ANZAC DAY Blog Challenge

Auckland Libraries ANZAC Day blog challenge is on again for 2012. Do you have a story to share about an ANZAC? We'd like to hear about not only their sacrifice, but the way it shaped their family history. Maybe you want to blog from the perspective of those that were left behind? Last year this challenge was very successful. As Seonaid said in her recent Kintalk blog post, "Not all the stories were of people who died. Sacrifice comes in all forms. Not all of the stories were of family members." so the field is wide open for you to share your stories.

All the details of what's involved and how to get started are on the Kintalk blog including links to some of the resources in Auckland Libraries.

And to help you along, here are the links to some of the stories told last year.

It's amazing what you find in library books.

Auckland Libraries staff have made a remarkable discovery: a manuscript that is more than 1,200 years old.

Fragments of the centuries-old manuscript were found sewn into some of Auckland Libraries' oldest books, a late-15th Century bible held in the Sir George Grey Special Collection.The discovery, which has already been covered by the NZ Herald, was made while cataloguing incunabula (books printed before 1501), as library staff examined a large and striking four-volume Latin bible presented to the library in 1913. Further investigations by Emeritus Professor Alexandra Barratt (Waikato University) uncovered more fragments in three of the four volumes.

This is certainly one of the better things that has been found between the pages of the books in the library collections (which is a subject for a whole other blog post and makes even the children at schools we visit cringe). But to read the rest of the story about the manuscript, go to the news page on our website.

School Holidays at the Libraries

What's better than somewhere fun, free, friendly and safe to go during the school holidays? How about somewhere with activities and storytimes to keep everyone occupied, just in case the summer that arrived over Easter decides not to stick around.

Join our friendly dragon mascot and the librarians across Auckland from 6th to 22nd April for a fun-filled mythical creature adventure at Auckland Libraries these school holidays. We have lots of exciting stories and activities for the kids to enjoy across the Auckland region.

Activities on offer include:
* Storytimes with taniwhas, dragons, fairies and more.
* Crafty kids - let your imagination run wild and make your own mythical creature.
* Quizzes - challenge your friends and see who can answer the most questions.
* Scavenger hunts - get your friends together and find all the hidden creatures lurking in the library.

For more information on what's happening at a Library near you (or near where you are visiting on holiday) check out our School holidays event page on the website. I like the look of Epsom's 'Great Dewey Challenge' where you have to master mythical creatures and wind your way to winning their beastly board game (throughout the holidays). Meanwhile out west Massey has a packed schedule including return visits from Molly the Pirate and Stu Duval (if you missed them during Dare to Explore, don't do it a second time) plus on Thursday 19th April at 10.30 am, the YMCA and Auckland Libraries present The Polka Dots LIVE in the YMCA stadium. I might also have to visit Mangere East to see the results of their Puppet Theatre week running from 17th to 20th April. Phew - so much to do during the holidays, and all of it FREE.

Learning to make cheese

I am happy to admit that I *love* cheese. It is one of my all-time favourite foods, and one of the foods I would find the hardest to give if I chose to become a vegan.

Stinky cheese, hard cheese, soft cheese, waxed cheese, aged cheese, goat's cheese - I'll try it all.

But I have never been brave enough to ever attempt to make my own cheese. Two friends recently did a cheese-making course, and are trying to convince me that it is not that hard to do. I'm reluctant to admit that maybe cheese would lose its allure if I actually knew how to make it.

To help me decide whether or not to give cheese-making a go, I've borrowed two New Zealand books : Cutting the curd : cheesemaking at home : with a collection of delicious recipes byKatherine Mowbray and How to make cheese : & other dairy products : your guide to easy cheesemaking by Jean Mansfield.

So have you ever made your own cheese? What's your verdict - is it easy peasy or far too hard?

Keeping up-to-date with Auckland Libraries

Want to know what's been added to our collections recently?

Make sure that you bookmark our New Titles page, which gives you a full rundown on all the new material (books, DVDs, CDs, audiobooks) that has been added to the collection.

There's also lists of titles which have been added to our community language collections - from Dutch to Punjabi, from Tamil to Korean.

You can sign up to our NextReads newsletters for a selection of reading suggestions on a variety of topics - from Nature & Science books to Romance Fiction, from Tween reads to Popular Culture.

Happy browsing.