Ainslee Austin is the library and information services team leader at Parkes Library.
Although Ainslee Austin loves reading rural and outback stories by Australian authors, she has never lived in a small town until she decided to make a tree change to Parkes.
She started as the new library and information services team leader at Parkes Library on Monday.
“I wanted a new adventure and something different, and look forward to exploring the area and meeting the community,” said Ainslee, who was born in Cairns and grew up on the Central Coast.
Moving from Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Library, where she was the resources librarian for the past four years, Ainslee is very excited about the new library expansion. “It is a new opportunity to learn different aspects of library services, and different ways to engage the community in our services and programs.”
In her previous position she was responsible for purchasing books and resources and collection management, among other things.
When you work surrounded by books all day, you definitely need to love reading too. Ainslee enjoys putting on a non-fiction audio book when she is driving, but when she’s at home her preference are books by Australian authors like Matthew Riley and Carly Lane. “I enjoy rural, outback stories.”
She is also keen to explore all the walking tracks in the region, and is looking forward to attending the ABBA and Elvis festivals, and exploring the region’s markets and museums.
Should the adventure of small town living prove challenging at times, her favourite craft activity of making dream catchers should keep her journey a pleasant one.