My local library joins the big world

One of the terrific things about my local library has been its membership of a group of seven, the SWAP network, which gave us access to books from a group of local libraries.
This has provided a terrific service.

But now the Campbelltown Library has become one of the early joiners of One Card, an initiative to network all South Australian Public Libraries.

These libraries are generally funded by their local councils and provide services free of cost.

How lucky are we?

And what a tribute to NYOR 2012, Australia's National Year of Reading. 

Our libraries are vibrant places providing wonderful service.

Find out more about the One Card rollout here. It began 6 months ago and will take approximately 3 years. It will give users access to millions of items.

The Campbelltown Public Library provides books for all ages, including an amazing children's section, magazines and newspapers, books in a variety of languages reflecting the multicultural nature of the council area, videos, audio books, CDS etc., a toy library, computers for individual use and a computer lab, children's sessions, after school clubs, a JP service, quiet reading areas, and small meeting spaces.

NYOR 2012 Australia

Australian libraries and library associations are behind a campaign to turn 2012 into the National Year of Reading, NYOR,  linking together all the great things that are already happening around books, reading and literacy, and giving them an extra boost, with fun programs and activities taking place across the country.

Upcoming events listed on the website Love2Read include World Book Day on 3 March, and World Read Aloud Day on 9 March.

And here at MYSTERIES in PARADISE we'll be doing our little bit throughout the year, because we all agree that reading is so important.
One of the websites associated with NYOR opens with some sobering thoughts:

Nearly half the population struggles without the literacy skills to meet the most basic demands of everyday life and work. There are 46% of Australians who can't read newspapers; follow a recipe; make sense of timetables, or understand the instructions on a medicine bottle.

The Patron of NYOR is William McInnes, writer, actor, narrator, popular speaker at various writers' weeks. We look forward to seeing him at various events.
He doesn't write crime fiction but I really enjoyed his account of growing up in rural Australia, which seemed to have so much in common with my own experience. My review: A MAN'S GOT TO HAVE A HOBBY