Watsons Bay library is a branch of the Woollahra Municipal library. Public libraries in NSW are a function of our third tier of government, local or municipal government. The other tiers of government in Australia are the federal goverment (which is based in Canberra), and the state governments, of which there are six.
The Watsons Bay library is very small and only open Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, it has an aspect that is drop dead gorgeous. To take the two photos on either side of this text, all I had to do was turn around. The library has a fenced in grassed area for spreading rugs and parking strollers, and is attached to a small cafe. And today was about 20C in the midst of autumn. Can you see the city back down the harbour, and the Harbour Bridge peeking above the hill on the right? It was very smokey for some reason today.
My 10 month-old grand-daughter has her own library card, which means that my daughter is able to borrow up to 40 books at any given time! Alannah is able to turn pages and lift Spot's flaps. The other morning, when Kirsten went to get her up, she was sitting in her cot turning pages of a book she had retrieved from a table through the bars of the cot. So important to have an imagination that is open to being stretched ...
18 comments:
Easy to tell whose granddaughter this is, if she's pulling books into bed with her!
So wonderful — having her own library card already!
Her sweet little hands remind me of my youngest niece, Julia, when she was tiny. She's almost 10 now, but I'll never forget when she was a book-loving baby. She still loves books, reads them in English and French, and wants to go to Paris!
— K
Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel
Hi Julie,
Beautiful story with pictures. Thank goodness for books, holding them, turning pages it's all part of the process. I don't think I'll ever read books on an IPOD, mind you I did say I'd never have a mobile phone and now it goes everywhere with me. I still have all my children's favorite books safely put away for my grandchildren. What a brilliant setting for a library.
Best wishes
Grace
such lovely photos... adorable. Reminds me of my post on hands...
http://uncertainhorizon.blogspot.com/2011/04/hands.html
So sweet to see her "reading" the book. When my daughter was little she remembered the text on the pages, although she couldn't read yet. She had heard it so often, that she turned the pages and read loudly the text. So funny to see such a little one reading. She is still a keen reader.
Look at those sweet hands! I love it... I can just imagine her enjoyment as she learns. :)
Kay - My daughter is bilingual and Alannah already has books in French.
Grace - I gave 90% of my children's books to their Primary School library when they finished Year 12. There were a couple of hundred of them. The ones I kept, Kirsten now has.
UH - had a look at your hands post, and could not agree more.
Biebkriebels - Hah! I have those exact same memories of Kirsten as a child. It is the basis for one of the stories I am currently working up.
Oh you knew those hands would melt me! The light is perfect as well. Bravo Julie.
V
The smoke haze was from a controlled burn off in the Blue Mountains.
What a magnificent spot for a library.
Sydney - City and Suburbs
Love those little chubby hands - she's a book lover for sure Julie!
Lovely. Beautiful spot for a library as well. So good to see her being given real books and not electronic games.
/someone in the mountains know how to light fires. I've taken to reading in bed in the morning too ... on the days I am not commuting.
There is always something delightful watching a little one point at the pictures in a book like in the bottom shot.
Hands, generations, ties, knowledge and light: how lovely! I realize I don't know much about the Australian Government so I am perfecting my education here... thks.
It is the most glorious little library. We don't actually borrow 40 books at a time if anyone was wondering! Usually half a dozen and read them over and over again for a week or two in between library visits.
She is going to be a rocket scientist, she is so smart. The library and view are a stimulus for the brain cells.
i like photo of diferent hands
good shot
What a lovely setting for a library. I love libraries, but I'm glad I can't borrow 40 books as I can never get them back on time. I'm imagining the fines ...!
I am hopeless at getting books back on time too, and the fines annoy me. At least now I am able to extend the time online!
Post a Comment