Ten Tunnels 100th Anniversary Celebrations

Ten Tunnels 100th Anniversary
16th - 17th Oct 2010

The weekend of the 16-17th October 2010 marked 100 years since the opening of the Ten Tunnel Rail Line. A fantastic feat of railway engineering which replaced the Zig Zag Rail system as the main link between Sydney and Central NSW.

The Ten Tunnel Deviation commenced operations on the 16th October 1910.

Today the tunnels are in generally good condition considering that they are 100 yrs old.

The wonderful sights at Zig Zag ceased in June 1957 when the electrification to Lithgow was completed. But it reopened in 1975 as the "Zig Zig Railway" to the delights of children and train enthusiasts who love the old steam trains.

Steam train rides were held from Katoomba through to Lithgow with a stop over at Wallerawang Railway Station. Heritage diesel locomotive train rides were all the go for the weekend as well with stops at Tarana and Bathurst for dinner.

I would like to thank Carrol Rogers from Meadow Flat who worked for me on that Saturday at Wallerawang Branch Library and took time out to take these wonderful pictures of the celebrations. To make it even more magical, it snowed on the Saturday!!





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The steam train that came out to Wallerawang was the 3237 from Lachlan Valley Railway at Cowra, NSW.

What a Great #Followalibrary Day!

More than 7000 tweets were made worldwide

While I was on holidays, it was #followalibrary day on Oct 1st. I promoted my wanglibrary twitter and also posed the question to a number of famous identities over the world.."What was their favourite library as a child?.." Her Majesty, Queen Noor of Jordon (Twitter account - QueenNoor)( replied to me that it was New York Library and John Birmingham, author (Twitter account - JohnBirmingham) and columnist replied Ipswich Library. I am thankful for those two wonderful people for taking time out in answering my question. I had sent a number of tweets to famous people as well as our own PM Julia Gillard but no luck there!!

The other benefit of this fantastic day on Twitter was to promote all libraries and meet amazing people in our profession on Twitter as well as anyone that loves libraries.

Apart from that I have been acknowledged by the organisers (Poulus Bliek, Wilma van den Brink, Lukas Koster, Edwin Mijnsbergen, Ad Aerts, Harriet de Man  - #followalibrary crew/organisers) in their blog. So you can see I'm "tickled pink" with excitement at Wanglibrary being noticed worldwide.

I would like to thank all of the #followalibrary crew for organising such a momentous event which shows libraries do it best!! Even on Twitter!!

http://followalibrary.blogspot.com/



Oct 1st is #followalibrary day on Twitter

On Oct 1st is #followalibrary Day on
Twitter!

 

Check out the main promotional blogsite

here!

 

Use the hashtag of #followalibrary

while on Twitter!

 

Tell us which libraries you love to follow

and why!

 

Or just tweet why libraries do it

best!!!

Above is a screen capture of wanglibrary's Tweet Cloud.

Tweet Cloud is a service that shows a cloud of

words that you use the most while on twitter.

Top 5 Science Fiction - Dymocks

Top 5 Science Fiction Sellers - (as by Dymocks for Sun 12th Sept 10)

1. Black Prism Bk1 - Brent Weeks - Hachette Australia

2. Way of Kings Bk1 - Brandon Sanderson - Hachette Australia

3. King's Wrath Bk3 - Fiona McIntosh - HarperCollins

4. Unseen Academicals - Terry Pratchett - Random House

5.Bearers of The Black Staff Bk1 - Terry Brooks - Hachette Australia

History Week (History Council of NSW)

History Week was introduced by the History Council of NSW to showcase the diverse, rich tapestry of history that is offered by organisations and individuals throughtout NSW.

Faces in the Street

Historic Lithgow Streetscapes

from the Lithgow Library's Photographic Collections.

Early Lithgow Bus Company which was called "Berry's Blue Bus Service".

Here are staff with a bus whose destination on the front states "Hassans Walls".

Photo ID: LRL 48105

Lithgow NSW May Day Procession 1927

Photo ID 74_6243

Lithgow Volunteer Fire Brigade cicra 1910

Photo ID LRL 48239

The Lithgow Library Learning Centre, in consultation with Dr Naomi Parry ( Follow Naomi on Twitter ) , historian and manager of Eskbank House, and Historian Joan Kent are developing a Local Dictionary of Biography which will be an online resource for the Lithgow Community.

If you would like to be a part of this project please contact Kay Shirt at the library and join us for a "how to" information session with Dr Parry, Joan Kent and Maureen Breckell in Lithgow Library Meeting Rooms on 21st Sep 2010 at 4pm (RSVPs preferred).

157 Main Street

Lithgow NSW 2790

Ph: 63529100 Fax: 63514962

Postal Address:

Po Box 19, Lithgow NSW 2790

Email: lithgow.library@lithgow.nsw.gov.au

 

I'm back at my favourite library, WALLERAWANG !!

Hi everyone out across this beautiful planet called "Earth". I have been away for 10 weeks . Have become 'homeless'! Have learnt about the good in people and the very deplorable actions of others.

I would like to thank 3 wonderful amazing people that helped me recently who wouldn't know me from "a bar of soap" but felt compelled to help me, on the side of the highway on my way to work. I have forgotten their names due to the medication that I take for my health condition but they know who they are. If it wasn't for their generous spirit and goodwill, my first day back at work would have been dismal.

On the subject of "homelessness" at least I have had different people open up their hearts and their houses to accommodate my daughter and myself. But placing it into perspective at least I have a roof over my head compared to at least 20 million  people in Pakistan that are suffering due to those enormous floods.

In the USA, there are libraries such as San Francisco Public Library that employ a full time social worker as well as the homeless themselves to help the 'homeless"

San Francisco Public Library "Homeless" Program

This picture is taken from VOA. news.com

photo by Rhonda Miller

Perhaps this could become a common site at our major city public libraries due to the every growing problem of affordable housing in NSW. There are over 10,000 people in NSW on a waiting list for public housing. Sometimes these government departments are so busy that merely leaving your contact number a number of times on their emergency shelter number is of no use as it has been over a month and nobody has ever called back.

Accolades then to the San Francisco Public Library for tackling the enormous problem of the homeless.

In Australia there are some basic attempts at helping at a basic level of providing books to those in need:-

• The Benjamin Andrew Footpath Library currently operates in Sydney and Melbourne Australia with a regular supply of books to the homeless or disadvantaged.

Could we do more in Australian Public Libraries? Yes we could but like everything else, you need funding or sponsorship!

Speakers at #rugame2010 seminar at NSW State Library 23rd June

Our first speaker on Wed 23rd June at the NSW State Library's seminar RU GAME: Games and Public Libraries, was Gary Hayes. He has worked on countless of projects overseas as well as here in Australia and developed numerous works, such as online Social Virtual worlds as well as Augmented and Alternate Reality productions. His presentation was incredible with the amount of information as to how the world was incorporating games into business and everyday life with various formats. Below is his slide presentation. Try some of the links in these slides. You will be amazed! Microsoft's Kinect will revolutionize gaming along with Augmented Reality Games (PSP article - Äugmented Reality is Next Big Thing in Gaming)

RU Game? Games & Public Libraries

View more presentations from Gary Hayes.