Jacqui’s Friday Five - Issue #2

Can I say a massive thank you to all of those who took the time to read my very first issue of Jacqui’s Friday Five. It was lovely to see an idea come to fruition and be met with support.

So on to this week’s edition, and why did we restrict me to only 5 items! This week I could share at least 10 but I need to be selective and edit. I follow every Victorian public library service’s Facebook page (assuming they have one), several library services in Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales, along with several international libraries. Therefore I have a wealth of information!

Here are my next Friday Five –

2.1. International Literacy Day: It was great to see so many public libraries celebrating the annual International Literacy Day on Monday 8 September. It first began in 1967, so it is just one year older than me! I was particularly taken with the post from Goldfields Libraries which pointed out that there are at least 739 million people lacking literacy skills in the world. Public libraries offer so much opportunity to bridge this gap. Click here for more

2.2. A Community Dreaming: A post on The Librarianologist Facebook page caught my eye. A small community in Faridabad, Hayana, India, with the help of volunteers are establishing their own library. I love the passion of this small group of individuals, striving to create a space for their community. Click here for more

2.3. A Learning Festival: Melton City Council is celebrating their Learning Festival (30 August to 13 September). Events are being held in the local libraries and community hubs and include Focaccia Art for Adults, Life as a Veggie for those primary school aged and the Australian Poetry Slam (for all ages) just to name a few activities focused on this year’s theme of Food. Click here for more

2.4. Library of Things: There were several posts this week about different things that can be borrowed from the library. We all know that you can borrow books, DVDs and magazines … but this week I have learnt that I can borrow an ice cream maker from myli, a soldering iron from Frankston City Libraries, and a bird watching kit (complete with binoculars and bird books all in a convenient backpack) from Denmark Library in WA. For example

2.5. Silent Reading: A post from Everything Libraries caught my eye, and following on from Ian’s blog post this week about the release of the 2024 AEDC results, I will always say that silent reading does not equate to fostering a love of reading! Click here for more