December 2014From the Committee

Raffle winnersThe winners for our excellent Christmas raffle were very pleased and quite surprised! The first prize winner was John Dewhurst and second prize was won by Ann Tonnett. We would like to once again sincerely thank the public and, of course, our members for their support. Importantly, we wish to thank local businesses for their support again with their donations. As usual, a huge thank you must

FRIENDS OF ARMIDALE DUMARESQ LIBRARY

NEWSLETTER

go to our Committee for their donations and the time taken to sell raffle tickets.Quiz night for 2015The tentative date for this function is Friday, 6th March at 7pm at the Golf Club. This date will be confirmed early next year, but please mark it in your new diary for next year.

Donation After consultation with Ian Greenhalgh, the committee have decided to use some of the hard-earned money we have raised to buy much needed Library shelving. In addition, we have donated another $500 to the Armidale Dumaresq Civic Precinct Committee.

Once again, all the Committee members would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous, happy, healthy New Year. I look forward to sending the next Newsletter in February 2015.

Dear Friend of the LibraryJust a reminder that subscriptions for 2015 fall due in JanuaryCost is $15. Life members are asked to make a donation if possible. Forms are available at the Library or from Judy Wilford (6771 5517).If you are unsure of your membership status, you are most welcome to contactJudy or Bronwyn Meredith on 6772 7065 (or meredithkeller@bigpond.com) for an update.

Book review

Big Little Lies Liane Moriarty

This 470-page book is about a group of parents whose 5 year old children are starting Kindergarten at Pirriwee Public School. From the outset the reader is aware that some catastrophe has occurred

at the School’s fund raising P & C trivia night and that a parent has been murdered.

The story then moves back 6 months in time and progressively reveals the hidden lives of the parents, most of whom have secrets. The ‘little’ lies they tell ultimately have dangerous consequences. Three main Kindergarten mothers carry the story line amidst a large cast of husbands, school staff, nannies, and the children themselves.

Under the surface of school yard gossip, petty squabbling, one-upmanship, revenge and snobbery, the author tackles serious issues. As secrets are revealed and lies are discovered, bullying, betrayal, adultery and domestic violence are drawn into the narrative. The tension builds as the reader wants to find out who was murdered at the trivia night and who was responsible. Suspense is held right to the end with a satisfying denouement.

I found this book difficult to start, branding it ‘chick lit’ in my mind. However, as the book progressed I became more and more engrossed in both the characters and the story. It is humorous and absurd, but we could all relate to the superficial and petty playground behaviour displayed by the Pirriwee parents. It is a tribute to Moriarty’s skill as a writer that she is able to simultaneously deal with more serious topics. Can I recommend this book? It’s a light fun read but it is also thought provoking, and towards the end it became a page turner for me.

Marnie French.

State funding for Public LibrariesThere is currently a substantial Statewide campaign calling on the NSW Government to meet their responsible share of funding public libraries in this State. Public libraries are recognized as highly used community resources. In 2013, more than 40% of the State’s citizens were members of their local public library; there were 46 million loans issued; and more than 35 million people walked through their doors.

In that same year the State Government provided only 7.1% of the total library funding: this is not only the lowest level of contribution in any Australian State (Victoria, for example, covers 21% of their costs), but it has also fallen from a level of 23.6% in 1980. This is cost-shifting by successive State Governments onto Local Government in a huge and unsustainable manner.

Large numbers of Local Government authorities and the NSW Public Libraries Association are calling on the State Government to honour a pre-election commitment about reviewing funding for NSW public libraries. The Association and the Library Council of NSW have recommended that recurrent public library funding to councils be modestly adjusted from the current $26.5M to $30M per annum from 2013/14 and indexed from the following year. This would be allocated as follows:◾ 68% ($20.4M in 2013/14) to councils by population with a

base level of funding for councils with fewer than 20,000 residents,

◾ 17% ($5.1M) to councils by NSW Local Government Grants Commission (LGGC) disability factors to explicitly address disadvantage and

◾ 15% ($4.5M) applied to Statewide Programs.

If you feel inspired to help obtain a better deal for local public libraries from the State Government, the postcard template below could be filled in and sent to our local State Member of Parliament – Adam Marshall, 1/175 Rusden Street. A more equitable partnership in supporting these wonderful beneficial places would reflect well on both levels of government.

New in the Library

JM Coetzee’s Three stories is a small gem of only 71 pages, including one story written as Coetzee's acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Rachel Cusk’s Outline has been much praised: the Guardian reviewer concluded that “This is no wry comedy of conversations but a cool-headed meditation on the doomed nature of relationships, on the perennial and devastating distance that exists between people or, as one of the narrator's Greek friends remarks, "the disgust that exists indelibly between men and women and that you are always trying to purge with what you call frankness".” If this doesn’t sound like an attractive subject, the reviewer also observes of the work that “every single word is earned, precisely tuned, enthralling. Outline is a triumph of attitude and daring, a masterclass in tone”. Fred Venturini writes The heart

does not grow back as a darkly comic take on the superhero tale: his hero can regenerate his organs and limbs….

Tricia Stringer’s romance is Right as rain. Vanessa Greene finds her friendship and cake while exploring The seafront tea rooms. But Can Xue’s search for The last lover is doomed to be naïve, helpless and forsaken.

Adrian d’Hage confects The Alexandria connection as a male romance with all the elements: ancient Egypt, the CIA, new energy sources and a shadowy group intent on orchestrating international financial chaos – what could possibly go wrong? Hanne Orstavik creates something altogether more chilling in The blue room (“Johanne is a young woman in her twenties who lives with her mother. When she falls in love with Ivar, she finally feels ready to leave home. The couple plan a trip to America. But the morning of her departure, Johanne wakes up to find the door locked”). And, for something even more completely different, we have a new translation of Rainer Maria Rilke’s The notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge – first published in 1910 and one of the first great modernist novels.

The same attempt, to look forward and back (for the bigger perspective), is also present in new non-fiction titles: Stephen Molloy examines How apps are changing the world (“There are 7 billion people in the world, 6 billion cell phone subscriptions and 1 App bible”); Bob Mazur looks back a little bit with Comics: a global history, 1968 to the present; Jill Lepore encompasses a century in The secret history of Wonder Woman, showing how feminism has played a pivotal role in shaping her story; and the recently-dead Simon Leys provides the centrepiece for a new study of Confucius’ Analects, with its two and a half thousand year history – his translation takes only 60 pages of the 380 between the covers, but is the pivot for more extended essays. Leys was the pen-name of Pierre Ryckmans, a Belgian who lived in Australia for more than half his life: his writing, translation and criticism are all represented in the Library’s collection, and worth pursuing in this holiday period nearly upon us.

Those who attended Nathan Wise’s talk in the Library on Armistice Day will be pleased to know that his book on Anzac labour is now in the collection. Biologist Edward Wilson, now 85, is still aiming high with The meaning of human existence, and doing it with stylish concision in 207 pages. History and obstinacy is a great title and a fine cover for an amazingly impenetrable text by filmmaker Alexander Kluge and social philosopher Oskar Negt, lightened a little by illustration and montage.

Yuval Harari is only young, but strives for the Edward Wilson mountain with Sapiens: a brief history of humankind. India fantastique is an appropriate title for a two-volume look at subcontinental fashion and interiors, and is complemented by Carolyn Caldicott’s bright and tasty Bombay lunchbox.

Finally, we list a few musical CDs to soothe any savage Christmas breast. Eric Clapton has, with many famous friends, produced The breeze: an appreciation of JJ Cale. Jordi Savall has collected some of the most ethereal rustic music ever in Esprit d’Armenie (Armenian spirit). Heinz Holliger brings his 75 years and oboe to revisit his fascination with Robert Schumann in Aschenmusik.

Jazz has an outing with Keith Jarrett’s piano and Charlie Haden’s double bass in Last dance; and with Vilda and Inge playing violin and double bass on Makrofauna. And to help us feel good over the festive season, Dave and Phil Alvin bring us Common ground, a tribute to the blues of Big Bill Broonzy.

Cheerio from 2014, and all the best for the year ahead!