News from the State Library of Victoria
First Director of Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas Appointed
The appointment of the first director of the new Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas was announced by Arts Minister Lynne Kosky on Tuesday.
Caro Llewellyn, Director of the New York based PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature and former CEO and Artistic Director of the Sydney Writers' Festival, has been appointed to the role.
Ms Llewellyn has diverse experience in the Australian publishing, arts and cultural sectors and is also a published author. She held various positions at Random House Australia, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Historic Houses Trust of NSW and Sydney Dance Company before becoming CEO and Artistic Director of the Sydney Writers' Festival in 2002.
'With a solid track record as a festival director, strong international literary connections, experience across the arts and publishing sectors, and literature in her lifeblood, she is a perfect match for this groundbreaking new centre,' Minister Kosky said when announcing Ms Llewellyn's appointment.
'We are thrilled to lure her back to Australia to build on Melbourne's status as an international City of Literature.'
State Library of Victoria CEO Anne-Marie Schwirtlich welcomed Ms Llewellyn's appointment, saying the Library 'looks forward to working with Caro'.
Ms Llewellyn said she was honoured to have the opportunity to be the inaugural director of the centre.
‘The establishment of Melbourne as UNESCO's second international City of Literature and the launch of the Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas are two extraordinary literary gifts to the city and the people of Victoria,’ she said.
'The Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas will be a meeting place for the world's great writers and thinkers. It will give stage to some of the most pressing issues facing us today and be a hub for writers and literary activity the likes of which has not been seen before in Australia.'
The State Library of Victoria will house the new centre, which is scheduled to open in late 2009. The centre is expected to become home to a number of literary organisations including the Melbourne Writers' Festival, Victorian Writers' Centre and Australian Poetry Centre.
Ms Llewellyn commences her three year term as Director in May 2009.
Snapshots of Bohemian Melbourne Online
A collection of Albert Tucker's historic snapshots of bohemian Melbourne in the 1940s can now be viewed online through the State Library of Victoria catalogue.
Barbara Tucker, the artist's widow, recently donated the original photographs to the Library and the Heide Museum of Modern Art. Barbara is pleased the priceless images can now be enjoyed by the public after decades of being stored in boxes.
Though not a professional photographer, Albert Tucker's candid shots of friends and family give a rare insight into the political climate and lifestyle of the Melbourne art world in the 40s. His popular images have been reproduced endlessly in books and articles, and sold in limited edition art prints.
Included in the collection is a well-known photograph of Heide Circle members Sidney Nolan, Joy Hester (Tucker's first wife), and Sunday and John Reed on holiday at Point Lonsdale. Also included are another two lesser-known photos of this scene.
A number of pictures show wartime marches in the city, with one march featuring large banners of Soviet leaders Lenin and Stalin, Australia's allies at the time.
Other images include early photographs of the Eltham artist colony Montsalvat, and shots of Tucker's works in progress taken in his Collins Street studio.
Around three-quarters of the prints donated by Barbara Tucker to the Library and the Heide Museum have never been publicly displayed.
More than 380 of Albert Tucker's photographs can currently be viewed through the State Library's online catalogue, with more being converted into digital form and published online soon.
Over 200,000 items in the Library's Pictures Collection are available online through the Library's digitisation program, which preserves precious images and makes them widely accessible.
Dramatic Win for National Poetry Slam Champion
Canberra's Omar Musa won the 2008 Australian Poetry Slam in a dramatic 'slam off' last week, scoring $5,000 plus a gig at the Ubud Readers and Writers Festival next year.
A sold out crowd watched the National Grand Final at the Sydney Opera House on Thursday 4 December.
After calculating the scores of the 18 competing state and territory finalists, a 'slam off' was needed to separate ACT's Omar Musa from Perth's Mark Lloyd.
The 23-year-old hip-hop artist, Omar Musa, emerged as the winner after performing a powerful slam poem about an imaginary conversation with his first born child.
'I'm over the moon. Events like this contemporary poetry competition revitalise a love for the English language and literacy and make poetry more accessible, especially for younger people, by mixing the slam approach and hip-hop,' Omar said.
Competition judges were chosen from the audience and national finalists had just two minutes to impress with their original spoken word, poetry, hip-hop, monologues and stories.
This year more than 600 emerging spoken word artists competed in 40 Poetry Slam heats held in regional areas and city centres in every state and territory.
The competition was co-ordinated via state and public libraries, with professional spoken word artists hosting the heats and running workshops in schools, libraries, pubs and theatre spaces. The State Library of Victoria staged the Victorian heat in November.
For the first time ABC Local Radio broadcast and streamed all state finals, plus the National Grand Final. More people were able to participate than ever before, including the online community.
Read more about the Poetry Slam final and watch the top performers >
Hours and Services Over Christmas Holidays
The Library will be closed on Christmas Day, but will be open on every other day over the 2008-09 holiday period with some reduced services.
On Wednesday 24 December, and from Friday 26 December until Thursday 1 January, the Library will be open from 10am to 6pm. During this time the Library will offer information and copying services, and deliver any requested items from onsite storage except for Heritage Collection material.
All material stored offsite, as well as both onsite and offsite Heritage Collection items, will not be delivered during the holiday period. If you would like to use these materials over the Christmas holidays you will need to request them in advance, by the following times:
- Heritage Collection items – by 3pm, Tuesday 23 December
- Offsite newspapers – by 5.30pm, Monday 22 December
- Offsite books and serials – by 5.30pm, Tuesday 23 December.
The Library's Heritage Collection Reading Room will not be open for appointments during the holiday period. In addition, the Document Supply Service and online Chat with a Victorian Librarian service will close at 5pm on Wednesday 24 December and re-open on Monday 5 January.
Normal Library hours and services will resume on Friday 2 January 2009.
Mr Tulk, the Library's café, will also take a break over summer, closing from Wednesday 24 December and re-opening on Monday 5 January.
2008 Summer Read Launch
The State Library of Victoria launched the 2008 Summer Read on 14 November, which celebrates the diversity of Victorian writing and encourages Victorians to enjoy some great books over summer. Using a reader-knows-best policy, the Summer Read asks readers to vote for their favourite from a list of 20 books of fiction, poetry, non-fiction, memoir, sports history and short stories, each set in Victoria or written by Victorians.
The Summer Read ambassador, actor, broadcaster and bookworm, Alan Brough, announced the Summer Read booklist at the State Library to an enthusiastic audience of 200 people. He directed them to vote early and vote often for the books they enjoy.
CEO and State Librarian Anne-Marie Schwirtlich believes Victorians will keenly embrace the Summer Read.
'Melbourne's designation as a UNESCO City of Literature demonstrates that Victoria has a vibrant literary and publishing community and no lack of eager readers ready to devour the stories that come from it,' she said.
'The 2008 Summer Read program contains some wonderful books for a wide range of readers, with Victoria as the common thread. I have no doubt that they will be greatly enjoyed, that the various Summer Read events will be well attended and votes submitted in great numbers from all around Victoria,' she said.
Summer Read events will be held around Victoria throughout summer offering readers the opportunity to speak with authors and share reading reflections.
The Summer Read website contains extracts from all 20 recommended books and allows readers to interact with authors and each other by contributing reviews, recommendations and blog entries.
Readers who vote go into the draw to win nearly $5,000 in prizes including a personal library of 20 Summer Read books, accommodation vouchers for Best Western Hotels, a Sovereign Hill ticket package and book vouchers. The five most popular books will be announced at the State Library of Victoria on Friday 20 March 2009.
Victorian Poetry Slam Winners Announced
Melbourne performance poet Si won the Victorian final of the 2008 Australian Poetry Slam at the State Library on 14 November.
In the competition judged by audience members, Si charmed the crowd with his passionate tribute to Melbourne and how the city speaks to him.
Ezra Bix's entertaining piece about poets being admired over footballers won him second place.
Both Si and Ezra Bix will go on to battle for the Australian title and $10,000 worth of cash and prizes at the Sydney Opera House on 4 December.
Australian Poetry Slam contestants are given a microphone and only two minutes to perform their original spoken word acts. The National Grand Slam event will be broadcast live to a national audience on ABC radio.
Library Purchases Panorama of Melbourne
The State Library of Victoria has purchased A Panorama of Melbourne by Juan Davila with the help of the Library Foundation.
Juan Davila conceived the 12 metre long panorama when he was an Honorary Creative fellow at the Library in 2007. The Library plans to display the panorama publicly within two years.
Read from left to right, the grand panorama depicts the evolution of Melbourne's built environment, from the homes of the first Australians and the tent city of white settlement to the computer aided design of modern city buildings.
The work was printed on three four metre long sheets of paper in the studio of master printer Larry Rawlins. Printing the panels in one continuous register was a major achievement, and only two copies of the panorama have been made.
2008 Inky Award Winners Announced
Teen author James Roy scooped the Golden Inky for his novel Town at the 2008 Inky Awards at the State Library last night. Hosted by the Library's Centre for Youth Literature (CYL), the Inkys are Australia's only teenage choice book awards.
James Roy's collection of short stories set in a country town was judged the best Australian teen book of the year and won the author $2000 in prize money.
First time novelist Jenny Downham won the Silver Inky, awarded to the best international book, for her heart wrenching tale Before I Die.
The Inky Award winners are chosen by young people across Australia through the CYL website insideadog.
This year a longlist of ten Australian and ten international books selected by CYL were narrowed down by a panel of four teenage judges, 2007 Golden Inky winner Simmone Howell and Darwin-based librarian and comedian Andrew Finegan.
The top three books in each category were posted on the insideadog website and readers under 20 voted for their favourites.
The Inkys Creative Reading Prize, awarded to a young person for their creative response to one of the longlisted books, went to 14-year-old Jessica Yu for her innovative response to Before I Die.
Classic VFL Images Stir up Interest
A classic collection of VFL glass plate negatives recently donated to the State Library is stirring up excitement among Aussie Rules enthusiasts.
The shots taken by VFL photographer Charles Boyles between 1916 and 1953 capture every game and football hero of the era.
'I have been inundated with enquiries and people clamouring to get at the images,' said David Flegg, Reference Librarian at the State Library of Victoria. 'The reaction has been quite remarkable.
'What we have is a week-by-week snapshot of all Victorian VFL and Club level football, as well as cricket and other sports, through the first half of the twentieth century. It is an amazing piece of Victorian history.'
Football buffs from Inside Football editor Russell Holmsby to President of the Australian Football History Group Michael Roberts have made inquiries about the images.
Charles Boyles' son Harley retrieved the historic glass plate collection from his back shed before moving house this year and was thankful the Library accepted his donation.
The images are in a process of being digitised and will be available to view online through the Library's Pictures catalogue early next year.
Board Announced for the New Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas
Australia's first Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas, to be housed at the State Library of Victoria, is taking shape with an inaugural board announced by Arts Minister Lynne Kosky on Monday.
Ms Kosky announced the appointment of publisher Eric Beecher as chairperson, heading up a high profile board of literary and business leaders.
The five board directors are:
- Peter Biggs – Managing Director of Clemenger BBDO in Melbourne
- Joanna Murray-Smith – Melbourne-based playwright, screenwriter and novelist
- Mark Rubbo OAM – Managing Director of Readings Books and Music
- Gabrielle Coyne – Managing Director of Penguin Australia
- Andrew Hagger – NAB's Executive General Manager, Private and Institutional Wealth.
'This group brings the right mix of skills and experience to head up this ambitious and exciting new cultural organisation for Victoria,' Ms Kosky said.
Plans for Australia's first Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas were the cornerstone of Melbourne's bid to become a UNESCO City of Literature. Melbourne received the designation in August 2008.
Construction of the new centre in the State Library will begin by the end of the year, with the centre set to open in 2009.
Ms Kosky said the Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas will offer many benefits for Victoria's literary community and for the state more generally.
'It will provide a home for some of the Melbourne's key independent literary organisations, a performance space for public events and flexible spaces for writers and small literary projects,' Ms Kosky said.
'Importantly, the centre will provide a focal point for Victoria's diverse literary activity – with up to 1000 events expected each year, attracting around 100,000 people.'
Eric Beecher said he was honoured to take on the role of chairperson and was looking forward to working with the board to steer the development of the centre through construction, opening and initial programming.
The board is now searching for a full time director who will be responsible for marketing and developing the centre.
Cup Day Operating Hours
The Library will be operating with reduced hours on Melbourne Cup Day, Tuesday 4 November. The main Library areas will be open from 10am to 6pm and the galleries will be open from 10am to 5pm.
Most of the usual Library services will still be on offer, including printing, registration and same day delivery of onsite material.
However, Heritage Collections will be closed. If you would like to use material from Heritage Collections or offsite items on Cup Day you will need to order them in advance.
Electronic requesting will not be available between 5.30pm Monday 3 November and 10am Wednesday 5 November due to an upgrade. During this time requests for items in storage can be made in person at the Reference Desk or by phoning 03 8664 7002.
Mr Tulk and Tulk Junior, the Library's onsite cafes, will be closed on Melbourne Cup Day.
Professor Glyn Davis Endorses Reading Program
Professor Glyn Davis, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, has lent his support to a new State Library program bringing together schools, families and libraries to foster a reading culture for teenage boys.
On launching the Boys, Blokes, Books & Bytes program, Professor Davis enthusiastically endorsed the program as a sensible, balanced and effective approach to the issue of teen literacy.
'There is a lot of passion on either side of the literacy debate,' he said, 'but this program reveals important thoughts about cultural literacy and the basic skills of reading. The result is a well-designed program to get boys reading and enjoy reading'.
Developed by the State Library of Victoria's Centre for Youth Literature, Boys, Blokes, Books & Bytes partners schools with public libraries to run a series of hands–on reading and book related activities for boys and their families.
The program focuses on a style of learning that appeals to boys, incorporating a blog and encouraging fathers and male role models to get involved in reading and sharing stories with their boys.
The Library will send a Boys, Blokes, Books & Bytes toolkit to every school and public library in Victoria. After very successful pilot runs in Melton and Drouin, acting Library CEO Sue Hamilton hopes the innovative program will be supported across the state.
'Reading for pleasure is one of the best things for a child's learning development,' she said. 'Boys, Blokes, Books & Bytes creates an environment which makes reading interesting and a normal part of adolescent life. By working together, schools, libraries, families and their communities can make a huge difference in a child's future.'
The Boys, Blokes, Books & Bytes toolkit is available for download from the Library's website.
Library Hosts Night Out for Children
To celebrate Children’s Week, a special night out for children at the State Library will begin after the Library closes its doors this Friday, 17 October.
Children aged 8 to 12 and their parents are invited to explore the Library after hours and join in the free activities. The night out event includes a tour, supper, and a film on the huge Experimedia screen. A guest storyteller will also entertain with slightly spooky tales by torchlight.
The event runs from 5.45 to 8.15pm on Friday evening, beginning in the Library’s front foyer. To book a free place phone 03 8664 7555, email learning@slv.vic.gov.au or book online.
New Albert Tucker Photographic Collection
Albert Tucker's widow Barbara Tucker has donated a collection of the artist's original photographs to the State Library of Victoria and the Heide Museum of Modern Art.
Albert Tucker's photographs give an important insight into the personalities of the Melbourne art world in the forties and fifties, and a number of them first appeared in Richard Haese's ground-breaking book Rebels and Precursors: The revolutionary years of Australian art.
Although Albert Tucker made no claim to be a professional photographer, his shots of family and friends are strikingly candid and touching. His popular images have been reproduced endlessly in books and articles, and sold in limited edition art prints.
The entire collection of photographs arrived at the Library packed in one wooden cigar box, and the original prints are surprisingly slight in scale.
It is Barbara Tucker's wish that these photographs can be enjoyed by the public through the State Library's cataloguing and digitising program.
Find out more about viewing materials in the Library's Pictures Collection >
Poetry Slam Competition Heats Up
The heats are on across the state to find Victoria's best slam poet. Competitors will be speaking, screaming or singing their original works throughout October at heats in Geelong, Northcote, Footscray, Woodend and Mornington.
In the exciting Poetry Slam competition, poets have two minutes to impress the audience with their creative words and delivery, and the crowd decides the winner.
Heat winners will go on to battle in the state final showdown at the State Library of Victoria on Thursday 13 November. The electric live event will feature performances by the Bedroom Philosopher and slam legend Miles Merrill.
Victoria's top two slam poets will compete for the Australian Poetry Slam '08 title in the national final at the Sydney Opera House.
Find out more about the Poetry Slam events >
'Sport and War' Exhibition Ends Soon
Catch the travelling Sport and War exhibition before it closes on Sunday 26 October.
Drawing on the Australian War Memorial’s rich collection, the exhibition tells remarkable stories of the wartime experiences of famous sport stars, and the importance of sport to Australians serving overseas.
Among the rare relics on display are a 'Brownlow' medal presented in Changi POW camp, and cricketing champion Donald Bradman’s wartime medals.
The unique objects, photographs, posters, artwork and audiovisual displays explore the relationship between sport and war and how they have shaped Australia's identity.
See the free Sport and War exhibition in the Keith Murdoch Gallery, open 10am-5pm daily, and until 9pm on Thursday evenings.
Free guided tours of the exhibition's highlights are run every Tuesday and Thursday from 1pm.
Easier Access to Free Wireless Broadband
The State Library's free wireless broadband service is now easier to access. From 6 October, visitors to the Library can bring in their laptop or PDA and connect to the free wireless without registering as Library users.
Visitors can simply enter their email address as a temporary login and begin browsing.
The Library has also extended registration. Now users only need to renew their registration every two years instead of each year.
Find out more about using wireless services at the Library >
The Library and Metlink Provide Free Learning Program
The State Library of Victoria is joining with Metlink Melbourne to deliver a special free learning program for Melton school students.
Learning on Track: Metlink Connects You with Your Library encourages school students to visit and explore their local libraries. As part of the program, students will attend Bookgigs and exhibition activities at the State Library, and hone their writing skills in a workshop with an author at the Melton Public Library.
The Library and Metlink are also giving each participating student three free novels to enjoy, and free transport to each activity.
Learning on Track is on offer to students in Grade Six at Melton South Primary School and Year Nine at Staughton College.