January

COLLECTION RECOMMENDATION

My favourite authors are Stephen King, Dean R. Koontz and Richard Layman. I love mystery and crime. One book that had an impact on me was The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I cry in movies but never while reading books, until this book (shhh don't tell anyone!). Another book I read recently which I loved was Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.

LOVE FOR MILES LIBRARY

'Miles is very lucky to have the beautiful library that we do. We have been regulars at the library since my first child was a toddler starting at Storytime for Toddlers. We now attend all the MiniMakers workshops (a Dogwood Crossing, Miles program), on the weekends and school holidays. Both kids have a great love of reading and books which I think has a lot to do with being library regulars and the excitement of picking their own books to borrow. Claudia, Anne, and the team do an amazing job.' - Megan Coleman.

CLAUDIA

Now in its fourth year, the award-winning Words Out West: Western Downs Readers & Writers Fest is returning in 2023 to deliver a novel approach to storytelling for readers, writers and word-lovers alike.

Find out where your story will take you at Words Out West.

AUTHOR TOUR

IN CONVERSATION WITH RACHAEL JOHNS Wednesday 1 – Friday 3 March Jandowae, Chinchilla, Wandoan, Miles, Tara & Dalby

BOOKS & BUBBLES NEW

WITH LION’S SAROO BRIERLEY

Friday 24 March Dalby Events Centre

SCHOONERS & STORIES

AN EVENING WITH TBC Friday 10 March Juandah Hotel Motel, Wandoan Saturday 11 March The Bun Hotel, Kaimkillenbun

FESTIVAL DAY

FEAT. WILLIAM MCINNES, LISA CURRY & MORE Saturday 25 March Dalby Events Centre

WRITERS RETREAT

Sunday 26 March Dalby Events Centre YOUTH WRITERS RETREATNEW

Sunday 26 March Dalby Events Centre

SCHOOL DAYS

FEAT. MORRIS GLEITZMAN & MORE Tuesday 28 March Dalby Events Centre Wednesday 29 March Chinchilla Country Hope Church

FIRST 5 FOREVER

Picture books bring enormous benefits to children who are in the early stage of developing their ability to learn to read. You can extend a child's understanding and love of a book by adding experiences such as play and craft, and naturally conversations will flow.

Picture books will give children inspiration and you will often see them allocate roles to their friends. The stories will grow and may differ with additional characters and the plot may be extended. You just have to read Three Billy Goats Gruff by Pam Holden or Wombat Stew by Marcia K. Vaughan and Pamela Lofts to a group of children and watch them interpret the story in their play scenarios to see evidence of the child's understanding of the book.

Small World Play is another great imaginative play idea that books can inspire. For instance, if you are reading the book Ten Tricky Dinosaurs by Amanda Tarlau you could assist your child to scout around your home and find objects to represent scenery or characters in the book. Small plastic dinosaurs, sticks for trees, rocks for features of the landscape and blue paper can become a waterhole in your child's small world. This will also allow you to extend your child's knowledge and vocabulary as you become a palaeontologist and look at the characteristics

of the ten dinosaurs, discover their names and see if they are herbivores or carnivores. Our non-fiction collection has lots of books on dinosaurs to help you do some research together.

So have fun with books, extend your child's knowledge and understanding of the story and sit back as you reap the rewards throughout their schooling.

TREVOR'S BOOKSHELF

Trevor the library dog is back again with his top pick for Summer!

SHARK IN THE PARK BY NICK SHARRATT

Timothy Pope has a brand new telescope, and he's testing it out in the park. Children will delight in peeping through the die-cut holes and guessing what Tim has spotted. Is that really a shark he can see?

THE TECH DEN

BRAND NEW i-THEATRE!

An innovative combination of traditional and digital storytelling mediums.

i-Theatre is a unique learning system for early years and primary aged children that facilitates story-creation and multimedia storytelling in a way that embraces both traditional and digital mediums. First, children create the characters, background, and other content for their stories using traditional mediums such as paper, pencils, markers and paint.

Then, children use i-Theatre's built in scanner to convert their hardcopy materials to digital content that can be manipulated on screen and turned into multimedia stories, adding sounds, animation, and recording their own narration. The finished movies can be exported to be watched with family and friends.

OUR BRANCHES

BELL LIBRARY

71 Maxwell Street Bell 4408 07 4663 1113

CHINCHILLA LIBRARY

27 Bell Street Chinchilla 4413 07 4660 7270

DALBY LIBRARY

Level 1, 69 Drayton Street Dalby 4405 07 4679 4474

JANDOWAE LIBRARY

22 George Street Jandowae 4410 07 4668 4480

MEANDARRA LIBRARY

Sara Street Meandarra 4422 07 4665 6147

MILES LIBRARY

Dogwood Crossing, Miles 81 Murilla Street Miles 4415 07 4628 5330

MOONIE LIBRARY

Leichhardt Highway Moonie 4406 07 4665 0189

TARA LIBRARY

31 Day Street Tara 4421 07 4678 7881

WANDOAN LIBRARY

6 Henderson Road Wandoan 4419 07 4558 3045