Treasures From The Archives Book Sale

Some books from the Information Services stack at Speers Point Library have been culled and will be sold at the library from 5 -16 January 2009.

There are many unique and collectible items, many over 50 years old. Second hand traders are welcome but please note, all items will be sold at their market value and there will be no previews. The hours of the sale will coincide with the opening hours of Speers Point Library.

For more information on this "once in a lifetime" opportunity refer to http://www.lakemac.com.au/downloads/whats%20on%20Dec%202008%20Jan%202009.pdf

The staff at Information Services would also like to take this opportunity to wish all our patrons and their families and friends a Merry Christmas and happy new year!

Regards; Glenn, Anita, Judy and Julie (right in red pants)

Member For Charlton & The Mining Maps

The Hon. Greg Combet AM MP (pictured left with Council's Jo Smith) recently took time out of a busy schedule to pay us a visit at Information Services. During his time with us the Member for Charlton presented us with a heritage grant and inspected part of the donated collection which the money will help preserve.

The collection referred to incorporates several thousand maps detailing aspects of many of the region's coal mines as well as early plans of Wangi Power Station. Several of the maps date back to the 1950s and include accident reports.

This extensive and culturally significant collection had been formerly located at the old Rhondda Colliery near Teralba. Lake Macquarie Library took ownership in 2000 and the maps have been housed it in the vicinity of Morisset Library since then.

In 2007, the library successfully applied for a federally funded Community Heritage Grant which enabled us to commission a significance assessment for the collection. Following on from this, Council applied for a supplementary grant aimed at gaining assistance in preserving the items. We were again successful in our application and as a result, Mr Combet (himself a former mining engineer) presented us with the grant in person.