Port Hedland librarian sends books to Lismore children

A Port Hedland local has helped to organise the delivery of a box of children’s books for flood-impacted families in her NSW hometown. Town of Port Hedland libraries supervisor Cate Taylor has fond memories of the library in her hometown of Lismore and went on to work for 17 years at Richmond-Tweed Regional Libraries, which covers the Lismore library services. After seeing photos of the damaged books unable to be salvaged, Ms Taylor got in contact with Lismore area librarian Lucy Kingsley to find out whether the Lismore Library was taking up any offers of support. She arranged on behalf of the ToPH, with support from Larrikin House, the delivery of a box of children’s books for local families to borrow. Ms Taylor said that seeing water-damaged books piled up outside the library was heartbreaking. “I know how hard the staff would have worked to move items from the lower floors to try and save the collection but the flood waters were just too high,” she said. “The local book suppliers were also affected by the floods so the library has had limited resources available. “Books can be such a great escape and comfort for people — we hope that these books will help rebuild the library’s collection and support the community during this time.”