“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.”
– Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Wellness Library
Who will benefit from this library?
This library is open to all members of the community who seek resources and support to thrive, both individually and collectively. It is the intention that this library will support our community to rebuild this new world in which we find ourselves after the bushfires and COVID. To rebuild, not only in the physical sense but mentally, emotionally and spiritually. This will mean that our community can become more connected and healthy and therefore more resilient.
How do I borrow from the library?
To date 948 books have been entered into an online catalogue and will be available for borrowing from May 1st 2021.
To notify of your intention for become a member please email cobargowellnesslibrary@gmail.com
Subject : Member Inquiry
Member information will be entered into the program and a user name and password will be granted for access to the site.
Members can view the collection in person and reserve or borrow books from their home computer or device and pick up the books from the library on designated days.This program keeps a record of all reservations and loans and automatically sends out emails when books are due for return. A manual system will be created for those members of the community who do not have ready access to computers.
Donations
The library is still gratefully accepting donations
For donations, please email mel@thebarncobargo.com.au
Subject : Library Donations
Any copies of books already received, will be gifted to either our local community op-shop, The Bowerbird, or the local second hand book store, Well Thumbed Books, so that it may find a home with the person who needs to keep it.
The Back Story
In the early hours of the 31st of December 2019, my partner Dan and I defended our home in Yowrie from the Badja bushfire. We saved our home and sheds but we lost many things. One such thing was a shipping container which held hundreds of books that I had been purchasing at op-shops over the previous ten years.
The collection was up to 500, mostly second hand books, and my intention had been to set up a community library of wellness books. That morning whilst we defended our home our shipping container that held the books went up in flames.
Saddened by the loss of all of this amazing content, I immediately took to the computer and sent out emails requesting book donations from various health and wellness practitioners that I know. Books were sent from all over the country. Around 500 books and 70 ebooks were donated. This number, and including my own personal remaining books, brings the total to around 600 books.
In September of 2020, the library gratefully received a grant from the Cobargo Community Bushfire Recovery Fund (CCBRF)
The grant funded :
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5 book shelves made by Don Firth
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2 years subscription to the online lending website, thus allowing community membership to the library to be free for two years
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a drop box, A frame and library stamp
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and additional new and second hand books to expand the collection.
In March of 2021 the library finally found a home in Cobargo. The library is housed at The Barn in Cobargo, down the laneway in between the pharmacy and Long Lost Heart. The launch of the library was in conjunction with the launch of Awakening, a book written by Bermagui author, Gini Eagle and the launch of treatments@the barn cobargo
