Endeavour Hills youth services officer Jeanette Hobson enjoys story time as part of Library and Information Week.
LOCAL book lovers flocked to libraries right across Casey and Cardinia last week as part of a week-long celebration.
During Library and Information Week libraries hosted a swag of informative activities with each event attracting a strong audience.
Library goers enjoyed holistic health and business seminars, close to 30 people turning out at Endeavour Hills Library on Saturday to get up close and personal with Vietnam veteran and novelist Barry Heard.
Narre Warren Library also hosted a Sunday singalong with popular seniors entertainers and a jazzy trio of music performers and more than 50 people turned out to Pakenham Library to learn about smart organising solutions.
Hampton Park Library also proved popular with close to 20 people coming along to discover the crime collection with a Killer Book chat.
In other events parents were encouraged to hand over the car keys to their teenage learner drivers, read a few stories to babies, toddlers and preschoolers and help out with homework for innumerable school projects.
A spokesperson for Casey-Cardinia Library Corporation said these activities demonstrated the vital role of public libraries to promote a free flow of information and share their expertise to help library members achieve their lifelong learning goals.
“The aim of Library and Information Week is to promote the contribution of libraries and their staff in educating, informing and entertaining everyone in the community, from cradle to grave,” she said.
Cr Wayne Smith, chairman of the Library Board, said if people had not been to a library for a while they would be surprised at what is available to borrow free.
“With the ever-increasing cost of living, a free library membership is excellent value and makes good sense. Why not visit and join and you can even book to access the Internet for free,” he said.
For those statistically inclined, the Casey-Cardinia Library Corporation opens six branch libraries and Cardinia Mobile Library for a total of 325 hours per week and collectively an average of 19,800 visitors borrow 42,000 items, place 1400 information inquiries and 384 children attend free activities each week.
