"I like the smell of books. It's addictive - I wish you could bottle up and put it in a perfume spray, because it would be the best perfume smell."  

Michelle Elliot replaced cigarettes with books five years ago and hasn't looked back. 

"I was a heavy smoker and I had no willpower to give up. One day I took the tablets (to stop smoking), and after that I started going to the library. I couldn't stop reading." 

In the final episode of Season 1 of Meet Me at the Library, we're celebrating books with a book addict, and an all-star librarian.

Credits:

Host/Producer: Anne-Marie Middlemast

Supervising Producer: Jane Curtis

Mix Engineer: Hamish Robertson, Tall Tale Audio

Music: Eliza Hull / Blue Dot Sessions / Chad Crouch

Artwork: Justine Henry

Supported by: MAIN 94.9FM and Goldfields Library Corporation

Produced with the assistance of the Community Broadcasting Foundation.

Find out more at www.cbf.org.au

What do you do if you can’t get to your local library? 

Call for help from the Home Library Service! 

Marvellous Meredith is a volunteer with the Home Library Service at her local library, selecting and delivering books and other library items to people in her community who are unable to visit the library.  

“We're supposed to stay for ten minutes or a quarter of an hour. Well, I generally stay for at least half an hour with each of my ladies, because I enjoy their company.” 

Find out why the service matters so much, from those that rely on it. 

Credits:

Host/Producer: Anne-Marie Middlemast

Supervising Producer: Jane Curtis

Mix Engineer: Hamish Robertson, Tall Tale Audio

Music: Eliza Hull / Blue Dot Sessions / Chad Crouch

Artwork: Justine Henry

Supported by: MAIN 94.9FM and Goldfields Library Corporation

Produced with the assistance of the Community Broadcasting Foundation.

Find out more at www.cbf.org.au

“Libraries are such amazing spaces. They are democratic in themselves, and forums for people to come together. It’s a place where you can share your culture.”

Supervising Producer: Jane Curtis

Mix Engineer: Hamish Robertson, Tall Tale Audio

Music: Eliza Hull / Blue Dot Sessions / Chad Crouch

Artwork: Justine Henry

Supported by: MAIN 94.9FM and Goldfields Library Corporation

Produced with the assistance of the Community Broadcasting Foundation.

Find out more at www.cbf.org.au

What would you LOVE to do for work, if only you could? 

“I've always been interested in bush tucker and indigenous foods … when I retired, I had time to have a go growing some myself.” 

Aunty Julie McHale is an adopted Indigenous elder living on Dja Dja Wurrung country, who has grown more than 90 different types of native Indigenous plants on her property. 

Host/Producer: Anne-Marie Middlemast

Supervising Producer: Jane Curtis

Mix Engineer: Hamish Robertson, Tall Tale Audio

Music: Eliza Hull / Blue Dot Sessions / Chad Crouch

Artwork: Justine Henry

Supported by: MAIN 94.9FM and Goldfields Library Corporation

Produced with the assistance of the Community Broadcasting Foundation. 

Find out more at www.cbf.org.au  

“It’s quaint, that’s probably the best word to describe it.” 

The small town of Dingee (population: 206) in Central Victoria has all the essentials, and not much more. There’s a pub, church, bush nurse, general store, and a public library.  

Historically known as a dairy farming community, severe drought and flood have meant many of the farms have packed up and moved on.  

“That’s where the library’s great. People will come in here just to get away from all their angst and worry about it.” 

Discover why the public library in Dingee, which is located in an historic railway station, is giving meaning to the lives of residents in the town.  

Credits:

“Everything starts with seeds.”  

When tragedy struck, Kylie Swain headed to her garden, to plant and transform her pain into something beautiful.  

“Just being out in the garden and seeing something grow was really healing and therapeutic.”  

Now, through her local library, she’s helping her community connect to the power of growing, healing herself, and those around her in the process.

Credits:

Host/Producer: Anne-Marie Middlemast

Supervising Producer: Jane Curtis

Mix Engineer: Hamish Robertson, Tall Tale Audio

Music: Eliza Hull / Blue Dot Sessions / Chad Crouch

Artwork: Justine Henry

Supported by: MAIN 94.9FM and Goldfields Library Corporation

Produced with the assistance of the Community Broadcasting Foundation.

Find out more at www.cbf.org.au 

“It’s really good to see people come to a new country, and make a big success of being here.”

Steve Campbell’s own bamboozling experience of Australia’s immigration system led him to his local public library, where he now uses the free wi-fi to help reunite migrant and refugee families.

He spends up to 100 hours per application, completing complicated paperwork, and has reunited families from countries including Iran, Myanmar and Afghanistan.

“I’ve always believed we’re not here just for ourselves – we’re here for a reason. If you can find some sort of meaning in life by assisting other people when you can, then I don’t see any harm in doing that.”

Credits:

Host/Producer: Anne-Marie Middlemast

Supervising Producer: Jane Curtis

Mix Engineer: Hamish Robertson, Tall Tale Audio

Music: Eliza Hull / Blue Dot Sessions / Chad Crouch

Artwork: Justine Henry

Supported by: MAIN 94.9FM and Goldfields Library Corporation

Produced with the assistance of the Community Broadcasting Foundation. Find out more at www.cbf.org.au  

Each episode of Meet Me at the Library takes you inside a public library in Central Victoria to discover how these remarkable spaces bring us together.

Credits:

Host/Producer: Anne-Marie Middlemast

Supported by: MAIN 94.9FM and Goldfields Library Corporation 

Produced with the assistance of the Community Broadcasting Foundation.

Find out more at www.cbf.org.au