Christchurch City Libraries Blog

I was really looking forward to visiting South Library as it has such a great reputation. I was not disappointed. It is large and stylish with a substantial cafe and council service centre in the building. It really hums with activity especially at the moment.

I quickly hoovered up a couple of DVDs  (Poldark and I, Claudius for that nostalgia kick). Again I was seeing lots of attractive stock and I could have loaded up with heaps of good reading. South is another of our free wi-fi libraries and I would think grabbing a coffee from the cafe and finding a nice possie somewhere with your laptop would be a great option. The cafe delivers food and drink anywhere in the library and the riverside location makes for a nice outlook.

I forgot to take my usual happy snaps but this collection from the library Flickr gives you a good look at the place.

There is also some good shopping nearby on Colombo Street as you head back towards the city.

Getting there on Colombo Street I encountered some bumps (some not marked which is my pet peeve these days) but the traffic flow was good. Parking was certainly tight around the library as it is being used for a lot of council work and meetings at the moment. Cycling  or busing is a good option at present.

Find out which libraries are open and learn more about South Library.

Next stop on the library tour is Bishopdale which is a great place to combine a shopping and library trip. Find out where else the Displaced Reader has been.

A couple of ladies from Wellington made the headlines last week, by offering a free workshop to help Christchurch folk turn their smashed and broken china into jewellery.  It looked lovely, and hundreds of people took advantage of the offer.

If you didn’t get to the workshop, or if you fancy yourself a bit of an arty-farty person, here’s some other suggestions of things you could do with your earthquake ‘debris’:

(warning: highly technical craft language below)

• build a mosaic thingummy for your house or garden, with all that broken dinnerware.  We have some truly outstanding books on mosaic-ing just about anything you can get to stand still for long enough.
• make a hanging mobile or windchime, or other sculpture, by gathering up ‘found items’ and having at them with number 8 fencing wire and pliers (just make sure you’re only gathering your own stuff!).
• bead a necklace or bracelet, using techniques in our wirecraft, beading and jewellery books, and incorporating (you guessed it) something precious to you.
• take a wander through your neighbourhood and take some photos (of happy or sad things, it’s up to you).  Then get the photos printed and journal or scrapbook them.
• host a knitting or quilting group – grab some friends, dig out those UFOs* that fell out of the wardrobe during the big shake, and sit down together with coffee and cake.
• if your friends don’t craft, or you’d like some more professional help, check out our community information directory CINCH, for heaps of listings of local groups that offer all sorts of great opportunities to learn, make and do.
• If all of this just sounds like too much work, or you are more realistic about your ability to finish (or even start) craft projects, why not take the opportunity to venture out and find some hidden treasures at your local craft shop or farmers’ market?  That way, you are supporting others’ addictive craft habits, and local business, and you get to meet new people and buy stuff all at the same time!

(*UFOs = unfinished objects.  Don’t tell me you don’t have them.  I know you do).

I have to venture out on the roads from time to time for work and I’m finding the “new normal” is sharing the road space with lots of big scary trucks.

When they are parked and being loaded with rubble and silt it’s comforting that work is being done but then they lurch off onto city streets – another road user to share with.

There are several hundred trucks a day working in the CBD alone and the police are enforcing new speed and weight limits which is good to know. If  you are planning a route across the city (and who doesn’t check the map these days) the trucks heading to the landfill are going this way:

•    Madras Street (return Barbadoes Street)
•    Bealey Avenue
•    Whitmore Street
•    Hills Road
•    Akaroa Street
•    Marshlands Road
•    Prestons Road
•    Landfill Road

Other traffic management measures are under way – read more about them here. And just in case you are a  big truck fan – or have one in the family – Christchurch City Libraries has  some safe indoor viewing for truck enthusiasts of all ages.

You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, and you can’t turn a poorly composed, badly lit, out of focus photo into an award-winning photo. That doesn’t mean I don’t try.

The libraries‘ computers have Picasa. This free download is so easy to use, and is designed to be a photo sharing tool, however I use its photo editing capabilties as well. These are divided into three categories: ‘Basic fixes’,’ Tuning’ and ‘Effects’.

‘Basic fixes’ allow me to do things like crop, correct red-eye and straighten the horizon. ‘Tuning’ is for changing the amount of shadow and highlight. ‘Effects’ allow me to be a little bit creative. I like using Soft Focus, which blurs the background, while keeping the main focus of the photo sharp. I also enjoy using  Focal B&W. It retains the colour in the centre of the photo, and the background fades to black and white. Picasa is something that you can click around and experiment with. If you need help, find books on Picasa at your library.

If you want a whole lot more than what Picasa has to offer, you might like Photoshop. I had Photoshop on my old computer. I would spend ages cropping and colour correcting my old photos. Then I would turn them into oil paintings.  To get the most of Photoshop, you need a manual. The library has quite a large selection; just make sure you choose one that matches your version.

Remember one thing, you can improve your photo to a certain extent with photo editing and you can have fun with special effects, but sometimes the best thing to do is use delete.

These web resources are your secret ingredient to success in NCEA Food Technology.

• Find information and inspiration at Healthy Food Guide. We also have print copies of this magazine, as well as lots of other delicious food magazines, at our community libraries now open;
• Check out our cooking resources on Pulse;
• Go into your assessments fully prepared with help from NZQA;
• Make sure you get your five+ a day;
• Understand the science behind food and cooking at Accidental Scientist – the Science of Cooking;
• Learn about the diverse uses of biotechnology in New Zealand;
• Visit TechLink for food and bio-related case studies;
• Get food smart and be food safe;
• Find official information about labelling, food additives, new foods and technologies and more at Food Standards.

So where did we find all these great resources? On The Pulse – the library’s website for teens.

While at the Avice Hill Art and Craft fair recently, I spent some time with the ladies from the Canterbury Herb Society, discussing the do’s and don’ts of dried flowers and making a fabulous and very fragrant tussie mussie. Also known as a ‘nose gay’, a tussie mussie  is a Victorian-style bouquet of flowers and herbs specifically designed to be carried in a small metal vase.

Using a rose as the centrepiece, I was shown how to arrange herbs and flowers suchs as lavender, lemon balm, and angelica around it in a circular fashion, binding the stems with wool as I went. Binding the stems helps keep the flowers and herbs in place as more are added. When the bouquet was complete, we used a decorative paper doiley to frame it all and foil to cover the stems. The result was most impressive, with several people commenting on it as I wandered round.

According to the ladies, tussie-mussies became popular during the reign of Queen Victoria when the Queen herself carried one, during her excursions in public. During that era, it was thought that germs came from smell and many believed that sniffing the bouquets helped eliminate germs as well as disguising the stench from the unsanitary streets and unwashed bodies of the public. Thank goodness perfume and deodorants are now commonplace!

Are you are interested in pursuing a hobby or are looking for a group to join? Browse cinch.org.nz and see what community organisations, groups and clubs we have listed.

Or maybe you have recently had a go at some new crafty thing and loved it?

When I came home from work on February 22, I found my tea cups and my dinner set in small pieces on the dining room floor. I spent ages picking up the pieces; trying to find out what belonged where and what was intact.

The pieces were photographed for the insurance claim, but what was it all worth?

I can’t put a price on a memory, but I can get an idea on how much replacement plates are by looking on Price It! To replace a missing dinner plate, I could try China Matching Service. This is especially useful for tableware made after 1960.

Now that I have found out what my china is worth, what can I do with the broken pieces? If the insurance company don’t want to see the broken bits, I will turn them into a mosaic. The library has a collection of books on making mosaics. I haven’t made a mosaic since I left school, so I’ll check the CINCH database for the location of classes and groups.

Do you have plans for your broken china?

When I heard that the Mobile Library was going to be doing a special post-earthquake stop in my neighbourhood, I was excited. I liked the idea of going for a walk and climbing the steps into a bus. A bus! I love those promotional buses that sometimes park up in the Square and have great displays; I’m a sometime bus commuter and I used to own a housebus – so I consider myself a bus person.

The Mobile Library met all my expectations and more. I found titles just jumped out at me and there was a certain cameraderie from sharing such a small space. Conversations were easy to get into. This little photo collection of the Mobile Library will give you an idea what to expect.

Shopping has some possibilities as well. Of course the Palms is closed but why not visit the shopping centre on the corner of Hills and Shirley Roads. There is a certain famous butcher, a chemist, a bakery, a sweet shop and takeaways – everything you need in these stressful times.

The Mobile Library is going to Shirley Intermediate on Saturdays from 9.30am to 4.30pm and is also operating in the carpark of the  Christchurch City Council Linwood Service Centre on Smith Street, on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9.30am-4.30pm. Look for the blue library open flag and the bus that already has its own high-vis vest.

Find out which libraries are open and where the Mobile Library gets to around the city.

OK – I’ve been to small and beautiful, now I’m going to try large and beautiful by visiting South Library. Find out where the  Displaced Reader has been on her travels.

Last week I got my handbag back.  Retrieved from my library by brave team leaders, it contained a number of important things like my driver’s licence and wallet and cellphone.  But the thing that made me happiest was the unexpected rediscovery of a ring in one of the pockets.  It’s ridiculously huge, shaped like a star, and covered in rainbow diamantes.  Every time I look at it, it makes me smile.  And I figure that’s a pretty good deal right now.

Like standing in a busy library (even if it’s not my regular one), and watching people hang out and spend time with friends and family, borrow books and music and movies, and have coffee together.

Like hearing librarians say they are finally beginning to enjoy reading again, and discussing their books choices (Barbara Trapido’s Sex and Stravinsky – mostly great but with a less-than-average ending; Rachael King’s Magpie Hall – a great read; F G Cottam’s The Waiting Room – beautifully written ghost story).

Like unpacking boxes of shiny new books and sending them off to people who have been waiting for them.

Like reading on a national news website that the Australian Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book is being re-released.

Like … well, what’s made you happy recently?

Ace your NCEA Chemistry assessments by mixing these great resources with your lab work!

• Both the Student Research Center and the Science Reference Center have you sorted with information and resources for everything from biochemistry to electrochemistry and more.
• Borrow a chemistry textbook for NCEA Year 11, 12 or 13 from one of our community libraries now open.
• Get tips from chemistry teachers at Study It.
• Find out everything you need to know and do for NCEA Chemistry from NZQA.
• Learn all about atomic structure, chemical bonding, and reaction kinetics on SparkNotes.
• Have a play with this fantastic online interactive periodic table of elements…or this one.

So where did we find these fantastic tools? On The Pulse – the library website for teens.