The State Library of New South Wales is turning 200 this year, and as part of its anniversary project, The Library that Made Me, it’s collecting answers to exactly that question from communities across the state. Hawkesbury Library Service is one of them.
The local library is running its annual Membership Drive through all of July — six $100 gift cards for new members who join before 31 July, plus additional prize draws for anyone, new or existing, who borrows during the month. The mechanics are simple: borrow something, keep your receipt, and take it to the service desk. That’s it.
But the drive is also building toward something a bit more considered. On Thursday, 30 July, the library is holding an Open Day at the Central Library in Windsor from 10 am to noon, with a free morning tea and a chance to explore two brand-new facilities most members haven’t seen yet.
The Digitisation Studio is set up to help people preserve old photographs, slides, and documents. The kind of stuff that sits in shoeboxes for decades, slowly deteriorating. The library now has the equipment to change that, and on Open Day, they’ll show you how to use it.
The Production Studio is different again — high-quality sound-recording gear available to the public. On 30 July, story sessions for The Library that Made Me will run from 11 am to noon and 4 to 5 pm. You sit down, you record, and your story gets uploaded to the State Library’s website. What gets recorded might range from a retired teacher remembering the first book she ever borrowed to a teenager talking about finding their community online through the library’s digital programs. That’s the point.
Hawkesbury Library membership has always been free, open to everyone regardless of age or background. July just adds a few more reasons to finally sign up — or to come back in if it’s been a while.
Full event details and registrations at hawkesburylibrary.eventbrite.com or call the library on 02 4560 4460.
