Way back when, Wednesdays

Girl with a guitar

Some of our readers may remember watching Franci Chamings on the  Adelaide show for children called Young 7.   Young 7 screened at 9am on ADS Channel 7 in the mornings during the 1970s.

Franci Chamings edit symon

 

In the edition dated 17 November 1971, the North East Leader, a Messenger Newspaper reported on a local girl from Dernancourt who had been singing on Adelaide television. As stated in the article, Franci performed on the children’s program The Super Duper Flying Fun Show and The Tonight Show hosted by radio identity and former footballer Barry Ion.

After gaining a following on a children’s television show, Singer/songwriter Franci also performed live on stage such as at her Family with Franci Chamings concert in 1975.

Franci did go on to make recordings. She recorded the 45rpm single For You (B side: Why) with Pussycat Records, Australia.

In 1976 she made the vinyl LP album for young children entitled Favourite Nursery Rhymes and Actions Songs at Slater Sound in Adelaide. The album featured a collection of traditional children’s rhymes. Maybe you have it in your childhood record collection!  http://www.45cat.com/record/nc168385au

Favourite nursery rhymes

Image taken from:  http://www.tvmem.com/OZST/tv/D/DUDLEYDO/DUDLEYDO.html

 

 

Sammy the Seagull

Sammy the Seagull also appeared on Young 7.  He is pictured here with young Gavin Swindler and Suzanne Fox at Christies Beach.  Photograph B 70869/14138.  https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+70869/1413

 

#waybackwhenwednesdays

 

Did you know…about Chinese New Year?

Tomorrow, February the 16th will be Chinese New Year for 2018 and herald in the Year of the Dog. known as Sheng Xiao, the Chinese Zodiak is based on a twelve year cycle, with each year of the cycle represented by an animal and is calaculated based on the Chinese lunar calendar.

The twelve animals are (in order of the calendar) the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.

Why these animals, you may ask?

As the calendar dates back to the Han Dynasty (and possibly earlier) the truth may have been lost, but there are several legends.

One ancient tale tells the story of the great race. The Jade Emperor (the head of the Chinese pantheon of gods) had called a meeting of the animals and had decreed that the years of the zodiac would be named according to the order in which the animals arrived. To reach the emperor, all of the animals would have to cross a wide river. Now, the Rat and the Cat were not very good swimmers, so they asked the Ox if they could ride on his back. The Ox (who was very kind) agreed to carry them, but half way across the river, the Rat pushed the Cat in! He then jumped of the Ox and ran to the emperor’s side, becoming the first animal of the Zodiac. It is said that this is the reason Cats hate Rats.

Conversely, a Buddhist story tells of the Buddha summoning all of the animals of the earth to come before him before he departed, but only twelve came to bid him farewell. As a reward, the Buddha named the years for these twelve.

Would you like to know more about Chinese New Year? Why not check out some of the library resources on the subject? Or, if you have pre-school aged children, why not come to a special Storytime in the library tomorrow at 10:15am?

 

Did you know….about Harry Potter

Harry_Potter_and_the_Philosopher's_Stone_Book_CoverWell…who doesn’t know about Harry Potter, right?

Seriously though, did you know that Monday June 26th 2017 will mark the 20th anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone? That’s right, the series about the boy wizard is turning 20!

The book was author JK Rowling’s debut novel and was far from an overnight success. Indeed, Rowling began writing the novel in 1990 while riding on a train. According to an interview the author gave in 2009, the idea just hit her of a boy riding a train to wizard school. The death of her mother influenced much of the writing process.

The book was not well received by publishers and agents who felt that it was too long for a children’s book. That is, until Barry Cunningham of Bloomsbury recommended the publishers accept the book based on the recommendation of his eight-year-old daughter.

With seven books, eight films, a stage play and now a spin-off series of films, the rest, as they say, is history.

The library will be holding events from 10:00-1:00 this Saturday to celebrate the occasion so why not come along or maybe re-read the books, play or films.

BTW – Did you know that the books are actually set in the early-to-mid 1990s? You can work this out from information provided by Gryffindor ghost Nearly Headless Nick. In the Harry Potter and the Chamber of  Secrets, he celebrates his 500th ‘Death Day’ which occurred on October 31st, 1492, meaning that book takes place during 1992-1993!

Stepping out of your comfort zone

Work experience student Holly recently spent one week with us at Tea Tree Gully Library. Not only did she learn about the library and all of the work that goes on behind the scenes, she also learned a lot about herself.

‘Hi, my name is Holly and I attended work experience at the Tea Tree Gully Library. I am going to be writing about stepping outside of your comfort zone.

What types of qualities do you need to step outside your comfort zone? Courage? Bravery? Persistence? Resilience? I think they pretty much cover it. This year, I have had to deal with stepping outside of my comfort zone a lot. I still am. Is it easy? No, of course it isn’t. A way to help me through a confronting situation is to think about the positive outcomes. Stepping outside of my comfort zone makes me more confident and independent in the long run, even if at the time I am really nervous or freaking out about it. I know that if I do the certain activity, I will be better off for it.

comfort zone

‘Stepping outside of my comfort zone makes me more confident and independent in the long run.’

One instance of me stepping outside of my comfort zone was whenever I had to deliver a speech to my class. Sure, it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but I can’t help but get nervous. When I get nervous like that, my hands shake and I talk really fast. I am sure that’s common. However, the more times I get up in front of people and talk to them, the more confident in speaking I will become. Over the year, I have gotten better at speeches in front of people. There is still room for improvement, but practice makes perfect. In all honesty, I don’t mind delivering speeches, but my shaking hands and pounding heart suggest otherwise. It must be a subconscious thing. To get rid of this subconscious worry, I will need to face the anxiety head on by delivering speeches. The more I do it, the more comfortable I will feel, which will decrease my nerves. I hope that in the next couple of years, I will get even better at public speaking.

Another instance of me stepping outside of my comfort zone is performing in front of my drama class. Don’t get me wrong, I love drama, but sometimes doubt seeps into my mind. What if I’m not good enough? I bet everyone else is better than me. This is so embarrassing, I look ridiculous! I don’t even want to know what people are thinking of me right now! Those are some of the thoughts that whirl through my mind as I try to perform. This results me in getting very nervous, my hands shaking, my heart pounding and me speaking my lines way too fast. Sometimes, my performance levels will drop because I’m too scared that I will look ridiculous. If I am holding a prop, it will be very obvious my hands are shaking. I have to do a monologue in drama for my exam in a few weeks and I find it very difficult to rehearse it in front of everyone, as my character gets a little crazy. However, the more times I do it, the more times I step out of my comfort zone, the easier it gets. My confidence has built so much since my first drama lesson this year. My teacher has noticed it too. I now can rehearse my monologue or other parts of the script without the nerves or fear of people watching me. Again, there’s still room for improvement, but if I keep persevering, I will get there. I love drama and wish to continue it throughout school and maybe even after it, so if I can build my confidence, which would enhance my skills, that would be amazing.


One of the biggest examples of me stepping outside my comfort zone is when I volunteered to go to my school’s Sri Lanka mission trip. At first, I was just very excited. I haven’t really been overseas before, aside from a cruise to the Pacific islands with my family. I have never been on an international flight. I haven’t been that far from home before. This would be the longest time away from my family and most of my friends. As the time got closer, I started to feel more nervous, doubts creeping into my mind. It was feeling a lot more real to me now. What if I couldn’t do something that the team wanted me to do while I was away? What if I humiliated myself? What if something goes wrong? What if people in the team didn’t want to talk to me? What if I became lonely? What if the kids at the homes don’t like me? These questions were clouding my mind, making me feel more anxious about the trip. Even with all of my doubts, it didn’t stop me from wanting to go. I still wanted to make a difference to the kids’ lives. I leave for Sri Lanka this Sunday, which is both exciting and scary. I need to step outside of my comfort zone and deal with any problems that come my way the best that I can. I have pushed out all of the negative thoughts and try to focus on the positive. Just because it’s a new situation doesn’t mean that it will be bad.


The most recent instance, which also includes the time that I was writing this, is my work experience. I applied to the Tea Tree Gully Library. I thought it would take a while for them to contact me, but it only took about a week or two, which was a pleasant surprise. I have to be honest here. I, like almost the entire Year 10 cohort at my school, did not find a work experience placement at the start of the year when we were handed our forms. My reasoning was that the places I already looked up either didn’t accept Year 10’s, didn’t have the correct days, or already had work experience students. I am glad that someone suggested I should try the library, as I do like to read myself. It’d be interesting to see what is going on behind the scenes of a library.  Right up to the moment I stepped into the library, I was feeling extremely nervous. I had no idea what to expect or where to go. The same could be said for the interview process. I was worried because I had just come from school and was still in my PE uniform! I had wished I had time to change. At least when I went into the work experience week, I had time to make myself look presentable.

Once I got to the council, one of the librarians came and got me and brought me down to the work room. This was when I was most nervous, but I pushed through it and carried on. There were a few little introductions. I knew I wouldn’t remember anyone’s names straight away because I am not really good at names. Michele talked me through the introduction to the library and gave me a tour. I started to feel more relaxed, but I still felt a little bit nervous. Soon enough, I got into some work. I started off at the chute with Chris G. I enjoyed it, especially since I got to know Chris a little bit better. I think that’s what I like most about each job. I get to talk to and learn more about the workers here at the library. This helped me feel more relaxed. My favourite job on Monday was probably being at the customer service desk. You can interact with customers as well as the staff around you. Even though checking in lots of books and sorting them into the right boxes and trolleys may seem tedious and a little boring, I didn’t mind it. I found myself getting into a rhythm. By the end of the first day, I was really tired. I wasn’t used to this type of work day. I went home tired, but looking forward to coming back for the next few days.

Tea Tree Gully Library

‘I am glad that someone suggested I should try the library, as I do like to read myself. It’d be interesting to see what is going on behind the scenes of a library.’

On the Tuesday, I had to find my own way to the library, so I decided to take a bus, which is something I don’t normally do. I really didn’t want to get there late because there was a staff meeting, so I decided to get an earlier bus than I had planned. I was a little nervous, but I decided to step out of my comfort zone and have a little faith in myself. It was the right choice. I got to the library in plenty of time. The staff meeting was right at the start of the day and I had a chance to look at all the staff, as I had not met everyone yet. My favourite activity of the day was helping run the ‘Facebook/Messenger on your tablet’ session. Even though I don’t use either application myself, I managed to help some of the people in the session, which was great. This session was a lot different compared to the other jobs that I had done so far. I even learned some things from attending that session. Just like the first day, I put 100% effort into everything I did, even with the more tedious tasks, like labelling wine bottles.

On the Wednesday, I caught the bus again, but I decided to catch a slightly later one. I still made it to the library in plenty of time. The first task I did was to find the expired holds. There wasn’t too many to do, so I spent about 45 minutes also just shelving books. After morning tea was the fun part. I got to attend the ‘Baby Bounce’ and ‘Toddler Time’. A couple of staff members and myself sat in the corner of the library in front of a crowd of kids and their parents. The 10:30 session was for babies and the 11:30 session was for toddlers. What we had to do was sing songs to the kids and do the actions to them. I was nervous and uncertain about it at first, but I quickly got into it. These sessions were something that I have never done before, but I really enjoyed them. The little kids were so cute!

Baby Bounce

‘What we had to do was sing songs to the kids and do the actions to them. I was nervous and uncertain about it at first, but I quickly got into it. ‘

I then spent a couple of hours at the customer service desk. I got into a steady rhythm. After the customer service desk, I had some time to continue this blog. While I was working, one of my school teachers came to see how I was going. We had a quick chat about what type of jobs I was doing. I then went back into the work room to continue writing. After the allocated project time, I attended an early development and index meeting with Holly, another librarian. Throughout the week, it would be disorientating when someone would call my name, but not be talking to me. I have rarely come across someone with the same name as me before. During the meeting, there was a power outage, so a lot of people left early, including me. It turns out the whole state had a power outage.

On Thursday, I started the day by doing holds. However, I only had time to do a few because at 9:15am, there was a morning tea for a staff member’s birthday. That lasted until 10am. I then went to help David for a couple of hours around the library. After that, I did some of the pick list with Stephen. I then spent another couple of hours in the toy library, which was interesting. It was good to interact with Lyn and the volunteers there. After that, I went back to the chute for a while with Pam. We also managed to do some of the pick list as well. To finish the day off, I had more time to work on my blog.

On Friday, my last day of Year 10 work experience, I came into the library early once again. It gave me time to look over my schedule. I started the day by doing some admin with Nicolle. It was a little bit confusing, but if I had more time for it, I am sure that I would have got it. I then went to story time with Kim and Julie. I listened to them read stories to the kids, helped hand out the crafts stuff and joined in with any actions for the songs. The kids were really cute and excitable. After story time, I went back to help Nicolle with admin. After lunch, I worked in the chute and customer service desk one last time. At the end of the day, I had a final catch up with Michele to talk about the week.

Now that the week has ended, I can say that I’m glad that I applied for the library. It gave me a good variety of tasks. It would probably be boring if I did one thing for the whole week. Work experience in general is a great way for kids to break away from their school life and have a glance at the real world. It may be outside of their comfort zones, but it does prepare them to do well in their futures when they do have full time jobs. Work experience gives you more independence and confidence, so I definitely recommend you doing it. Tea Tree Gully Library is a good option if you are unsure of where to go. It gives you a taste at a range of different jobs.


In conclusion, nothing worthwhile in life is easy. You will feel much more joy if you have to put a lot of effort into achieving something. If you could do anything without much thought or effort, the impact of the achievement will be a lot less. Something may be outside of your comfort zone, but don’t let that stop you. Be brave. Be resilient. Be persistent. Have courage.’

Free Parenting Workshop: Making the most of life with 5-12 year-olds

Children grow so much between the ages of 5 and 12. It can be a challenging time for parents who want to ensure they are happy and thriving.

On Saturday 24 October, the Library is hosting a free half-day parenting workshop, run by Lutheran Community Care. This course will address a wide range of areas such as managing behaviour, sibling rivalry, talking to your child and outside influences like school and cyber safety.

This is a free community event.

When: Saturday 24 October 10.30am-2.30pm

Book online
or phone 8397 7333.

Thank you for another great summer reading club!

With Summer Reading Club activities now all wrapped up for 2015, it’s time to reflect on the fun we had this summer at the Tea Tree Gully Library.

The Summer Reading Club is held every year and aims to promote a love of reading by encouraging young people and their families to visit the library and discover great authors and illustrators. This year’s theme was ‘Choose your own adventure.’

cropped-summer-reading-club1.jpg

During the school holidays, all participants completed a booklet filled with fun activities requiring them to demonstrate their literacy skills and creativity. They also submitted reading logs and reviews on some of the books they read.

Everyone who participated in the Summer Reading Club received a participation pack that included bookmarks, tattoos, stickers, wrist bands and an invitation to our finale party. All participants were also registered in a  national draw to win  iPods and other great prizes.

Overall we received 180 reading logs and 28 book reviews – giving us a grand total of 1828 books read! The Tea Tree Gully Library’s Children’s and Youth Team found it difficult to decide on a favourite book review, due to the high quality of entries, but in the end we awarded it to the review written by 16 year old Sophie T.

Read Sophie Trenholm’s book review

Participants who submitted the most reading logs or outstanding book reviews were then invited to join the Children’s and Youth Team on a shopping trip to Pegi Williams Book Shop. Families received a $25 gift voucher to help select items for our Library collection, and to recognise their outstanding achievements.

Pegi Williams book shop

Prize winners shopping for new books at the Pegi Williams Book Shop in Walkerville

Pegi Williams

Browsing the aisles – so many books to choose from

At the end of the Summer Reading Club we invited all participants and their families to a finale party at the Library. We were entertained by Professor Flint and his T-Rex adventure; Mr Nifty the twisted balloon performer; face painting, games, self guided craft, door prizes and our energy levels were kept up with yummy drinks and nibbles!

Two pandas

Two pandas at the party, Eve and Tom

Dracula

Count Dracula and his evil eyes spooked a few partygoers

Professor Flint

Professor Flint’s T-Rex Adventure, right before he got everyone up and dancing like a dinosaur

Eating

The food table always draws the crowds….although there is no food to be seen in this picture!

Mr Nifty the Balloon Man

Mr Nifty the Balloon Man!

Do you want to be involved in our next Summer Reading Club? Check our website later in the year for the December/January 2015-16 school holiday brochure or head to the Summer Reading Club website for more information.

All aboard!

sar_big_power_20100211_1207694376Rail fans, don’t miss the South Australian Model Railway Association’s model railway display at the Library this week, as part of our summer theme: ‘Planes, trains and automobiles.’

From January 12 to 16, SARMA will  have a variety of locomotives, rollingstock, buildings and scenery on display as well as a range of railway drawings, photographs and other paraphernalia. On top of this, SARMA have gone the extra mile and will be displaying their massive HO scale exhibition layout on Monday 12th and Tuesday 13th of January!

Grab your family and come check out the wold of railways at this special event.

Anstey’s Favourite Read: A Lion in Paris

Anstey, the Tea Tree Gully Library’s resident echidna, would like to recommend the new children’s book ‘A Lion in Paris’, to younger readers.

A Lion finds himself in the most unlikely of places, the grey cityscape of Paris

A Lion finds himself in the most unlikely of places, the grey cityscape of Paris

Written and illustrated by Beatrice Alemanga, this is a story about a lion who arrived in Paris to find a job, love and a future.

The city of light comes to life in the whimsical and layered illustrations of Beatrice Alemanga. You’ll want to jump into the book with its large format and landscape orientation and join lion on his adventures. Climb the Eiffel Tower, smile at the Mona Lisa, relax at a Cafe and join him on his journey around Paris.

With grand ambitions, the lion leaves his home on the grasslands and arrives at a busy Parisian train station. It’s here we join the lion on his journey around Paris as he discovers the excitement and strangeness of the big city. Life in the city takes some adjusting to – while it’s nice that people aren’t scared of him, the lion isn’t used to being just part of the crowd. Yet Paris just might end up being the place to call home.

‘A Lion in Paris’ is recommended for 4-5 year olds, but both the young and young at heart will delight in this quirky tale.  It is a mesmerising story, all the more enhanced by Alemanga’s unusual artistic and retro style illustrations.

New Early Learning Kits to help our kids

After being inspired by results from the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI), the Library has added more than 50 new early learning kits to its collection.

Julie, our Children's Librarian with some of our new early learning kits.

Julie, our Children’s Librarian with some of our new early learning kits.

With a focus on emotional maturity and social competence, the new kits contain material that can help children to learn, manage their feelings, make friends, and solve problems  by covering topics like:

  • Starting school
  • Friendships
  • Learning new things
  • Feelings
  • Sharing
  • Visiting the dentist or optician
  • Plus many more

These kits are a valuable teaching aid for parents and carers of young children, as well as professionals.. They have been created on The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia principles – Belonging, Being and Becoming.

Each themed kit is categorised into age groups – 0-2 years; 2-3 years and 4-5 years – so selecting the appropriate material for your child is easy. The kits contain books, activity toys and include Parenting SA Easy Guides that are appropriate to the theme.

Early learning kits have been in our collection for a couple of years and are very popular. They are available to loan for 2 weeks.

Oh the Joys of Toys!

Lauren Hunt, runs a blog called Teacher Types, a blog ‘where teachers and parents of young children can be inspired‘ and is a regular user of the Tea Tree Gully Toy Library, situated within the regular Library space. She recently wrote a great post about the Toy Library, we thought we’d share some of it here.

Toy Library15

Toy Library space – photo by teacher types

‘All year our family have been members of the Tea Tree Gully Toy Library and it’s become one of my favourite places to visit. We probably go once every 3-4 weeks for a play and a borrow (I love that littlies are encouraged to stay and play). The Toy Library is run by a wonderful group of volunteers and is a not for profit community organisation.

Fun Facts!

  • The Toy Library is located within the City of Tea Tree Gully Library (571 Montague Road Modbury SA)
  • There are more than 3000 items in the Toy Library to choose from.
  • There are 600+ families who borrow those toys.
  • There are 17 friendly volunteers who make the Toy Library run smoothly.
  • It only costs $30 a year to be a member.
  • You can borrow two toys and one puzzle per visit.
  • Their website is here
  • You can pop in to borrow Tuesday & Thursday 10:00 am – 3:00 pm and Wednesday 2:00 pm – 7:30 pm
  • If you go on a Thursday be sure to also check out Baby Bounce & Rhyme for under 2s from 10:30 – 11am or Toddler Time (2-4s) at 11:30 am in the children’s library area
  • They also lend out the bigger items for party hire – bouncy castle, cars, ball pit, bubble machine, play gym, slide, roller coaster…and much more!
  • Most importantly – young children learn through play, so a community resource like the Toy Library is a way to always have new toys in your home to engage your little one in valuable learning experiences.
Toy Library12

A very popular choice! Cars available for party hire. – photo by teacher types

And they even have costumes you can borrow! Keep this in mind for Book Week next year.

Toy Library9

Some of the costumes to borrow – photo by teacher types

Oooohhh and I nearly forgot to mention, there is even a cafe in the main Library foyer! So you can stop for coffee, lunch or morning/afternoon tea when you borrow your toys and/or books. Very child friendly atmosphere with highchairs, couches and comfy arm chairs.

Thank you TTG Toy Library for helping the littlest members of your community bring the joy of play into their homes. If you live in the area, please consider joining up and supporting a wonderful local organisation.’

Thanks Lauren for such a great user perspective of the Toy Library. It’s awesome to hear how much it is appreciated.