We are looking for community-minded people to join in our internet training sessions at Canowindra, Cowra and Blayney libraries at the following dates and times:

Canowindra on Wednesday 2 December at
10am  12.30pm or 1pm – 3.30pm.

Cowra on Tuesday 8 December at 8.30am  11am.

Blayney on Wednesday 9 December
10.30am  1pm or 1.30pm  3pm.

We are looking for people who want to improve their understanding of the internet who would then be able to pass on their knowledge through their community connections. The workshops cover an introduction to the Internet, using Internet Explorer, searching tips, favourites, links and toolbars, protecting your information on-line, using email and email attachments, an overview of social networking including Facebook and Twitter as well as on-line Library Services. The training is supported by an Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Learning Australia Grant. Please book your place at a workshop by calling Central West Libraries on 6393 8120.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman – while in a coma following an automobile accident that killed her parents and younger brother, seventeen-year-old Mia, a gifted cellist, weights whether to live with her grief or join her family in death. Read what our on-line book chainers said:

Mandarin 1: A choice  Death and not know pain ever again or continue living and suffer without your close loving family? The indomitable spirit of life is so very strong. We see the struggle all around us daily. Was there really any choice? A very touching and emotional story from an unusual viewpoint. Note: Hollywood is now in the process of making a movie of IF I STAY. Looking forward to seeing it.

Mandarin 2: I read this quickly, it is an easy read but it is too sentimental and unbelievable and dare I say predictable. A talented cello player, perfect boyfriend, perfect family. All toooooo perfect. With all her “should I stay or should I go” it was too much, too self-indulgent  I thought I don't really care. I also didn't believe an emo boy band member would fall for a classical music student. Sorry to everyone but it just wasn't to my taste.

Mandarin 3: I found this an intriguing and emotional read. It is probably more for teenagers but it raises some interesting questions about grief and death and ultimately makes you appreciate life more. A teenage girl, Mia, who happens to be a talented cellist is in a coma after a serious car accident and reflects on her life to help her make a decision. We meet all the key people in Mia's life – mother, father, younger brother, boyfriend, best friend, grandparents. Some of it is told in flashback while she is hovering above herself in hospital. It is all is a bit strange and eerie, but it really moving and will bring you to tears.

So what do you think of ebooks? Your library wants to know. Will books via PCs and mobile phones take off here like they have overseas? Do ebooks signal the end of reading books? Will no one get high on the smell of a new book (tragic  I know) but you know what I mean, or linger over beautiful covers, marvel at illustrations and the perfect font. Where is all this headed? A small screen somewhere  mobile phone, laptop, kindle etc. Read more in this article titled The Future of Reading by Tom Peters published in Library Journal.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6703852.html
Let us know your thoughts by adding a comment  right here, right now.

Here are some more reviews from our CWL Book Chain for Dreams From My Father.
From Mandarin 1: Have to agree with Obama's statement in his introduction that his memoir could be further edited by at least 50 pages. I say double or perhaps even triple.
As he charts his background growing up in a white household, struggling to find his identity as a righteous black man by resisting “the pure and heady breeze of privilege”, his story bogs down in discussions of racial exploitation without really shedding any new light on the subject.
Although I did find his trip back to Kenya, reuniting with his new found siblings and defining “what is a family?” intriguing.
Just a thought – I find it hard to believe that Obama wrote his first memoir in one year. I suggest that he may had major editorial help, even a ghostwriter. Successful politicians have sought this service with acknowledgment of their help. Why Obama has not, is perhaps due to his political persona built around his presumably superior intellect.

Mandarin 2: What makes someone become a president? Let alone coming from a mixed race background, American mother, African father, an Indonesian stepfather and growing up in different countries I really enjoyed reading this, discovering all about this boy growing up into a man who is wise beyond his years. It is quite detailed, the conversations he recalls and his thoughts about different events, like the advertisements for whitening skin. I found his real father fascinating even though Barack hardly knows him – he was brought to life. It is well written and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. When he became president I honestly didn't know much about him but now I feel I know him well and what life events have shaped his ideas.

Mandarin 3: This is an excellent read about race in modern society and his struggle to find where he fits in life. It is also about an absent father  and discovering a family a world away….a real insight into the man of the moment  the US President. Thank you “Mandarins”,
More reviews to come…………

Guest speaker Dr Frank Brennan – a Sydney physician, will relate hopeful and compassionate stories from his writings which are based on caring for sick and terminally ill people at Orange City Library on Wednesday 25 November from 6pm – 8pm. Frank worked for the Aboriginal Medical Service in Redfern, as a paediatrician in South Africa, and for the Sacred Heart Hospice before specialising in palliative care. Refreshments will be served. Please RSVP to the Library on 6393 8132. All welcome.