Weddings are usually joyous occasions, a chance for family and friends to get together to support and congratulate the happy couple who have chosen to make this commitment to one another. It’s fair to say however that they can also be responsible for creating quite a bit of stress in the lives of those most closely involved. Here at the library we have books and magazines to help with most aspects of planning a wedding which will help the day run smoothly, and hopefully avoid the creation of any Bridezillas. And men don’t think you’re getting off easy as the book The Groom’s Speech & Duties outlines, there’s plenty for you to do too.
To start with we have a selection of general wedding books such as Weddings: the essential Guide to Organising Your Perfect Day by Alison Price and The Everything Wedding Checklist Book: All You Need to Remember for a Day You’ll Never Forget by Holly Lefevre. We have a book for those looking to minimise the costs of the big day, 1,001 Ways to Save Money – and Still Have a Dazzling Wedding by Sharon Naylor, and even a book for those wanting to stage an environmentally friendly wedding, Eco-Chic Weddings by Emily Anderson.
New Etiquette for Today’s Bride published by Bridal Guide magazine offers advice on many modern matrimonial dilemmas including chapters on pre-wedding parties, destination weddings, second weddings, and the renewing of vows. We also subscribe to several wedding themed magazines including New Zealand Weddings, Bride to Be, and NZ Bride & Groom. These lavishly illustrated magazines are great for providing inspiration for all aspects of weddings, but can also be very expensive to purchase. Being able to borrow them from the library is one way of keeping costs down.
Decorations are usually an important part of the wedding, with a lot of effort going into creating the right look. We have many books to support this including Beaded Weddings: 75+ Fabulous Ideas for Jewellery, Invitations, Reception Decor, Gifts & More by Jean Campbell, and The New Book of Wedding Flowers: Simple & Stylish Arrangements for the Creative Bride by Joanne O’Sullivan. Of course the look of the dress is probably the biggest concern for most brides-to-be, and to help with this we have The Wedding Gown Book by Elizabeth Shimmer.
Speeches are a major part of the big day and given that many people find public speaking a fairly daunting prospect, advice can be very welcome. We have many titles to help in this area including The Big Book of Wedding Readings: a Huge Collection of Timeless Poetry and Prose for Church and Civil Ceremonies, Heart Songs: Readings for Weddings collected by Pinky Agnew, and Speeches: What to Say at Weddings and When to Say It. Finally no wedding would be complete without a cake and again we have books to help in the form of Cakes for Romantic Occasions by May Clee-Cadman, and Romantic Wedding Cakes by Kerry Vincent.
Unfortunately we can’t do much about the weather, but pretty much all the other aspects of your day should go smoothly with information and inspiration found from our books and magazines. You may not be able to match the pomp and ceremony of the upcoming Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, but you will still be able to achieve a memorable and happy day. And for those of you who can’t get enough of the romance and drama of weddings, they do of course provide the inspiration for many of our fiction books, and a few DVDs as well. The Italian Wedding by Nicky Pellegrino, Wedding Season by Katie Fforde, and Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts are just a few examples, though if the title of Sasha Wagstaff’s Changing Grooms is anything to go by, this should possibly be avoided by any prospective brides.
Jon Adams
Community Outreach Librarian
Masterton District Library
Monday, April 18, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
A Salute to Commuters
In this week’s column I’d like to pay tribute to those noble souls who contend with horribly early starts every week day, commuting to and from Wellington on the train. I did the commute for about four years so I know it’s not an easy thing to do, especially in the winter when you leave and get home in the dark. In some ways commuters enjoy the best of both worlds, but it is not without cost, and their efforts and contribution to the local economy shouldn’t be underestimated.
People have been commuting on the train to Wellington for decades and the numbers have definitely grown over the past few years with hundreds travelling on each of the three morning trains. The refurbished carriages that were introduced in 2007 have certainly improved the journey making it a much more comfortable experience. Occasional disruptions to the timetable can be very frustrating though, and even when everything is working to schedule, it still makes for a long working day.
The one advantage of the long working day is the chance to make use of the enforced downtime. Many use this time as a chance to do some work or catch up on sleep, but many others use it as an opportunity to read. And that’s where we come in.
The train makes for a great place to read with comfortable seats and few distractions. I never read more books than when I was commuting and many commuters get through several books a week. Books, and in particular fiction, are wonderful for taking us to different worlds and realities, providing an escape from the drudgery of the daily commute.
And of course it’s not just printed books you can borrow to provide entertainment as you travel to and from work. We have a large range of talking books (or audio books) and these are available on compact discs, MP3 discs and some as downloadable files. If you have a laptop or portable DVD player you could also watch one of our DVDs on the train. An episode of Fawlty Towers or The Good Life may be just the thing to lift your mood coming home in the middle of winter. Whichever you choose, there are great options available for making use of your travel time.
While the library’s usual opening hours may not be that convenient for the majority of commuters, we are open until 8pm on Thursday nights and from 9:30am to 1pm on Saturdays. Hopefully these extended hours will provide commuters with a workable time to visit the library and select some items to borrow. Thursday night is a particularly good time to come in as it’s generally quieter than during the day and ideal for the whole family to come in and browse.
Commuters are much like tourists in the role they play in our region, earning their incomes elsewhere and spending it here in the Wairarapa. They represent a significant part of the Wairarapa’s workforce and the region would certainly feel the effect if they were all to give it away. The travel can definitely be a grind but hopefully the entertainment options available from the library can help make it a much pleasanter experience.
So, on behalf of those fortunate enough to both work and live in the Wairarapa, I’d like to say thank you to all those who make the not inconsiderable effort to commute over (or perhaps that should be under) the hill each day to work. And as a token of our appreciation, we’d like to offer a free rental DVD, audio book, or book from our Hot Picks collection to all those who commute each day on the train. Simply show us a current Wellington to Masterton Tranz Metro ticket either on Saturday the 2nd of April or Thursday the 7th, and you can borrow one free item from our collection. It’s just our way of recognising the contribution you make, and demonstrating how our books, DVDs and CDs can make it a little less onerous.
Jon Adams
Community Outreach Librarian
Masterton District Library
People have been commuting on the train to Wellington for decades and the numbers have definitely grown over the past few years with hundreds travelling on each of the three morning trains. The refurbished carriages that were introduced in 2007 have certainly improved the journey making it a much more comfortable experience. Occasional disruptions to the timetable can be very frustrating though, and even when everything is working to schedule, it still makes for a long working day.
The one advantage of the long working day is the chance to make use of the enforced downtime. Many use this time as a chance to do some work or catch up on sleep, but many others use it as an opportunity to read. And that’s where we come in.
The train makes for a great place to read with comfortable seats and few distractions. I never read more books than when I was commuting and many commuters get through several books a week. Books, and in particular fiction, are wonderful for taking us to different worlds and realities, providing an escape from the drudgery of the daily commute.
And of course it’s not just printed books you can borrow to provide entertainment as you travel to and from work. We have a large range of talking books (or audio books) and these are available on compact discs, MP3 discs and some as downloadable files. If you have a laptop or portable DVD player you could also watch one of our DVDs on the train. An episode of Fawlty Towers or The Good Life may be just the thing to lift your mood coming home in the middle of winter. Whichever you choose, there are great options available for making use of your travel time.
While the library’s usual opening hours may not be that convenient for the majority of commuters, we are open until 8pm on Thursday nights and from 9:30am to 1pm on Saturdays. Hopefully these extended hours will provide commuters with a workable time to visit the library and select some items to borrow. Thursday night is a particularly good time to come in as it’s generally quieter than during the day and ideal for the whole family to come in and browse.
Commuters are much like tourists in the role they play in our region, earning their incomes elsewhere and spending it here in the Wairarapa. They represent a significant part of the Wairarapa’s workforce and the region would certainly feel the effect if they were all to give it away. The travel can definitely be a grind but hopefully the entertainment options available from the library can help make it a much pleasanter experience.
So, on behalf of those fortunate enough to both work and live in the Wairarapa, I’d like to say thank you to all those who make the not inconsiderable effort to commute over (or perhaps that should be under) the hill each day to work. And as a token of our appreciation, we’d like to offer a free rental DVD, audio book, or book from our Hot Picks collection to all those who commute each day on the train. Simply show us a current Wellington to Masterton Tranz Metro ticket either on Saturday the 2nd of April or Thursday the 7th, and you can borrow one free item from our collection. It’s just our way of recognising the contribution you make, and demonstrating how our books, DVDs and CDs can make it a little less onerous.
Jon Adams
Community Outreach Librarian
Masterton District Library
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