The Zillmere Story Book Project
Getting Involved In The Arts Through Your Local Library
Libraries are a source of information, visual imagery and shared educational ventures. Have you checked out what projects are running at your local library lately?
At your local library you can access the internet, borrow books, take out CD's, games and your favourite magazines. They are also a hub of thriving activity and a place to network and make connections. Many libraries run projects and have classes and information sharing sessions.
You my find that you can take a class on drawing, card making, papermaking, story writing and much more in your local library. If you cannot find a group that interests you, start your own club, or join clubs that people have collectively organised. Photography clubs, Photoshop techniques sharing sessions or history research and storage clubs are great ways for people to get together find out about each other and to share and encourage learning in community.
You might be conservation minded and want to run environmental or restorative clubs. These kinds of projects go out from the library into the community enhancing and valuing the community resources.
Zillmere Library on the northern side of Brisbane Au is in the process of running a storybook project.
It is a Brisbane City Council - Cultural Connections in Libraries Project.
The process is about exploring the community and its story. It will be a visual representation of tales that come from the community. They will show how the community came to be as diverse and multicultural as it is today. Participants will talk through their story while drawing images about how they came to be a valued member of the Zillmere locale. Children or residents already born in the district will map out a typical day in Zillmere. Highlights and valued aspects of Zillmere community life will be amplified through pictures.
The book will remain a permanent feature of the library collection. As the project evolves, participants will collaboratively design the style of book and negotiate what the pages will be like. Together they will anticipate the cover as they put forward ideas and experiment with materials.
Maybe the book will have a very exotic hand carved leather cover or perhaps people would like to make a jacket collectively from paper mache. It may have a hand painted wooden cover with hinges or have one fashioned from stiffened cloth. Perhaps a quilter will step forward to show us how to stitch an exciting front decorative inset. The authentic art piece will become over time a hand fashioned representation of local community spirit. It is hoped that participants will have deepened their sense of belonging through their involvement.
If you are interested in the concept of books as an art form, the State Library of Queensland has a page about artists’ books online. You will see images of a selection of artists' books from the State Library’s collection. It is a “showcase [of] our artists’ book collection, recognised as one of the best in Australia. We have featured both Australian and overseas artists’ books from the Australian Library of Art which incorporates both the James Hardie Library of Australian Fine Arts and the History and Art of the Book Collection.”
Would you like to become involved in this free activity? Ring the library (07) 34031455 or email for more information. You will find the finished book displayed in another article here by the end of June 2007.
If you know of libraries that run interesting projects, post about them on the discussion boards.
If you would like to know more about how the book was made these articles may interest you.
The Zillmere Story Book: A Creative Community Project
Guest articles about library projects are always welcome.
