unique case. Google searches for random ancestorsnames are often not going to be of much help. But if you do have a quirky orodd character in your history - you never know what you might find! AfterPapers Past, I highly recommend looking at the Alexander Turnbull and ArchivesNew Zealand websites. They can be invaluable sources of information outside thestandard Birth Death and Marriage certificates that are the staple of allgenealogical research. Speaking of Birth Death and Marriages...

Next time on Joy of Genealogy:

How Internal Affairs fantabulous online search index for NewZealand BDMs has made getting started in Genealogy a lot easier.

New to Genealogy? Check out PalmerstonNorth City Library's resources.

What'syour Genealogy story? Do you have any great tips or advice? Email us if you'd like to havethem included in the next Joy of Genealogy, or comment on this diary entrybelow.

Postedby Jaime (For the Library)

A Chaiser Reconciliation?

2010-12-18T10:47:00.001+13:00

My last post was interrupted by the Chaisers as they delivered their manifesto to us. I tried not to look. We were so close to busting them and rediscovering our hidden Facebook page. I didn't need/want to sympathise with them, but... It turned out, all they wanted was a library card. A simple library card! Things moved quickly after that and the library Facebook page was found and restored. But where did that leave the Chaisers and their Revolution? I wondered - am I a sucker for the underdog? Could I be a Chaiser sympathiser after all?

Spotted: My iPad-napper. A Chaiser called 'Max'

I decided to act. It was time to be polite! I went and sat by the big red Chaise Lounge on the Mezzanine floor with a sign that read: "Dear Chaisers. May I have my iPad back please?" First, there was a little rustling noise. Then, definite movement. Slowly but surely, my iPad appeared from the join of the Chaise-back and the seat. There was an audible flop sound as it emerged, and as I reached out to take it, I saw one! A Chaiser! He had big round eyes and wore tiny glasses, that nonetheless looked huge on him. He waved and I heard a little voice squeak "Thank-you!" before he disappeared back into his highly unusual home.

No one has seen or heard from Emmeline (the revolutionary who masterminded the hiding of the Facebook page) since it was restored. Where ever she's got to, I'm sure she's pleased to hear that The Chaisers will soon become fully fledged library members if the Memorandum of Understanding between library Management and the Chaisers new leadership is signed soon.

In conclusion: The Revolution Biblioteca is over, the Palmerston North City Library Facebook page is back and we can look forward to hearing more from our mysterious, bibliophile, weapons of mass disruption in the future!

If you LOVE the Palmy Library click LIKE

2010-12-11T14:31:00.005+13:00

Can we get 1000 likes before Christmas?

Yes, we can!!

Feathered friends

2010-12-06T11:48:00.002+13:00

When I moved to my home in the country I took one small aviary with me - in it lived an assortment of quail, finches and canaries. A few months later I purchased a rather expensive aviary and moved my birds into it, then buying a couple of peach-faced lovebirds for the smaller aviary. These guys turned out to be a breeding pair and have since produced 3 cute little chicks. I thought they'd appreciate more space to fly around so am busy building a new aviary.

We have a few books in the library with plans for aviaries but very few have been written so I have designed my own...I seem to have better design skills than building talent so it's taking a while to finish assembling it. I'll add photos when it's finished.

In the meantime, this morning I become "Mum" to 3 cockatiel chicks so they've moved into the big aviary with the canaries, finches and quail...temporarily. Mr & Mrs Canary (who I'm told are a breeding pair) have laid their first clutch of eggs so I'm hoping the cockatiels don't interfere with their nest. They are Lizard Canaries and I only know of one breeder in the area so I'm really hoping they hatch out a couple of chicks.

When the new aviary (with 2 separate flights) is ready to be occupied it will become home to the cockatiels and the lovebirds. This will leave the smallest aviary ready for some new little creatures - I'm thinking a couple of budgies, either 2 boys or 2 girls as I don't want them to breed.

What bird varieties do our blog readers own? Let me know so that I can sure that our small but growing collection of bird books meets your needs. In the meantime, follow these links to see what books we already have for bird fanciers:

I recently ordered a new book on finches from Australia - I'm looking forward to seeing it when it comes down to the New Books Display.

It is called The Finch: a breeder's companion and is written by Jim Ritchie.
Read more about it on the Australian Birdkeeper website.

The Chaisers story continues....

2010-11-30T16:29:00.000+13:00

It seems that the Chaisers have been tweeting lately using the names of famous revolutionaries. One seems to be called Che, others have taken the names Fidel, Simon, Martin, Maximilian and Xanana. But their leader seems to be the elusive Emmeline. We assume this is of the Pankhurst rather than the Hot Chocolate variety. The Chaiser brain-boxes managed to cobble together an improvised 'loud-hailer' system so she could deliver a rousing speech - but at one-eighth the size of a normal one, it thankfully didn't have much of an impact. I managed to make out this much of it though before they ran off and disappeared down the back of the couch again: "We are here, not because we are library members; we are here in our efforts to become library members..." Who knows what they really...

The Chaisers interrupt this blog post with an important announcement. The Chaisers are now organised! We have created our Manifesto. Long live The Great Library revolution of 2010 - Viva la revolucion biblioteca!

We, The Chaisers of Palmerston North City Library Furniture hold these truths to be self-evident, that all People and Chaisers are created equal, that they are endowed with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Library books. We have cause to take umbrage with those in authority who choose not to notice our existence. It has thus become necessary for us to declare the causes of our grief which impel us to act to subvert the librarians of our homeland.

The Librarians of Palmerston North City Library had not noticed our existence until we began our guerrilla campaign.
They have duly refused to issue us with library cards, as fictional entities are not entitled to bear one.
They consistently and unnecessarily move our homes (the Furniture) on a whim.
They have obstructed The Chaisers in their pursuit of knowledge and Library books.
The Chaisers hereby declare that our existence is proven. We demand:
The Right to our continued existence
The Right to our homelands - the Furniture of the Palmerston North City Library
The equal Right of all Palmerston North residents to bear a library card

Until a mature and open dialogue can be established With the Leaders of the Palmerston North City Library, The Chaisers Guerrilla movement will continue the Great revolution. We will continue to hide important library books. We will continue to hide the library Facebook page. We will attempt further disruptive cyber-crimes. We are weapons of mass-disruption. We are The Chaisers! iVIVA LA REVOLUCION BIBLIOTECA!

Signed: Emmeline Martin Simon Che Xanana Max & Fidel

Sanson School rocks the beatbooth!

2010-11-24T08:34:00.004+13:00

You may have heard rumblings from the Library’s beatbooth recording studio recently. It’s the rumble and roar of students from Sanson School unleashing their inner bogan and rocking out a song for a fundraising effort. Parent Jason Devlin penned a fist-pumping anthem and used the Library’s facilities to lay down the crowd-pleasing guitars, bass and drum machine, then organised the students in 3 groups to add the roof-raising choruses. You can read more here and here. Watch this space – hopefully we’ll have a snippet for you to listen to here real soon. Sanson Skool kidz rule!
(Picture by Leilani Hatch, Manawatu Standard - thanks!).

Summer Reading 2010 - Big Bush Read

2010-11-17T14:31:00.002+13:00

A Summer Reading report in at the Victoria Esplanade 2008

Every year the Library runs a Summer Reading programme that promotes the kids enjoyment of reading.

It involves children from the ages of 4 – 10 years coming into the Library regularly to talk to staff about what they have been reading; they can earn rewards and at the end get to come to a large celebration party. The programme is kindly funded by the Eastern and Central Community Trust so there is no cost to participate.

The catch is each year it is wildly popular and we have queues of people waiting to sign up and some people always miss out as they cannot be there on the signup day. So this year all places will be allocated through a ballot process.

If you know any children who may want to participate please get their parent or guardian to add their details to the Summer Reading Programme Ballot. Or you can fill out a form at the Central or Branch libraries. This ballot will also include places for the Intermediate programme (ages 11-12).

The ballot closes soon on Sunday the 21^st of November.

It will be drawn on the Monday the 22^nd of November.

If you want to know more about the Summer Reading Programme please talk to our Children's Librarian Ross Meads: ross.meads@pncc.govt.nz or phone 351 4100 ext 7379

Warrick

A Chaiser Book review

2010-11-14T20:28:00.000+13:00

(Click top of image to enlarge)

I'm sure by now you've heard the news. The Library Facebook page was taken over by the Chaisers using my stolen iPad. Which I think makes me partially responsible. But who knew they were so Social Media savvy? Who knew their non-capacitive fingers would be able to work the iPad's touch screen? Who knew that they were so revolutionary minded? Apparently they want recognition for all Chaiser-kind and the right to bear library cards... Well if it's a fight they want, it's a fight they'll get! We can't give out Library cards to imaginary beings! Can we?

Found in a chair in the Fiction zone:

Regarding: Rumo & his Miraculous Adventures by Walter Moers

Dear Librarians,

This book was *almost* too heavy to steal because we are only small creatures. But it was worth the extra effort, even if not quite as good as Walter's first book, The 13 1/2 lives of Captain Bluebear. Rumo is a Wolperting (a small but erudite dog-like creature) who lives in the land of Zamonia. The book is about his many adventures, including escaping from a floating island inhabited by vicious carnivorous monsters who want to eat him, discovering Wolperting City and rescuing his true love Rala from the clutches of the evil General Ticktock. Walter is a German satirist and has illustrated Rumo with beautuful illustrations of the various friends and enemies Rumo meets. It was a lot of fun and we all very much enjoyed it.

Regards,

The Chaisers :)

P.S. Viva la revolucion biblioteca! :P

Rumo is now back on the shelf at Central library. Click here to see if it's in today in the Fiction Living Room: Sci-Fi & Fantasy Zone on the First Floor of the Palmerston North City Library.

(By Jaime for the Library)

It's a book

2010-11-11T15:31:00.006+13:00

I just popped into Bruce McKenzie booksellers in my lunch break - that's where librarians tend to hang out when they need to get away from the library.

I was looking for Christmas presents for my preschool niece and nephew when a picture book just plopped off the display stand and onto the floor beside me. It had a cute monkey on the cover so I picked it up and proceeded to read it.

I found an online version of the book on You Tube so you can 'read it' too:

I wonder why this particular book fell onto the floor? Are The Chaisers trying to tell me something?

Should I stop stressing about our long-gone Facebook account and just settle into a corner of the library with a good book?

The Worried Webmanager

P.S. We have a couple of copies of the book in the library - get it quick before The Chaisers beat you to it.

It's a book by Lane Smith

Security camera footage of The Chaisers

2010-11-10T13:47:00.001+13:00

Palmerston North City Library has today released the following security camera image that was captured at 7:20am this morning. A short time later they appear to have slid under the self-opening doors and entered the premises, leaving 12 minutes later empty-handed. Security staff are reviewing videos from other security cameras to find out what activity was carried out whilst inside the building.

Can you help identify the individuals in this security footage?

The Chaisers have destroyed our Facebook page

2010-11-08T21:49:00.008+13:00

Things are looking bad….very bad indeed… for Palmerston North City Library. Members of the Library IT team have been spotted engaged in grave discussion devising plans for the survival of their library. Dismayed librarians are appealing to the City Librarian seeking immediate action against the unknown forces that have captured their Facebook platform.

“After a thorough investigation into the matter, we have some leads on the suspects who are claiming to be the mastermind behind this hacking operation. I can neither confirm nor deny whether the sinister group identifying themselves as ‘the Chaisers’ are in fact responsible for this crime”, said Leith Haarhoff, the Creative Digital Manager. “The group have claimed responsibility and they have shown no hint of remorse in their wrong-doing. We have to stop them before they take control of our other social networking platforms,” says Jay Robinson, the Community Connections Manager at the Library.

When asked what their next step will be, Leith Haarhoff expressed his concern: “We are doing everything we can but unless we are able to identify the way these Chaisers work, it is going to be difficult catching and defeating them. As part of our emergency recovery strategy, we’ve set up a new site to list the upcoming library events, and thankfully our website still remains intact (/) – but for how long?”

Meanwhile, allegedly having hacked into the Library’s Facebook account, these ‘Chaisers’ are reported to have been boasting of their victory. Slowly but surely, they are also revealing their true colours (stealing books and e-Readers from the library). We hope that this information will aid the librarians in their quest.

As the battle continues, the library has turned into a virtual warzone with courageous librarians fighting against the unknown. Lives (and books) are at stake and the virtual environment is a mess. It is expected that the hunt to capture the culprits red-handed will continue over the coming few weeks. The City Library is urging all patrons to be on the lookout for the ‘Chaisers'.

Is this the end of librarianship as we know it?

The Chaisers: They're at it again!

2010-11-02T14:18:00.001+13:00

Click top of image to enlarge

Just when I thought that perhaps I had been wrong to judge The Chaisers so readily, I find that actually, they are just as thieving and conniving as I had first suspected. I now know that The Chaisers have gotten hold of an Internet ready eReader. My Internet ready eReader. They've stolen my iPad! They wasted no time in creating a Twitter account! How long will it be until they've worked out how to hack Facebook! I fear that my panic stations are about to hit overload! Look at how many exclamation marks I've been forced to use already!!!

In other news, I found another Chaiser review today. This one was tucked inside a book sneakily returned overnight from inside the building - so I know it was them. The cheeky little... They had better be taking good care of my precious iPad - or else!

Regarding: Pandemonium by David Gregory

Dear Librarians,

We found that this book took a little while to warm up, but once we hooked on to the protagonist and plot we found we couldn't put it down. In Pandemonium, people are being possessed by fictional characters created by the likes of Phillip K Dick and Vogt. It's action packed and thought provoking but also quite humorous with a welcome lack of teenage vampires!

We liked it just as much as Jasper Ffordes' books about Spec Ops agent Thursday Next. We also think that if you liked Boneshaker by Cherie Priest you might like Pandemonium too. That is all.

Regards,

The Chaisers :)

Pandemonium was safely returned to the Library collection and can be found here: Fiction Living Room: Supernatural & Horror-Fiction Zone on the First Floor of the Palmerston North City Library.

(By Jaime for the Library)

Resources for writers

2010-10-30T13:20:00.002+13:00

I have to admit that I don't often look at the magazines in the Fiction Zone but the cover of Writer's Digest caught my attention this morning - it was the huge word WEB that did it (I know, I'm a nerd in librarian's clothing).

Anyway, I picked it up and in between shelving trolley loads of recently returned crime and romance novels, serving customers and liaising with colleagues I had a flick through the pages.

There is an article on the 75 top onine markets for writers...in other words, literary journals and other magazines that will pay money for writing. Hmmm...an opportunity here? The list of markets shows the type of writing invited by each (i.e., short stories, travel, poetry, fantasy, etc.) and the amount paid for successful submissions.

A few pages on I located a really helpful article for people like myself who are setting out on a journey of blogging - a guide to 10 things to NOT do as a blogger:

Post too often
Post too infrequently
Disable comments

I'll leave you to check out the other 7 if you're interested.

Locate Writer's Digest on the library catalogue

Joanne (for the library)

What's cooking on the New Books display?

2010-10-27T11:40:00.058+13:00

Cooking and eating seem to be popular activies at the moment.

On TV we are tempted with Masterchef Australia, Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmare USA, Nigella Kitchen, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, The Kitchen Job, My Kitchen Rules...and that's only 2 nights of the week.

It's not unusual to have a TV series/book tie-in (particularly as we lead up to dates like Mother's Day and Christmas Day) and I see that Annabel Langbein has been actively promoting her new book that goes by the same name as her TV series, Annabel Langbein The Free Range Cook. She also has a website that provides recipes, links to watch or rewatch previous episodes and even see a preview of the next one.

There is a fantastic menu of new food/cooking books on the current New Books Display in the Non Fiction Zone:

	Bill's basics /by Bill Granger Bill Granger, restaurateur, television chef and food writer, works his magic on 100 other classic dishes from across the globe. read the full summary
	Cook simple : effortless cooking every day by Diana Henry A chapter to each of 12 everyday ingredient groups read the full summary
	Fish 'n' chips : the great New Zealand feed by Kevyn Male Celebrating the much-loved Kiwi culinary tradition of fish 'n' chips Read the full summary
	Jamie's 30 minute meals by Jamie Oliver "no faffing about; just good, fast cooking" read the full summary
	Salades by Damien Pignolet Elevate the seemingly simple salad to an art form read the full summary
	Gregg's favourite puddings by Gregg Wallace Traditional crumbles; fruity tarts; indulgent mousses; sticky puddings. Yum! read the full summary

These books have been on the New Books Display since Friday morning and have a total of 37 requests placed on them.

Can anyone predict the most requested titles this week? I'll give you a hint - Jamie Oliver is currently in the lead. If you can tell me which 3 titles will have the most requests when the books come off display on Thursday afternoon we'll give you 3 free requests - on these or any other titles.

Email me at webmanager@library.pncc.govt.nz.

Happy cooking,

JD

The Joy of Genealogy

2010-10-26T11:29:00.002+13:00

Genealogy is a wonderful/terrible past time. It can be gloriously exciting as well as excruciatingly boring. It can be enormously satisfying yet also terribly revealing as you begin to discover missing pieces of the puzzle that boils down to the eventual creation of you. This diary will report progress in my attempt to discover the history of my forebears, and hopefully pass on the tips and tricks I've picked up on my journey...(cue wibbly-wobbly fade-out and nostalgic music)...

The Uses of Papers Past

Part One:

We had an old family story passed down to us that we were the product of an Ancestor's second marriage. He had apparently re-married because his first wife had caught fire, but died by drowning after she jumped in the river to put herself out. A tragic story, but one that used to make us laugh a bit as it was such a 'Murphy's-law' sort of tale. So, one rainy afternoon I decided to see if I could find out if this was in any way true. I felt that such an event was fairly likely to have been reported in newspapers at the time, and that an inquest might even have been held. So I turned to an awesome website powered by the National Library of New Zealand called Papers Past, which is one of many free-access sites at Palmerston North City Library. To narrow down the search, I only looked at papers within the Wellington region, and tried a few key-word combos to get the ball rolling. It didn't take long, as the winning words were helpfully the most obvious ones: Death, Fire and the Ancestors surname - Hooper.

I found two relevant stories in the Evening Post that illustrate perfectly the wonderfully ambivalent nature of Genealogical research. Mr Hooper's first wife was accidentally set on fire - probably by her children. She didn't jump in the river and drown. She died in agony of her injuries many days later. It was extremely sobering news. Her story could no longer be a humorous family tale but I was also elated now that I had found out the real story (well, as real as can be reported in a newspaper) - It was just much more horrible than I had ever imagined.

Links: First news report: Evening Post 30 November 1889. Scroll about one-third down the page. Look for the keywords Fire, Death and Hooper in highlighter yellow. Second News Report: Evening Post 20 December 1889. Scroll about three-quarters down the page. Look for the keywords Fire, Death and Hooper in highlighter yellow.

Hints: Getting into the starters block: Go find your elders - they know stuff, and everything starts with them and what they remember. What they know can lead to the uncovering of a great deal of very valuable information, and act as a springboard towards the investigative journey of a lifetime. In my case, my Grandmother and her siblings had all been told the nicer version of this story as children. What the documents can show us, is how much facts may be distorted for the benefit of children's ears and how much truth is mixed in with the stories that have been passed down over time.

Next Time in The Joy of Genealogy: How this discovery of the incredible burning woman led to the unveiling of an absent Grandfathers history, involving Magic, Moolah and inter-generational alcohol dependence!

Share: What's your Papers Past story? Do you have any great tips or advice? Email us if you'd like us to include your story in the next Joy of Genealogy, or comment on this diary entry below

Progress update: The Chaisers are at it again!

2010-10-21T11:05:00.000+13:00

Click top of image to enlarge

I have not been able to stop The Chaisers from setting booby-traps, (see above). I have not been able to prevent them from stealing books and disappearing down the back of the couch with them. I have not recovered many (if any) of the said stolen items. But then it happened. There wasn't much to see at first. It was so small I nearly missed it. Down the back of the Chaise was a tiny hint of a whiff of a slip of paper. I pinched the end of it and pulled it gently. It was a very carefully folded piece of A4 (probably stolen from the Administration desk) and tied to the end via a piece of string was a missing library book! I unfolded this curious piece of paper and discovered a hand written book review. A question immediately formed in my mind. Could it be that The Chaisers have started to 'earn their keep'? Hmmmmm.

Regarding: Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult.

Dear Librarians,

We are sorry but we didn't like your book. We didn't finish it because it is very slowly paced and a bit boring. It's about a family who have a little girl who has a bone disease and then the parents decide to sue their Doctor. The book covers a controversial topic which we found a bit disturbing. But we really liked the delightful little girl in the story. It was very sad and made us cry :'( so you can have it back now.

Thank-you :)

The Chaisers.

P..S. We preferred While my Sister Sleeps by Barbara Delinsky. We think you should read that one instead.

For those who wish to dispute The Chaisers opinion, I can now report that the book has been returned to the general collection and can be found here: Fiction Living Room: General Fiction Zone on the First Floor of the Palmerston North City Library.

JD's choice off the Fiction New Book shelf

2010-10-19T08:49:00.001+13:00

These two books seem to have one thing in common - boobs! I didn't select them for that reason, honest! However having picked up on this 'theme' I found myself eliminating the 3rd title I was going to talk about...perhaps I didn't look hard enough to find the connection. That title was Joe Bennett's "Celebrity cat recipes" - he writes about anything and everything including ear drums in this collection of columns.

Sixteen shades of crazy / Rachel Trezise

The subtitle of this one is what got my interest: "Went out, got pissed. Same shit, different day."
Welsh author, Rachel Trezise is only 32 and has had 4 titles published. As some who has always had ambitions to write, but not the motivitation, or talent, I'm impressed.

"Sixteen Shades of Crazy" is centred around the party-loving wives and girlfriends of local punk band, The Boobs.

I'd know you anywhere / Laura Lippman

I chose this book for kind of weird reason - there was a character in one of my favourite movies called Mrs Lippman. In fact, she wasn't even a character in the normal sense of the word - she'd died some time ago so was just a name mentioned by Jame Gumb when being interviewed by Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs.

Ironically there are more similarities between this title and the Hannibal Lecter movies than the Lippmann name. "I'd know you anywhere" tells the story of a young girl who was kidnapped but allowed to live, not like his other victims who were raped and then killed. Years later when she is happily married with a couple of kids, she receives a letter from "Walter" who is now on death row. What does he want from her? How should she respond?

The book has been called "an edgy, utterly gripping tale of psychological manipulation that will leave readers racing to the final page" and despite not being a huge reader of crime fiction I'll definitely be reserving this one to see how it turns out.

Laura Lippmann obviously has a sense of humour - a blog entry dated 28 July 2010 is headed "The Great American BOOB Tour". She then writes "Well, if that doesn’t increase traffic on this site, I don’t know what will."

She is talking about her public appearances for I'd Know You Anywhere:

Bethany Beach,
Oxford, MD,
Oxford, MS and
Baltimore

in other words, the BOOB tour.

Who are the Chaisers?

2010-10-12T11:16:00.003+13:00

Click top of image to enlarge

Who are the Chaisers? Are they...Book Beings? Couch Surfers? Library Gnomes? Nefarious Thieves? NO ONE KNOWS! What we do know is that they are cunning little devils with a thirst for knowledge and a penchant for stealing books from Palmerston North City Librarians! Have you ever wondered why the central branch of the library doesn't open until 10am in the morning? It's because we have to spend hours and hours undoing Chaiser booby-traps. Their typical tactic involves moving in for the steal after a Librarian is 'distracted' by being scared half to death in one of these traps. For example, we recently had to confiscate a mouse-sized cannon, a trampoline and a replica Messerschmidt dive-bomber after they were used to purloin copies of Suzanne Collins' Mockingjay, Jodi Picoult's Handle with Care and Daryl Gregory's Pandemonium.

I have employed all my technical know-how and built a Chaiser detector. I want to know how they manage to shove that many library items down the back of their couch home, (which they call their 'Chaise' - posh much?) without them falling out the bottom. Where did they come from? Do they have a Stargate to transport them into another dimension? Why does my Chaiser detector look like a Proton Pack from Ghost Busters? There are so many unanswered questions! This state of affairs has gone on for far too long. The time has come for The Chaisers to become The Chased! I just have to figure out how to catch them before they disappear down the back of that couch...

I will blog again soon about my impossible mission - To Chase The Chaisers!

Jaime (for the Library)

Sneak preview - Local History Week coming soon

2010-10-06T16:28:00.001+13:00

Celebrating our history from 1 to 7 November 2010

More details coming very soon. Until then here are some highlights:

Walk - historic pubs of Palmerston North
Mina McKenzie lecture: wives and mistresses and the settler world
Film - From bushtracks to Broadway
Hands on scanning workshop
Walk - preview into the new look Te Manawa

Also, a chance to contribute to Palmerston North's story by donating photographs and movie footage of Palmerston North in the 1960s.

Get ready for WOMAD 2011

2010-10-05T13:26:00.002+13:00

The countdown is on...
WOMAD Tickets
On 15 October a limited number of earlybird tickets for WOMAD 2011 go on sale. One of those tickets is going to be MINE.

The library can help you prepare for WOMAD.

Get a roof over your head
My accommodation is already booked - you can't afford to leave it too late as WOMAD 2011 will have an audience of 12,500 ticket holders and around 280 performers from 18 different countries. They all need somewhere to stay so accommodation in Taranaki is booked way ahead.

Check out some of our accommodation guides to work out where you're going to stay.

Who's performing?
Wednesday 27 October is the next exciting day - it's when WOMAD New Zealand announce the line-up of performers.

Visit the Sound & Vision Zone of the Central Library to borrow CDs from the previous WOMAD Festivals and to browse our fantastic World Music collection.

So what is WOMAD?
WOMAD stands for World Of Music Arts and Dance and it's a cultural festival encompassing music, dance and food from around the world, including New Zealand.

Check out this short documentary of WOMAD 2009 to find out more about WOMAD:

Joanne (for the library)

Borrowed a book, built a garden

2010-09-27T12:44:00.028+13:00

I've been looking for a simple plan for building some raised gardens - something that 1 person can build. I found the perfect solution in this book: Collins first-time gardener: a step-by-step guide for the gardening novice by Kim Wilde. The title is a bit misleading as I'm not a first-time gardener - this goes to show that not only can you not judge a book by its cover but sometimes you cannot judge it by its title. At the time I was helping a library customer to find a book that showed how to grow peas. This book wasn't as good as another one I found her but the photo of a raised garden was just what I wanted to build for my new vege garden.
So, with a good library book, an electric saw, timber and a good dose of determination, I built myself 2 raised gardens which now just need soil and plants - oh, and perhaps some improved weather. This is the smaller one of the 2 gardens I built, upside down before being moved into position.

Monday morning update This is how the garden looked at the beginning of the weekend:
and this is how it looks now: Share your Borrowed a Book story What have you built or baked, mended or made as a result of borrowing a library book? Add your comments or email the library webmanager with your story. Be in to win some free AV issues. Joanne (for the library)

Man Booker shortlist 2010

2010-09-14T17:00:00.002+12:00

Last week the shortlisted titles were announced. The six books, selected from the Man Booker Prize longlist of 13, are:

Peter Carey - Parrot and Olivier in America
read the summary
Emma Donoghue - Room
read the summary

Damon Galgut - In a Strange Room
read the summary

Howard Jacobson - The Finkler Question
library copy on order

Andrea Levy - The Long Song
read the summary

Tom McCarthy - C
library copy on order

What do you think Palmy readers? Anyone want to guess the winner?

The winner will be announced on 12 October so you have time to get reading.

Joanne, for the library

Guest blogger - Emma Barnes

2010-09-06T12:30:00.003+12:00

Last Wednesday I found myself in the Palmerston North City Library doing a reading to a small but well formed audience.

Emma Barnes, poet

By the end of the night the audience was larger and more lively, a complete pleasure to read to. Having lived in Palmerston North for a couple of years I was really familiar with the library and looking forward to visiting again. I love the space and the staff are so very friendly and helpful. I've read before at open mics and in group readings but I'd never read as the featured poet. Luckily I had the wonderful Johanna Aitchison as my MC and interviewer to guide me through the evening.

I really enjoyed hearing the poets who read before me as part of the open mic. There was a range of work from a fantastic poem read entirely in a Scottish accent to someone else who read for the very first time that night. It looks like Stand Up Poetry has a constant and interested audience, something I very much appreciated.

I think that readings are an integral part of poetry. I love to share my work and have others share their work with me. The way a poet reads a poem can take it from very good to amazing. I love that feeling of being drawn further into the work I am hearing. The very best readings feel like sitting in someone's lounge talking over a cuppa. I think Stand Up Poetry has made it into my top five favourite readings. I think very fondly of the readings at Aunt Daisy's in Titahi Bay in Wellington and Stand Up Poetry for me was an equally lovely experience. The reading has really confirmed my work for me. I'll continue writing my manuscript and hope to get it finished and published. It's an exciting time for me and I was really glad to have been a part of Stand Up Poetry.

Thanks to Palmerston North City Library, Johanna Aitchison and Helen Lehndorf for inviting me and making it such a pleasure.

Guest blogger - Pohangina Pete

2010-08-25T12:03:00.003+12:00

Outside in the dim light of another grey, damp dawn, the tui sings — or calls. What's the difference between singing and calling? As I wonder about this, the korimako calls — and that seems the appropriate word for the scolding, the slightly harsh "yak yak yak yak" which I assume (perhaps wrongly) is an alarm call. But I also hear a riroriro singing, and that, too, seems the unassailably correct word — melodious, easy on the ear, with a complex, definite structure in which each note seems to follow naturally from its predecessor.

This, of course, is a human interpretation, but what does a bird hear when it hears one of its own or another species singing (or calling); what does the riroriro hear when it hears the tui's astonishingly complex vocalisation? The best we can do to answer these questions is to use a combination of science and long, engaged observation to help us imagine the answers, recognising as we do that we can never truly know, that we can never hear like any bird even if our ears could capture precisely the same range of frequencies. Much of the time we guess wrong when we try to understand what one of our own species hears — I hear boring, toneless, puerile, repetitive chanting; you hear complex, clever, rhythmic insight into the modern condition. You hear unexplained footsteps; I hear the house releasing the heat of the day. Sometimes, admittedly, we claim to hear the same thing or, by some comment or gesture, suggest it, but always the inescapable truth remains: we are trapped inside ourselves.

I look up, and a kahu sails past, a long, low, even glide right across the window-framed view.

What is it like to be a kahu, a hawk on the morning wind?

(c) Pohangina Pete

>> Pohangina Pete's blog
>> New Zealand birds - books in the City Library

New CDs - August 14th

2010-08-17T09:32:00.003+12:00

Tipi Haere Te Reo is a project by Peter Rangiwai and Hohepa MacDougall, where they have taken popular songs in English and translated the lyrics into Te Reo Maori. Yes, that sounds a little bit like Whirimako Black’s Soul Sessions, and that’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned!

Tom Jones returns, belting out songs of Praise & Blame. Bits of gospel, blues and rock coalesce around the velvety smooth voice of the Welsh Wailer.

The Len Price 3 is a band that does not include a member called Len Price. I like them already! Their CD Pictures is a psychedelic garage 60’s blast. A bit like the White Stripes, if they had a sense of humour. (Isn’t Jack White way too intense on that It Might Get Loud DVD?)

As the Black Crowes once said “Pretty little thing let me light your candle cos mama I’m sure hard to Handel”, which brings me nicely to the new Handel collection by the Sixteen. There are more than sixteen people in the group so you know they’re a nutty crew. If you perform a Series Keyword search for “Sixteen” you’ll see all their Handel stuff in one place. Includes crowd-pleasing football favourites like “Will the sun forget to streak” and “Let thy hand be strengthened”. Issue them all at once, if you can Handel it.

CDs July 30, 2010

2010-08-03T17:39:00.001+12:00

You may have seen Pacific Curls at WOMAD. If so, I’m sure you’ll be reserving their CD Te Kore so you can hear more of their PacifiCeltic vibes.

Robert Randolph, with the help of the ubiquitous, hugely authoritative T Bone Burnett, has put together an album (We walk this road) that’s a “celebration of African-American music over the last 100 years”. The songs are great, the segues are like sepia-toned photos for your ears, and Randolph’s pedal steel playing is as fiery as ever.

I’ll be listening to Clutch’s latest album Strange cousins from the West, purely because of the title of the last track – Sleestak lightning (melding Land of the Lost with Howlin’ Wolf - awesome!) Description from www.realgroovy.co.nz: riff-heavy jams.

More totally authentic soul moves from Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings on I learned the hard way. Top class.

Kobo - NZ's first widely available & cheap ebook reader

2010-07-08T11:34:00.007+12:00

So I have finally gotten my hands on an ereader. This is exciting stuff for a Librarian! I've been reading about how these things are so wonderful for a few years now but no one could be bothered releasing one in New Zealand. They promise an easy way to explore the new realm of electronic books, however electronic books have been around in some form or other for over a decade. An ereader like the Kobo and its much talked about American cousin the Kindle offer something different to reading books on your computer or cellphone by using an eInk screen. This means no reading in the dark (pity) but promises less eyestrain and truly impressive battery life than a regular screen. This means enough power to read for 2 weeks or to last for perhaps a half dozen books before a recharge is required. So whats a Kobo? A roughly paperback sized slab of white plastic with a glass screen with a nice rubberised back which makes it really comfy to hold. The colour and styling owes a lot to the iPod/Mac white aesthetic.

Whats is it really like to use? Overall pretty good. On first impressions its a bit slow to power up, open books and turn pages, but once you get it going its a fairly pleasant experience to read with and I quickly found myself getting engrossed in 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes', one of the 100 free out of copyright titles included on the device. I have not had the chance to read a whole book on it but I truly think I could quite happily do so. To get books onto the reader requires a small software download and a drag and drop and the Whitcoulls store claims over 2 million titles so you have plenty of selection. No 'Twilight' though, sorry vampire fans, you'll have to read the original 'Dracula' instead, also included. A Kobo has enough memory to store 1000 books and an SD card slot if thats not enough for you. Books once purchased and downloaded arrive via a USB cable which is also used for charging. Navigation is fairly basic - if you like flicking through your books you will hate the Kobo - you can jump to a chapter but after that its pretty much a page at a time forward or backwards with a pause each time a page loads. However if you prefer larger print the text can be enlarged to equal a Large Print book for easier reading, with the only downside being more page turns. The Kobo will read ePub books both encryped with DRM and not and from any source - you do not have to buy from the Whitcoulls store. It will also open PDF files but they are easier to read if you reformat them for the smaller screen.

It remains to be seen how popular ebooks and ereaders will prove to be but so far Whitcoulls claims to have sold "thousands" and they are apparently more popular here in New Zealand than in Australia where they are also on sale.

So what do you think, would you read books on a Kobo or another reader? Have you seen one in action? Love the idea . . . or does crinkly paper and a physical book still win out for you? Let me know what you think.

Links:
Whitcoulls website (buy Kobo and ebooks)

Project Gutenberg (more free books than you could read in a lifetime)

New Zealand Electronic Text Centre (NZETC) (free New Zealand titles as ebooks, some titles are available as downloadable ebooks, other titles can be read on the website.

Warrick

What is a library?

2010-06-30T12:11:00.008+12:00

What do you think?

What is a library, or more specifically, Palmerston North City Library, to you?

Add your comments below

New Zealand Post Book Awards Finalists 2010

2010-06-28T14:54:00.038+12:00

The finalists in the New Zealand Post Book Awards have been announced! You can borrow them all from Palmerston North City Library

View the list of finalists on our website

Vote for your favourite and be in to win $1,000 of Booksellers Tokens.

CDs on new display - 11 June 2010

2010-06-11T16:54:00.001+12:00

Mike Patton gets the award for slightly odd genre-hopping this week, with Mondo Cane. The former Faith No More vocalist has produced an album of Italian orchestral pop. Interesting, but I’m not sure if it’s got legs, as they say in Turkby Towers. Mind you, it’s hard to fit legs in a CD player.

So what’s been happening with you while I’ve been away? Oh yeah, how did that go? Cool. I bought a Greek rock CD, and because it’s from overseas-land, the cardboard CD cover opens in a really weird way! Cultural differences…

JD the animal selector and her own collection

2010-06-10T12:45:00.005+12:00

In a recent blog post I promised to tell you a bit about my own collection of animals at home. So here goes - this is my family:

4 black sheep (Dorper Wiltshire cross)
4 goats (3 milking breed wethers, 1 feral female)
2 donkeys
2 Kunekune sows and 3 of their piglets
4 cats
25 hens
1 rooster
16+ birds (in 2 aviaries)
a small school of tropical fish
and a partridge in a pear tree.

Actually that's not true about the partridge. I have a pear tree though, so if you know anyone with a partridge that's free to a good home let me know.

I come from a long line of animal lovers but I think I'm owned by more animals than all of my ancestors put together. My grandparents always had 2 or 3 cats and chooks up the back plus several aviaries of birds. I loved going to bird sales with my Grandad and now I attend them on my own and love coming home with something to add to my family. My larger aviary now houses 1 diamond dove (its mate died a few days after I purchased them), 3 lizard canaries, 4 Chinese Painted quail, 2 zebra finches, 2 red poll (small British finches) and my most recent purchases, 2 Bengalese finches. In the smaller aviary are Polly and Freddie, 2 Peach-faced Lovebirds and judging by the regular squawking coming from the nesting box, I'd say there are at least a couple of new chicks in there as well. I'm very pleased about that because it's near impossible to identify the gender of lovebirds without DNA testing so they were selected as a pair on the basis that they were quite affectionate with one another.

Although I have 'livestock, i.e. sheep and pigs" they are all pets. I'm an unusual kind of 'farmer' in that my animals are my family, they are not to be eaten. The only food I get from my acreage is eggs (when the chooks are laying) and any fruit and veges I grow.

So that collection of 61+ animals (excluding the fish) makes me quite well qualified for the selection of animal books for the library. I don't have as hands-on experience when it comes to animals like snakes (although I've held a few), wetas (I've run from a few) and polar bears but they are still lovely books to purchase for the library collection.

There are 2 lovely new dog books going on the Non Fiction new books display tomorrow morning:

Dog days in Andalucia: tails from Spain

Soul of a dog: reflections of the spirits of the animals on Bedlam Farm

Let me know what kind of pets you have - it might give me ideas for book shopping?

Oink, meow and hee haw from my family and I,

JD the animal books selector

Pathways June - July 2010

2010-06-08T14:44:00.000+12:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More events

What's On - June 2010

2010-06-08T14:42:00.000+12:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More newsletter

FIFA World Cup 2010 and breakfast at our place…

2010-06-02T08:35:00.000+12:00

The Living Room of the City invites you to watch the FIFA World Cup 2010 and have breakfast at our place…

FOOTBALL

BIG SCREEN

HALF TIME BREAKFAST

Saturday 12 June Uruguay vs France

Sunday 13 June England vs USA

Monday 14 June Germany vs Australia

Tuesday 15 June Italy vs Paraguay

Wednesday 16 June Brazil vs Korea DPR

Thursday 17 June South Africa vs Uruguay

Friday 18 June France vs Mexico

Doors Open 6.15am

Kick Off 6.30am

Central Library, George Street Entrance

$2 Entry

For more information please contact Genny or Margaret on 351 4519

Image licence: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 courtesy of CLF http://www.flickr.com/photos/clf/136435499/