Penrith City Library

Housed in the City Council Building known locally as the ‘Starship Enterprise’ (honestly, you should see it, it’s an apt description), the library is light and bright and on Saturday afternoon, full of people. Having spent far too long in university libraries in recent years, I haven’t been to a local one for a while. And there’s that pesky thing about having to give the books back.
A friend of mine was having her latest children’s book launched here and I toddled along to show my support. I was pleased to find a little theatrette made available for her, and to see her launch treated as a local cultural event. Not to mention hosting it for free, unlike a certain painfully cool innercity bookshop who wanted to charge her a tidy sum for the privilege.
Wandering around I learned the library has a big range of large print books, a dvd library and a toy library for the kids on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Check the website for exact times. There’s even a Local Studies room which I must go and check out. The library was full of people reading and studying, and seemed friendly and a lot less sterile than the kind of libraries I’m used to. Yay for libraries.