The Red Stuff - The Gift of Life

It's World Blood Donor Day today. I have to admit that I am a lapsed blood donor but I might use today to make a resolution to get back into it next time the blood bus pulls into town. I heard a statistic on the radio this morning that under 10% of us are actually blood donors. Which isn't very much considering the need for it in all sorts of situations.

To celebrate (if that's the right word) Blood Donor Day, here are some library resources with ties both obvious and not so obvious, to the red stuff.

Blood - If you do a subject search for Blood in our library catalogue you get 3 pages of results with lots of different categories from Blood Alcohol, Blood Groups and Blood Diseases to the more unusual Bloodsucking Animals and Blood Accusations. Once again both children and adults are represented on the list.

Our Digital Library contains several extremely good Health databases for you to check out any diseases or concerns with relation to blood pressure, blood sugar or anything to do with blood. My family suffers from the common condition Haemochromotosis which is simply put the opposite of Anaemia - we have too much iron in our blood which can be just as devastating to our health. I'm lucky but both my brother and father have to regularly go and be bled (the old fashioned term - today they use the much more medical "venesection").

Which brings me onto the next topic. We couldn't have a blog about the red stuff without mentioning the word Vampire. A keyword search for Vampires reveals almost 2000 entries in our library catalogue. It is a worldwide trend and certainly we have plenty to keep even the most avid Vampire Fan happy. With so much being published in the current market, it is easy to forget that Vampire fiction has been around for a long time. So take a moment to revisit the classics such as Dracula and the novels of Anne Rice.

World Blood Donor day has it's own website "celebrating the gift of blood". And check out the NZ Blood Service website to see if you could become a donor.

Top 5 for Friday - Five books you could read for Matariki

He iti Kahurangi - A little treasure.

Matariki 2011 is about celebrating the treasures of our past. Of course, as a librarian, I believe we have many treasures in our library and some of my favourites are the ones that tells stories of our past. So in celebration of the Maori New Year, the harvest, families and the stars, remembering the past and looking forward to the future, here are five books you might like to try out during July.

1. Treasures from the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. In this book are hundreds of collection items from the museum, from taonga prized by many Maori iwi to centuries of art from Europe and New Zealand, significant historical pieces, art and objects from the Pacific, and many of the extraordinary animals and plants that make up our natural environment. Over 300 beautiful full-colour photographs and informative, lively captions bring these fascinating objects and animals to life. From the rare to the familiar, this is a cabinet of true New Zealand treasures for all readers to enjoy. I adore Museums almost as much as I love Libraries. From the small to the large (to the extremely large which take days to investigate) I can find treasures in all of the them. Te Papa is our national museum and it is well worth a visit if you haven't been there already. To get a sneak preview of what you can find there, check out this book. You can also look at treasures from other museums around the country including closer to home with 150 Treasures of the Auckland War Memorial Museum.


2. Rural Delivery: Poems and images from New Zealand Farms. Whether it's from the comfort of a fireside chair, or in the solitude of the outdoors in all weathers, a surprising number of New Zealand farmers and rural workers, both men and women, spend quiet moments composing poems, ballads and songs that focus on their working lives. This is a collection of some of these poems, coupled with Stephen Robinson's dramatic images of rural life and landscapes. From the joys and exhaustion of high-country mustering to the tribulations of never-ending mud and wayward sheep and cattle, these are pictures and stories of heartland New Zealand, and celebrate our farming heritage. Having been brought up on a dairy farm and at one stage owned my own sheep and beef farm, I can relate to sooo much of this book (mud, gumboots, rain, dust, hungry shearers...). I have actually even considered buying a copy for my father, although I am not sure. He still manages to surprise me but I have never tried poetry on him before.


3. The Treasure/Te Taonga by Melanie Drewery. "Come snuggle on the couch with me and I will tell you of my greatest taonga". This picture books holds a special place in my heart as I discovered it around the same time as my niece came into the lives of my family - a special gift to us as she is adopted. We added 'Te Taonga' to her name because that is what she is to us.


4. Marc Ellis' Goood Fullas: A guide to Kiwi Blokes. Marc Ellis and Charlie Haddrell, a couple of Henanigan storytellers with a decent pinch of Bogan in them, who have been mates since the days they were Scarfies, have decided to bring 25 stereotypical New Zealanders to life through a humorous account of their eccentricities and idiosyncrasies, highlighting why they are such an integral part of this great nation. For a touch of humour and downright irreverance it is hard to go past Marc Ellis. Easy to pick up, put down, giggle at and you may even find some people you know in here.


5. Treasure - Hayley Westenra. When it comes to New Zealanders we have multiple choices for people we treasure. From singers and actors, writers and sportspeople, adventurers and artists, the choice is huge. Hayley certainly counts as one of them. So when I discovered she had an album titled 'Treasure" it just seemed like fate that she would make it onto this list. A little light listening while you are enjoying your reading.

What was he thinking???

A steady stream of people are coming in to request Paul Henry's eagerly anticipated autobiography What was I thinking (although it would be fair to say that some of these people are probably only anticipating it on the basis that it will provide more fodder for their disapproval of the gentleman in question).

Judging by the growing list of holds, it is unlikely I will be able to get my hands on it any time soon to be able to review it. But I can still read other people's reviews (there are plenty to be had)

Stuff.co.nz review (Marika Hill)

Stuff.co.nz at the Launch (Belinda McCammon)

Paul Henry's website

Our catalogue summary of the book reads From the man whose outrageous comments on TV divided the country, and almost caused an international incident, comes this very funny memoir. Packed with stories from his eventful childhood and his long and adventurous career in journalism, this is a gripping, often hilarious and always entertaining read. It gives a fascinating insight into the complex character of Paul Henry. *He's surprising - he doesn't subscribe to any expected set of beliefs, he's an individual with contradictory opinions. *He's bold - he set himself up as an international news correspondent working out of his Masterton lounge, watching CNN and jetting off to the latest hotspot. He's talked himself into getting interviews with people as diverse as Peter Ustinov and the Prime Minister of Malaysia; he was there for the funerals of Diana and Mother Theresa; he's been thrown into jail in Iraq. *He's versatile -starting with drama school, then broadcasting at the BBC, head of Radio NZ, standing for parliament against Georgina Beyer, international correspondent - as well as protesting at Mururoa and running an antique shop and his own radio station. *He's entertaining - a natural-born story teller who spins a great yarn, and who says, 'I'll apologise for hurting people's feelings but I'll never apologise for being outrageous.'

Personally, I'm not sure what I think of Paul Henry. On the one hand I admire him for his very clear view of the world and strength of character. On the other hand, sometimes he makes me cringe. But then I could probably say the same thing about a lot of people I know. I will eventually read this book because I am interested in what makes him tick.

Early Rodney Times now online

The early issues of Auckland Star and Rodney Times are now online, thanks to a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand and Auckland Libraries. Here are some excerpts from the news release on our website.

Digitised, browseable and fully searchable, the first 33 years of the Auckland Star, and 44 years of the Rodney Times can now be read online on the National Library’s Papers Past website.

In 1901, the weekly Rodney and Otamatea Times, a four-page broadsheet, was printed on one of the first stone litho flat-bed press machines developed by Furnival & Co. Two casual workers shared the job of turning the large wheel by hand while the printer fed sheets of newsprint into the rollers.
The newspaper, published on Fridays, sold for three pennies a copy, and the annual subscription was eight shillings. This paper was renamed several times over the years, including a period as the Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, and most recently as the Rodney Gazette. You can now view issues from March 1901 to December 1945 online.

“The release of the early years of the Auckland Star and Rodney Times is a great example of National Library working in cooperation with Auckland Libraries, which holds the physical copies of the paper, and Fairfax Media, which holds the copyright, to make an invaluable historical resource available to New Zealanders at the touch of a button,” said National Librarian, Bill Macnaught.

Allison Dobbie, Manager Libraries and Information, Auckland Council, is equally enthusiastic about the collaborative project. “Auckland Libraries is committed to helping New Zealanders and researchers from around the world to access our past. Working with partners in this way helps to make this possible.”

“While the experience of the originals is irreplaceable, the value of digitised copies lie in the ease of searching and accessing the wealth of stories in these treasures for people everywhere.”

To have a look for yourself go to the Papers Past website.

Matariki at Auckland Libraries

Pupuritia ki ngā taonga tuku iho (Holding on to the treasures of our ancestors)

Matariki runs from the 4th of June (Saturday) through to the 4th of July. It is a time to prepare, learn, share ideas and celebrate the future. Join Auckland Libraries (that's us) for a month of stories and activities (including harakeke weaving and kapahaka performances) to celebrate. Events around Rodney include:

Helensville Library

Mon 13 June, 10.30am - 11am. Matariki storytime.

Kumeu Library

Mon 20 June, 10.30am - 11am. Matariki storytime.

Mahurangi East Library

Tues 7 June, 10.30am - 11am. Special Matariki storytime for preschoolers.

Orewa Library

Thurs 9 June, 11am - 11.30am. Special Matariki storytime.

Warkworth Library

Mon 13, 20 & 27 June, 10.30am - 11am. Special Matariki storytime.

Wellsford War Memorial Library

Wed 8 June, 10.30am - 11am. Special Matariki storytime.

Whangaparaoa Library

Tues 14 June, 10.30am - 11am. Special Matariki storytime

Tues 14 June, 1pm - 3pm. Kapa haka performance in library forecourt Whangaparaoa Primary and College.

Wed 15 June, 10.30am - 11am. Special Matariki storytime.

A Matariki concert planned for Warkworth on Saturday 4th June has been postponed until a later date.

For other Matariki Events in the Auckland Libraries check out our Matariki Events page. Don't forget to sign up for our What's On E-Newsletter so it can arrive in your Inbox every month and you are the first to know what's happening.

We also have a Matariki creative writing competition for youth between 9 and 17 years of age.
The theme is He taonga te kōrero (Stories are precious).

Try writing a story that has been passed down from your grandparents, parents or any other whānau member. The stories can be written in te reo Māori or English. So get writing and be in to win some cool prizes. Check out the terms and conditions of entry on our competition page.