Galileo is one of the fathers of modern science. He was a physicist, mathematician, and astronomer and 2009 is the 400th anniversary of Galileo's development of the telescope and his first pointing it to the heavens with such earth-shattering results. His book Dialogo dei massimi sistemi (Dialogue on the two chief world systems), his celebrated defence of the Copernican system, was published in Florence in 1632. It led to his house arrest and the banning of his books in Italy. The only copy of this book in Australia is held by the State Library of New South Wales and it has never before left Sydney until now.......... You are invited to see this rare book and hear Paul Brunton, Senior curator from the State Library of NSW, speak at Forbes Library,Victoria Lane, Forbes on Friday 16 October at 1pm for a 1.15pm start. Please RSVP by calling the Library on 6852 1463.

A concert featuring Paul Brunton and professional musicians from Orange Regional Conservatorium of Music performing Monteverdi (Heavenly Bodies Galileo and Monteverdi: A Feast of 17th Century Italian Genius) will also be held on Thursday 15 October at the Conservatorium at 7.30pm. For tickets ($35 Adults , $25 Concession) please contact Book City on 6393 1333. All funds raised will support the Conservatorium and Library.

The rare Galileo Book will also be on display at Orange City Library on Thursday afternoon. Paul is pictured above with a rare Longitudes book.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words then we have ..well too many to count. Come along and see a large display of black and white and colour photos as part of the Western Districts Photo Competition supported by the Orange Camera Club. All the winning entries are highlighted and the exhibition takes up a huge area at the back of the Orange Library. So spend some time, be inspired by these images and select your favourites. On show until the end of the month and free.

And the winners of the World Environment Day Community Arts Competition are Primary – Freya Hawke; Primary – Elizabeth Bilton – Highly Commended; Primary Group – Orange Public School 6J (Penguins - see picture); Primary Group – Orange Public School 3N – Highly Commended; Secondary – Ayla Manwaring; Adult – Stephen Nugent and Adult – Yvette Black – Highly Commended. Entries were judged by Orange Art Gallery Director Alan Sisley and Orange City Librarian Elizabeth Barry. The competition is an initiative of ECCO (Environmentally Concerned Citizens of Orange) and Orange City Council. Come and see all the entries on display at Orange City Library for the next week. There are landscapes, poems, stories, a globe, robots, collages, drawings and lots of recycled materials put to artistic use. Freya Hawke was excited to learn she had won for her work called Environmental Helpers. She demonstrated how it works and the environmental tip I received was "to help save petrol walk or ride instead of taking the car". I think I can do that. And a tip from the Library is to splurge $1 on a Library Bag and you'll never have to use a plastic bag again.

More than 85 people enjoyed the Books on the Menu: Australian cookbooks event hosted by Orange City Library on Wednesday night as part of F.O.O.D Week with special guest State Library of NSW curator Pat Turner (pictured) talking about and displaying rare cookbooks. Pat said the first known Australian cookbook broke away from the traditional English fare with a mix of some wonderful localised dishes with ingredients like black swan, emu, kangaroo and wombat. Cookbooks provide a fantastic social record of the time and document the impact of food on war, celebrations, the Great Depression, migration and new technology. For example, war cookbooks had recipes for meatless dishes because of meat rationing, and during the Depression cookbooks focused on preserving fruit and making jams because people were growing fruit in their own backyard (sounds like a good idea now). Guests at the event were able to put on white gloves and handle the rare cookbooks - some with colourful images and see an ANZAC Day commemoration menu from 1916. Other books on display included The Antipodean Cookbook (1897), the War Chest Cookery Book published in 1917 to raise money for the war efforts and Cooking the Chinese Way (1948) by Roy Geechoun – the first Australian book devoted to Chinese cooking. Guests also enjoyed local produce including figs, cheese, hummus dip, pumpkin and rosemary dip, blue cheese and pistachio dip, sausages, breads and a delicious country terrine. Thank you to everyone who came along and made it such a fantastic night. The Australian cookbooks State Library of NSW exhibition panels are on show during F.O.O.D. Week. Stay tuned for recipes from local foodies Libby West, Marcus Richards, Robert Thornberry and Maureen Pilcher who also spoke on the night.

A unique display called Australian cookbooks, featuring reproductions from the State Library of NSW's vast cookery book collection will be on show at Orange City Library, Byng Street, Orange during F.O.O.D. Week 17 – 26 April. Come along to meet State Library of NSW Australian cookbooks exhibition curator Pat Turner on Wednesday 22 April from 5.30pm – 7.30pm at our special Books on the Menu event as she talks about the cookbook collection and curating this wonderful travelling exhibition. View rare cookbook titles and first editions including The English And Australian Cookery Book (1864); The Antipodean Cookbook (1897) by one of the earliest cookery book writers, Mrs Lance Rawson, who emphasised the value of bush tucker from her learnings with Aboriginal people; War Chest Cookery Book published in Sydney in 1917 to raise money for the war efforts; and Cooking the Chinese Way (1948) by Roy Geechoun, the first Australian book devoted entirely to Chinese cooking. Also hear from local foodies talking about their favourite cookbooks and recipes. No matter what your taste, you're sure to discover something delicious. Yum!

And most people would recognise the woman pictured -Margaret Fulton in her celebrity chef heydey! Margaret Fulton OAM, food writer, began writing cookery pages in women's magazines in the early 1950s. The first of her many cookbooks, The Margaret Fulton Cookbook, was published in 1968. It sold more than a million copies and remains a staple in many kitchens around the country. Fulton's sensible and practical approach to food is the key to her popularity. In 1999 she published I Sang for My Supper. Part memoir, part social history, the book documents her life and the changing social and cultural scene in Australia from the 1920s to the present.

Anyone who has passed through Orange will be familiar with Robertson Park, the historical heart of the City. Orange and District Historical Society has delved into that history and created an exhibition "Robertson Park Takes Centre Stage".

To curate the exhibition Society members interviewed and sourced contributions from local historians, business owners and organisations. It will be on display in Orange City Library until 15 February. We recommend you take a peek! While you are at the library don't forget to browse the fabulous Local Studies and Genealogy collections.

We'll also have an online version of this exhibition on our website soon. Stay tuned!

The winners of this year's Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) awards have been announced. Please note that some of the books are for mature readers. All the nominated books are on display in Orange City Library. And the winners are:

Picture Book of the Year Requiem for a Beast by Matt Ottley, Lothian

Older Readers Book of the Year The Ghost's Child by Sonya Hartnett, Viking

Early Childhood Book of the Year Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley by Aaron Blabey, Viking

Eve Pownall Award for Information Books Parsley Rabbit's Book about Books by Frances Watts, illustrated by David Legge, ABC Books

For more information and a list of honour books and nominations go to the Children's Book Council website www.cbca.org.au. Did you predict any of the winners?

The saying goes "seven days without reading makes one weak" so why not Fuel Your Mind with winners of the Children's Book Council of Australia Awards. Winners of the Book Awards will be announced on the eve of Book Week, held from 16 to 22 August. Come into Orange City Library to see a display of the winning books or join in with the special Book Week storytimes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 11am. Book Week is the longest running children's festival in Australia, celebrating its 63rd birthday this year. Picture books (please note some are for older readers) nominated this year are: The Peasant Prince by Anne Spudvilas and Li Cunxin; The Island by Armin Greder; You and Me: Our Place by Dee Huxley and Leonie Norrington; Ziba Came on a Boat by Robert Ingpen and Liz Lofthouse; Requiem for a Beast by Matt Ottley; and Dust by Colin Thompson and 13 other illustrators. The other categories are Older Readers, Younger Readers, Early Childhood and Eve Pownall Award. Visit the website cbca.org.au to view the Children's Book Council of Australia Shortlist for your next children's book to read and see if you can predict the winner.