Double dog-eared. We’re not talking books…

Work experience student Tayla has just finished a week with us at the Library. Although she may have a passion for books and libraries, it is dogs that are her true passion.  She tells us the story of finding her current fur-baby.

 

Isn’t it incredible how much a dog means to a person, they truly are man’s best companion. Funny thing is, I never owned a dog but always had wanted too. I never thought that I would get the chance to until my thought suddenly changed. When I was a child, I would non-stop complain about how badly I wanted a cute little puppy. It didn’t matter what I was talking about or discussing with my parents, the fact of owning a dog always came into the talk, at one point I even considered wanting a dingo (being a child, they were the closest look alike to a dog, yet I had little knowledge of what a dingo actually was).

My grandparents had previously owned a Tenterfield Terrier named Kandi.  Kandi was a very rare dog, the runt of the litter. Complexion was completely white like soft fluffy snow, except for her little black head, as dark as charcoal & not any bigger than a tennis ball. Kandi lived for a great amount of time a month under 16 years to be exact, a brilliant life & was just an all-round amazing little rascal. I had been brought up with her for my whole life & when she passed away on the operating table (she had very bad arthritis, went deaf & blind) a large chunk of me went missing. This year, of 2012 was also the year my cat Tabby passed away, also very shattering.

Time had passed since beautiful Kandi had passed away & my grandparents were beginning to get lonely again, so was my sister & I. My grandparents were considering obtaining a new companion. Their decision was made & it was a yes, a yes! A new little dog running around their back yard, a new pet to own but most importantly a new best friend for us. My grandparents went to get the puppy, my mum, dad, sister & I as well (this was a pretty big deal for us as my sister & I got to choose the puppy). We went back to the same breeder to pick the puppy up. There was a picket fence full of dogs, not any bigger than my foot. It was a marvellous sight, if I recall correctly I even shed a tear of joy. You see, my grandma did have a preference, she wanted a little girl & there were only 3 girls to pick from. My sister & I after a long think came to a decision on getting the 1 puppy (yes I did want to keep them all, but sadly couldn’t no matter how hard I persuaded). The young, energetic but also highly timid doggy we chose was later named Ko-Ko (Taking after Kandi, with the K’s). As soon as we brought her home to grandmas, Ko-ko had a bit of a sniff around & then scrambled into hiding behind the barbeque. She was petrified of all the people around her & also being in a new environment. Ko-ko later got used to her new home.

It was Mid 2015, when a few of my pets were no longer with us. My grandma started to notice how down & sad I was looking since they had left. A couple of weeks before Christmas & everyone in my house was starting to get excited about the festival season. AS every year, my parents asked me what my present preferences were & also like every other year ever, I said I wanted a puppy. I ALWAYS got the answer of “Maybe if you keep being good Santa will bring you one” which raised my hopes.

 

When Christmas morning came, I was so excited I tripped through the lounge room door & stubbed my toe, skin in shreds, blood stained carpets, you name it (gross, I know) but I still carried on my adventure to await my gifts. Shortly after I had some time to wake up properly & fix my badly band aided toe, my grandparents arrived which meant PRESENT TIME! I started to unwrap a few things, getting the usual new socks & a few jumpers with some large gifts (Xbox games, iTunes cards, board games) but I still didn’t receive what I had always wanted… My puppy! It got to the last present which had mine & my sisters name, cursively written with gel pen on a silver envelope. A photo with a teeny tiny dog was inside. I then walked up to my mum & grandma sitting together.  I shrieked “awwwwh look at Ko-ko”. My grandma looked at me with a smile, my mum with a smiley smirk, then softly spoke “Tayla, that’s not Ko-ko, that’s your dog” I was practically speechless then what my grandma & mum had said finally settled into my head. Did they really just say MY DOG!? I Then burst into tears of joy… literally. I had got what I had wanted forever & nothing could bring me down.

The day after which was boxing day we went back to the same breeder, to get our new dog, a Tenterfield terrier to carry on the tradition. When we arrived there I showed the lady the photo of the dog. I saw her & picked her up & yet again was in tears of joy from this cute little girl. We took her home, trying to think of a name the whole way back, but just couldn’t quiet think of one that fitted perfectly. When we got through the gate, I was hungry from our long trip so I went inside to eat some food. I got a choc chip muffin. My sister then screamed “MUFFIN” It fitted perfectly for her with her face looking like a chocolate chip muffin itself!  She was then named Muffin. Muffin wasn’t timid like Ko-ko was; she just settled in nicely & started to play with me.

I have now had muffin for 1 ½ years & I can gladly say she has made a huge impact in my life. I take muffin for hour weekly walks in winter & in the summer when the suns beaming bright as laser beams; I try to walk her every day. I feed muffin her morning kibble & smacko making sure she sits & shakes (I taught her these commands), I feed her dinner every night,  wash her bowl giving her nice, ice cold water but I most importantly look after her like she is a child (she’s so spoilt).

I am so grateful to have such a well behaved, playful puppy companion to call my own & would highly recommend the Tenterfield terrier to anyone who is looking into buying a dog as of their placid nature, well being with children, time management (being able to leave them at home alone) & they aren’t much work as of their size. What’s not to love about our licking lovable pets.

The Driver – Australia and New Zealand on the back of a truck.

20160920_160053I first heard about this upcoming title some months ago whilst flicking through the free newspaper ‘Big Rigs’ when I stopped at a roadhouse on a regular drive to Victoria. I was pretty excited when it finally arrived on my desk at the Library last week. As a fan of anything automotive, it was great to see an excellent book that focuses on an industry that is under-represented in library collections. An industry that everyone in Australia relies on, yet generally knows so little about.

20160920_160304The author is professional photographer and entrepreneur Alice Mabin. Alice is no stranger to rural Australia having grown up on the land, and photographing Aussie rural life, much of which appears in her first book, The Drover.

 

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The Driver – Australia and New Zealand on the back of a truck is literally a massive book, and it needs to be to even scratch the surface of an industry of the scale seen in Australia and New Zealand. It features 110 trucking families and businesses, of all sizes, truck makes and cargoes, providing very colourful and varied stories. It’s not just the trucks though, each spread also has the real-life experiences of those who drive the trucks, and superbly captures their passions and drives.

20160920_160232There’s 700 photographs, and Alice’s skill with the camera is clearly evident. Some were planned shots and stories, others occurred by chance as she travelled the country snapping the photo and then chatting with the driver.

20160920_160217Trucking life is certainly a culture unto itself and has suffered and triumphed through many changes and challenges since the pre-war period when trucks became a standard feature on and off of our roads. There is a timeline in the front of the book that highlights many of these important events.

Alice herself was struck by a truck whilst driving on the Sunshine Coast some years back and she accounts this incident as the trigger to understanding trucking life. Both of Alice’s books are available to borrow from SA Libraries and you can learn more about Alice on her website.

Children’s Book Council – Book of the Year Awards 2016

It’s Book Week! That means this year’s Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year awards have been revealed!

The shortlist was announced earlier this year, and the overall winners in each category were revealed at a special event yesterday. There are some common themes arising in most of these titles, commenting on some very contemporary issues around the world.

flightFlight, by Armin Greder and Nadia Wheatley won the Best Picture Book. From Nadia’s website: Under the cover of darkness, a small family takes flight in search of a new home. At first it could be happening thousands of years ago, but as the travellers make their way through the wilderness, the unseen dangers are suddenly transformed into the kind of images that are only too familiar from contemporary scenes of war.

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Mr Huff written and illustrated by Anna Walker took out the Early Childhood area. From the publisher: Mr Huff is following him around and making everything seem difficult.  Bill tries to get rid of him, but Mr Huff just gets bigger and bigger!  Then they both stop, and a surprising thing happens . . . 

 

soon-gleitzmanIn the Young Readers category, Soon, by Morris Gleitzman was the winner.  From Goodreads: Soon continues the incredibly moving story of Felix, a Jewish boy still struggling to survive in the wake of the liberation of Poland after the end of World War Two.

 

 

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Older Readers category was won by Cloudwish, written by Fiona Wood. Vân Uoc doesn’t believe in fairies, zombies, vampires, Father Christmas – or magic wishes. She believes in keeping a low profile: real life will start when school finishes. But when she attracts the attention of Billy Gardiner, she finds herself in an unwelcome spotlight. Not even Jane Eyre can help her now.

 

All of these titles are available from the Library, and you can see the full list of winners and honourable mentions here.

It’s school holidays!

There’s loads of Christmas decorating events, art/craft sessions, a kite building workshop, Lego Day, and a Harry Potter movie marathon in the mix. Don’t miss our pet-themed colouring-in competition either, you can win some prizes.

Find all these events + heaps more on our website.

Also check out what’s happening at Golden Grove Arts Centre, with their super cool SeaStar Rock event tomorrow! Original energetic fun music and dance for kids that promotes marine sustainability.

 

South Aussie Women of the Arts

ThWomen of the Artsis fabulous new book, Women of the Arts showcases 50 of the state’s female arts personalities, including film directors, costume designers, singers, songwriters, actors, dancers, production coordinators and everything in between.

Produced locally, it was written and photographed by TTG residents Ali and Rocky Feo who have strong ties with SA’s arts world.

They have creatively and beautifully captured 50 of the leading women in the arts field highlighting the personal stories of identities such as singer Rachael Leahcar , Costume, Makeup & Hair Design expert Beverly Freeman, author Dylan Coleman, actor Michaela Cantwell and dozens more.
We have two copies – one for loan, and one for preservation in our Community History collection. You can place a hold here and you can also follow the book’s Facebook page.

Happy Seventh birthday!

Today the Off the Shelf Library blog turns 7.

7th

It was August 28 2008 when we ventured into the world of social media and haven’t looked back.

However a significant date is a time to look back, so let’s have a gander at some of our blog stats over the years.

  • Our most popular day was October 24th 2011 when we had almost 900 page views. Oddly enough we didn’t post anything that day!
  • The most popular post this year has been about our Dyslexia Friendly collection.
  • The most popular post of all time is about the world’s oldest Library and is one of our early posts dating from March 2009.
  • The blog views dropped noticeably in mid 2011 when we started our Facebook account, illustrating the preferred format of our online audience. However the blog is still a well used format for information and is searchable via Google, unlike other forms of social media.
  • Australia tops the list of our audience view, which is no surprise at 64%, second is the USA with about 14% of views, the other 22% is made up of a number of countries, as far away and as varied as  the UK, Trinidad and Tobago, Morocco, Columbia, Mauritius and Nepal!
  • We’ve had over 210,000 post views since we started.Happy Blog Birthday to us!

Children’s Book Council – Book of the Year Awards

Book Week is upon us and with that means the announcement of this years Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year awards.

The shortlist was announced in April, and the overall winners in each category were revealed at a special event last Friday.

twoblanketsMy Two Blankets, by Irena Kobald and illustrated by Freya Blackwood took out the Best Picture Book. A story about  new ways of speaking, new ways of living, and new ways of being. Cartwheel has recently arrived somewhere new and finds security and safety in her old blanket. She discovers new friendships and sense of belonging as she weaves a new blanket. 

GotoSleepJessie

Go to Sleep Jessie, written by Libbie Gleeson and again illustrated by Freya Blackwood was the winner in the Early Childhood area. demonstrating the love and also frustration of sharing a room with a younger sibling who will not sleep. This is a story that many families have experienced.

In the Young Readers category; The Cleo Stories: The Necklace and the Present was the winner, written by the same team as Go to Sleep Jessie. The Goodreads website say it’s delightful, warm and irresistible, these stories show how a little girl with a big imagination can always find a way to have fun.

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For the teens, The Protected, by Claire Zorn won the Older Readers category. Following an accident that left Hannah an only child, this book delves into the horror, guilt and depression that followed and Hannah’s story of rebuilding herself. Raw and deep one not to be missed.

All of these titles are available from the Library, and you can see the full list of winners and honourable mentions here.

This week’s Guilty Pleasure film – Cinderella (G)

In June and July we polled our Facebook audience what their guilty pleasure movie choices were, and now we are screening them throughout August!


CinderellaThis week we are showing Cinderella (G –  2015)

Young Ella’s s fortunes begin to change after meeting a dashing stranger – a reimagining of the timeless classic.

August 26, 6.30pm – 8.10pm (approx.)

Popcorn is supplied! Bookings essential. Phone 8397 7333 or book online.

 

This week’s Guilty Pleasure film – Raiders of the Lost Ark

In June and July we polled our Facebook audience what their guilty pleasure movie choices were, and now we are screening them throughout August!

Indy watercolourThis week we are showing Raiders of the Lost Ark (PG –  1981)

Archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the US government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis.
August 12, 6.30pm – 8.30pm (approx.)

Popcorn is supplied! Bookings essential. Phone 8397 7333 or book online

Next week we will be showing the recent Disney live action film, Cinderella (G)

Tonight’s Guilty Pleasure film – Amélie (M)

Amelie watercolourIn June and July we polled our Facebook audience what their guilty pleasure movie choices were, and now we are screening them throughout August!

Tonight we are showing Amélie (M –  2001)
Amelie is an innocent and naive girl in Paris with her own sense of justice. She decides to help those around her and, along the way, discovers love.
August 12, 6.30pm – 8.10pm (approx.)

Popcorn is supplied! Bookings essential. Phone 8397 7333 or book online

Next week we will be showing the action adventure classic, Raiders of the Lost Ark (PG)