It's always good to try a new genre

Whanganui Literary Festival trustees: (from left) Kelly Scarrow, Gillian Tasker, Joan Rosier-Jones (Patron), Helen Frances, Gayelene Holly. PICTURE / TREVOR SCARROW

I am the first to admit I am a creature of habits, quirks and rituals, so sometimes change comes hard for me. Life, as I have learned the hard way many a time, throws you curveballs and change is needed and not always wanted. Shocking as that may seem to those who only see a small part of who I am, not so much for those that know me well. I am always encouraging my customers to try new genres, change their perceptions and habits with their reading, maybe I need to take a page out of my own book and embrace change that is happening in all facets of my life ... Or maybe I will bury my head in my book.
I am always interested to know what people think of libraries, how do they use them? If they are new to the Gonville Café Library, what is your impression of us in comparison to other libraries, in your experience? I want to know if we are hitting the mark in terms of the services we provide, the books that we stock and how best we can engage with our community with the resources that we have. Being interested in my community and my customers I hope, keeps my library and role, relevant and inspiring to those people and community in which I serve.
The Gonville Café Library is as busy as ever, with school holidays having just finished and changes in staff, it certainly has been a busy, if not interesting few weeks. The Gonville Knitting Group is heading into its final few months of charitable knitting for Birthright Wanganui. Our final handover of garments will be happening on October 21 at 10.30am. If you have contributed in any way to this year's knitting project I encourage you to come along and celebrate the group's success and the marvellous contribution that The Gonville Knitting Group has made to our community.
I recently spent a girl's weekend away with my "New Family - the In-Laws" to further bond, shop and all under the pretence of going down to Wellington just for The World Of Wearable Arts. I just have to say ....the World of Wearable Art show was phenomenal on so many levels, the artistry, the insights and foresight of planning a show of the calibre is huge, let alone the creative souls who come up with these incredible visions and make them into life. It has got me thinking, which has a few of my near and dear worried - including my Gonville Knitting Ladies... watch this space!!
I know a lot has been said post Whanganui Literary Festival but can I just say that I am extremely proud of what the Literary Festival Trust and volunteers achieved throughout the entire festival. It is truly an "iconic" Wanganui event that not only draws brilliant noted New Zealand authors and booklovers to our city, but also has far fetching positive ripple effects into our beautiful city. I am immensely proud to be a Trustee and I am excited about future events that we have in the pipeline, so to speak.
¦For more information on any of the activities mentioned above or comments, please feel free to call in at The Gonville Café Library, email kelly@wanganuilibrary.com or find me on Facebook www.facebook.com/inkedlibrarian