ADVENTURES IN SPACE… Some of the children who attended a very special National Simultaneous Storytime at Parkes Library on Wednesday.
“Una dreams of a life in Space. Life on Earth is just so so-so. But how will she get there? And will she complete her mission to discover life in Space? And did she remember to feed Neil the goldfish?”
Wednesday’s celebration of National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) held special significance for children in Parkes as this year’s book called “Give me some space’ by Philip Bunting was broadcast ‘live’ from The Dish with Cr Bill Jayet as the reader.
While the national program included an intergalactic experience with the NSS book being read by the astronaut Dr Shannon Walker from the International Space Station, the Parkes Library gave its celebration a very special local flavour incorporating the Parkes Radio Telescope into its program.
The children attending the event were invited to dress up in a space theme, and they sat down in the Conventry Room to see the broadcast of Cr Bill reading the book in front of The Dish.
National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country.
The annual event forms part of Library and Information Week, and the Parkes Library continued the space theme with John Sarkissian, Operations Scientist at the CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope, giving two talks yesterday, and the famous Parkes movie ‘The Dish’ being shown today at 6pm.