May 1, 2025 • 13 mins
Sam speaks with Vision Australia Library community engagement coordinator, Maureen O'Reilly, about a pair of events the library will be hosting both in person and online on the evening of Friday May 9 at the library's headquarters in Kooyong.
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S1 (00:04):
Coming up in May, the Vision Australia library has got
an action packed schedule of events for members to look
forward to, including two events taking place in conjunction with
the Melbourne Writers Festival, as well as National Simultaneous Storytime
later in the month. And to have a chat with
(00:27):
us about these events. It's my great pleasure to welcome
back Maureen O'Reilly, Community Engagement Coordinator from the Vision Australia Library. Maureen,
welcome back to Talking Vision. Thanks so much for your time.
S2 (00:42):
It is always lovely to be on Talking Vision. Sam,
one of my favourite shows. I have three favourite shows.
It's like three favourite children.
S1 (00:49):
Well I'm glad that I'm one of them. But today
we're here to chat about a few things, including Melbourne
Writers Festival. Now there's a couple of events coming up
for people to look forward to. So tell us a
bit about those.
S2 (01:05):
Oh Vision Australia Library are incredibly honoured to partner with
Melbourne Writers Festival. We have two authors that we're hosting
this year and they will actually be hybrid events so
people can view them online via the live stream, or
they can come in person to the Vision Australia offices
in Keong. So it's a wonderful way to have our
(01:29):
Vision Australia Library members actually involved in what is an
internationally acclaimed festival, and a festival that every other event
is actually in person in the city. So this is
a really accessible event for people because it's out in Keong,
or they can watch it online. So we're really very
(01:51):
proud to be able to offer that accessibility to our clients.
S1 (01:55):
And that's both events. Now, in terms of how people
can find out a bit more about each event, maybe
get a few more Details. What's the best way for
people to do?
S2 (02:10):
Well, the best thing they can do is to go
on the Vision Australia website, which is Vision Australia. And
if they scroll down to the What's On section, they
will see two event pages for an in conversation for
the Melbourne Writers Festival. So the first one is an
in conversation with Nadia Simpson. And Nadia is a yuwaalaraay
(02:35):
storyteller and performer. So she's actually a beautiful singer, but
she's also a wonderful writer. Her first novel, song of
the crocodile, was long listed for the 2021 Stellar Prize,
as well as the Miles Franklin Awards. So Nadia is
going to discuss her newly released novel, The Bellbird, which
(02:57):
is actually a fiction or work of fiction, which is
quite unusual for an indigenous writer. It's a beautiful story
of motherhood, creation, Belonging and connection to country. So we're
really looking forward to listening to native speak. I've heard
her speak online a number of times and she's so
(03:18):
amazingly engaging. So she will be in at our Vision
Australia offices on Friday the 9th of May from 8 p.m.
to 9 p.m., and she will be interviewed all about
her current book and what led her on this journey
into writing and singing and all these beautiful, creative things
(03:39):
she does. But for our clients, it would actually like
a bigger evening. We would love to welcome them to
arrive on the same night, Friday the ninth, but at
6 p.m. because from six till 7 p.m. we had
the lovely Kate Grenville that's going to join us. And
Kate is one of Australia's most celebrated writers. She's published
(04:01):
18 books, including the international bestseller The Secret River. So
Kate's going to discuss unsettled, which is her latest book.
It's a deeply personal memoir, reflecting on what it means
to be descended from people who are on the sharp
edge of the moving blade that was colonization. So it's
(04:22):
really looking at the colonization of Australia, but from the
viewpoint of a white family who had very large allocations
of land and their interactions with the indigenous community. And
now all these years later, how Kate is coming to
terms with the reality of her history and her family's
(04:45):
history as distinct from what necessarily was also shared with
her as a child. So there'll be two really, really
interesting authors, and both of the events will be live streamed.
So any of our clients around the country are more
than welcome to join us. And it's a really unique
(05:06):
experience because Normally the Melbourne Writers Festival is all in person,
it's all in the city and it's really difficult for
our vision impaired clients, particularly in regional areas and interstate,
to really be any part of it. So we would
love everyone to jump online. Daniel James, who's a Yorta
(05:27):
Yorta Melbourne based writer and broadcaster, is going to be
interviewing both Natty and Kate. So it'll be a really
fun evening. I'm looking forward to just sitting back and
relaxing and being able to listen to everyone.
S1 (05:42):
Yeah, no, that sounds like an amazing night for a
lot of people out there and very keen to hear
how it all goes.
S2 (05:51):
But I also have one little secret little gem.
S1 (05:53):
Oh, okay.
S2 (05:54):
Which is that Kate Grenville actually booked out in barely
over 24 hours, so.
S1 (05:59):
That's not.
S2 (06:00):
Surprising. In person tickets were gone, but I had actually
snaffled away on the side because I thought this might happen.
A critical mass of tickets that are just for our
Vision Australia Library members. So if anyone wants to come
in to Keong and listen to Kate be interviewed live
by Daniel, they need to register on the waitlist and
(06:22):
then they can either phone or email the Vision Australia
library and I will release them some of those specially
reserved tickets that are for our library members.
S1 (06:31):
Okay, well, we'll get some details for how people can
register at the end. But in the meantime, Maureen, I'm
really keen to have a bit of a chat about
another event that's coming up. Simultaneous storytime.
S2 (06:49):
Are national. Simultaneous storytime is one of my favourite children's
library events, so it is a beautiful event which is
run by the Australian Libraries Association, and it essentially involves
everyone nationally coming together to read the same book at
the same time, on the same day. So it's creating
(07:10):
this beautiful community of book lovers. And this year's book
is called The Truck Cat. And it's a beautiful, heartwarming
tale about a cat who travels around Australia with a
lonely truck driver, until one day he chases a butterfly
and then he gets lost. So the remainder of the
(07:31):
story is about the truck cat trying to find his
way back to his owner, the people he meets along
the way, the relationships that he makes and the people
that help him, and the fact that he needs to
reach out to other people in order to actually reunite
with his beautiful owner. And it's a wonderful story of belonging,
(07:52):
and it has some beautiful descriptions of Australia and the
journey that the truck driver uncheck both go on. So
we will have children gathering in libraries, schools, child care centres, bookshops,
family homes to read this beautiful book together making this
wonderful shared experience a celebration of a love of reading.
(08:15):
So what we are doing at Vision Australia Library is
inviting all of our clients, whether it's as part of
their childcare centre, kinder school, or with their friends, or
with their family or carers to actually be part of
this larger community, which is great because for our clients
(08:36):
who might not go to school yet, or our clients
who don't go to school full time and don't have
a big group to engage with on this day, they
can join us online and connect with a larger Vision
Australia community. And our gorgeous, gorgeous children's librarian Kylie has
put together for everyone a downloadable set of tactile book
(08:59):
instructions so that all of our Vision Australia Library members
and their friends and their schoolmates can actually create a
tactile version of the truck cat book the same as
the tactile books that we have in our Felix kits.
There's also a beautiful instructional video that's on the Vision
Australia website, talking through how people can create this tactile book,
(09:24):
what sort of resources they can use just from things
that they've got hanging around their house, particularly for those
parents with younger children who will still have those ubiquitous
art and craft boxes which seem to be filled with everything.
S1 (09:38):
Oh they do. Yeah.
S2 (09:40):
So if people go to the Vision Australia Library website,
which is Vision Australia Library, go down to Watson and
click on the National Simultaneous Storytime. They can watch that
video or they can download the book instructions. And then
they can make their own book so that they can
actually read along themselves with Kylie while she's doing her beautiful,
(10:06):
accessible reading. And our reading will be very special in
that Carly's going to be doing a wonderful descriptions, and
it's enhanced with all audio descriptions of the images and
the pictures on the page.
S1 (10:20):
And on that Vision Australia Library website, there's not only
the What's on section, but back to what we were
chatting about a little bit earlier. Maureen, the ability for
people to register, if perhaps they're not yet a Vision
Australia Library member. It's never too late. Always really happy
(10:43):
to have some new members join up, especially in the
lead up to the Melbourne Writers Festival. So what's the
best way for people to register? And perhaps an email
or phone number if they would like to find out more?
Or perhaps they're having a bit of trouble signing up,
or just need to ask a few questions.
S2 (11:05):
Beautiful. Well, if they go onto our website just before
they get to what's on, there's a lovely headline that
says join the library and they can just fill out
the online form there. And that's a very accessible form.
But if they do have a problem with that, then
they're more than welcome to actually phone the Vision Australia library.
(11:25):
And that's on 1300 654 656. And then one of our wonderful
library staff will help them with the process. Or alternatively,
they can actually email the library. And the email address
is library membership one word at Vision Australia. And any
(11:47):
of the library team can help them with that registration.
If they're already a Vision Australia client, then it's a
very simple process. We literally just tick a box. If
you're not a Vision Australia client, you can still be
a Vision Australia Library member. You just need to provide
verification that you're actually eligible. So you have a print disability.
(12:09):
And that doesn't necessarily mean that you need to be
blind or low vision. It just means that you actually
have a disability for reading a hard copy print version
of a book. So that may be that some people
may be an amputee, or they may have had a stroke,
or they may have Parkinson's, or they may be dyslexic.
(12:31):
There's many, many reasons why people may struggle with a
hard copy book, and they are all eligible to then
join the Vision Australia library.
S1 (12:40):
Okay, well, I've been speaking today with Maureen O'Reilly, community
engagement coordinator from the Vision Australia Library, here to chat
to me all about the upcoming events the library is
putting on as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival, as
(13:01):
well as national simultaneous storytime later on in the month. Maureen,
thank you so much for your time today. Great to
catch up with you as always.
S2 (13:12):
It is always wonderful to talk to you, Sam.
Coming up in May, the Vision Australia library has got
an action packed schedule of events for members to look
forward to, including two events taking place in conjunction with
the Melbourne Writers Festival, as well as National Simultaneous Storytime
later in the month. And to have a chat with
(00:27):
us about these events. It's my great pleasure to welcome
back Maureen O'Reilly, Community Engagement Coordinator from the Vision Australia Library. Maureen,
welcome back to Talking Vision. Thanks so much for your time.
S2 (00:42):
It is always lovely to be on Talking Vision. Sam,
one of my favourite shows. I have three favourite shows.
It's like three favourite children.
S1 (00:49):
Well I'm glad that I'm one of them. But today
we're here to chat about a few things, including Melbourne
Writers Festival. Now there's a couple of events coming up
for people to look forward to. So tell us a
bit about those.
S2 (01:05):
Oh Vision Australia Library are incredibly honoured to partner with
Melbourne Writers Festival. We have two authors that we're hosting
this year and they will actually be hybrid events so
people can view them online via the live stream, or
they can come in person to the Vision Australia offices
in Keong. So it's a wonderful way to have our
(01:29):
Vision Australia Library members actually involved in what is an
internationally acclaimed festival, and a festival that every other event
is actually in person in the city. So this is
a really accessible event for people because it's out in Keong,
or they can watch it online. So we're really very
(01:51):
proud to be able to offer that accessibility to our clients.
S1 (01:55):
And that's both events. Now, in terms of how people
can find out a bit more about each event, maybe
get a few more Details. What's the best way for
people to do?
S2 (02:10):
Well, the best thing they can do is to go
on the Vision Australia website, which is Vision Australia. And
if they scroll down to the What's On section, they
will see two event pages for an in conversation for
the Melbourne Writers Festival. So the first one is an
in conversation with Nadia Simpson. And Nadia is a yuwaalaraay
(02:35):
storyteller and performer. So she's actually a beautiful singer, but
she's also a wonderful writer. Her first novel, song of
the crocodile, was long listed for the 2021 Stellar Prize,
as well as the Miles Franklin Awards. So Nadia is
going to discuss her newly released novel, The Bellbird, which
(02:57):
is actually a fiction or work of fiction, which is
quite unusual for an indigenous writer. It's a beautiful story
of motherhood, creation, Belonging and connection to country. So we're
really looking forward to listening to native speak. I've heard
her speak online a number of times and she's so
(03:18):
amazingly engaging. So she will be in at our Vision
Australia offices on Friday the 9th of May from 8 p.m.
to 9 p.m., and she will be interviewed all about
her current book and what led her on this journey
into writing and singing and all these beautiful, creative things
(03:39):
she does. But for our clients, it would actually like
a bigger evening. We would love to welcome them to
arrive on the same night, Friday the ninth, but at
6 p.m. because from six till 7 p.m. we had
the lovely Kate Grenville that's going to join us. And
Kate is one of Australia's most celebrated writers. She's published
(04:01):
18 books, including the international bestseller The Secret River. So
Kate's going to discuss unsettled, which is her latest book.
It's a deeply personal memoir, reflecting on what it means
to be descended from people who are on the sharp
edge of the moving blade that was colonization. So it's
(04:22):
really looking at the colonization of Australia, but from the
viewpoint of a white family who had very large allocations
of land and their interactions with the indigenous community. And
now all these years later, how Kate is coming to
terms with the reality of her history and her family's
(04:45):
history as distinct from what necessarily was also shared with
her as a child. So there'll be two really, really
interesting authors, and both of the events will be live streamed.
So any of our clients around the country are more
than welcome to join us. And it's a really unique
(05:06):
experience because Normally the Melbourne Writers Festival is all in person,
it's all in the city and it's really difficult for
our vision impaired clients, particularly in regional areas and interstate,
to really be any part of it. So we would
love everyone to jump online. Daniel James, who's a Yorta
(05:27):
Yorta Melbourne based writer and broadcaster, is going to be
interviewing both Natty and Kate. So it'll be a really
fun evening. I'm looking forward to just sitting back and
relaxing and being able to listen to everyone.
S1 (05:42):
Yeah, no, that sounds like an amazing night for a
lot of people out there and very keen to hear
how it all goes.
S2 (05:51):
But I also have one little secret little gem.
S1 (05:53):
Oh, okay.
S2 (05:54):
Which is that Kate Grenville actually booked out in barely
over 24 hours, so.
S1 (05:59):
That's not.
S2 (06:00):
Surprising. In person tickets were gone, but I had actually
snaffled away on the side because I thought this might happen.
A critical mass of tickets that are just for our
Vision Australia Library members. So if anyone wants to come
in to Keong and listen to Kate be interviewed live
by Daniel, they need to register on the waitlist and
(06:22):
then they can either phone or email the Vision Australia
library and I will release them some of those specially
reserved tickets that are for our library members.
S1 (06:31):
Okay, well, we'll get some details for how people can
register at the end. But in the meantime, Maureen, I'm
really keen to have a bit of a chat about
another event that's coming up. Simultaneous storytime.
S2 (06:49):
Are national. Simultaneous storytime is one of my favourite children's
library events, so it is a beautiful event which is
run by the Australian Libraries Association, and it essentially involves
everyone nationally coming together to read the same book at
the same time, on the same day. So it's creating
(07:10):
this beautiful community of book lovers. And this year's book
is called The Truck Cat. And it's a beautiful, heartwarming
tale about a cat who travels around Australia with a
lonely truck driver, until one day he chases a butterfly
and then he gets lost. So the remainder of the
(07:31):
story is about the truck cat trying to find his
way back to his owner, the people he meets along
the way, the relationships that he makes and the people
that help him, and the fact that he needs to
reach out to other people in order to actually reunite
with his beautiful owner. And it's a wonderful story of belonging,
(07:52):
and it has some beautiful descriptions of Australia and the
journey that the truck driver uncheck both go on. So
we will have children gathering in libraries, schools, child care centres, bookshops,
family homes to read this beautiful book together making this
wonderful shared experience a celebration of a love of reading.
(08:15):
So what we are doing at Vision Australia Library is
inviting all of our clients, whether it's as part of
their childcare centre, kinder school, or with their friends, or
with their family or carers to actually be part of
this larger community, which is great because for our clients
(08:36):
who might not go to school yet, or our clients
who don't go to school full time and don't have
a big group to engage with on this day, they
can join us online and connect with a larger Vision
Australia community. And our gorgeous, gorgeous children's librarian Kylie has
put together for everyone a downloadable set of tactile book
(08:59):
instructions so that all of our Vision Australia Library members
and their friends and their schoolmates can actually create a
tactile version of the truck cat book the same as
the tactile books that we have in our Felix kits.
There's also a beautiful instructional video that's on the Vision
Australia website, talking through how people can create this tactile book,
(09:24):
what sort of resources they can use just from things
that they've got hanging around their house, particularly for those
parents with younger children who will still have those ubiquitous
art and craft boxes which seem to be filled with everything.
S1 (09:38):
Oh they do. Yeah.
S2 (09:40):
So if people go to the Vision Australia Library website,
which is Vision Australia Library, go down to Watson and
click on the National Simultaneous Storytime. They can watch that
video or they can download the book instructions. And then
they can make their own book so that they can
actually read along themselves with Kylie while she's doing her beautiful,
(10:06):
accessible reading. And our reading will be very special in
that Carly's going to be doing a wonderful descriptions, and
it's enhanced with all audio descriptions of the images and
the pictures on the page.
S1 (10:20):
And on that Vision Australia Library website, there's not only
the What's on section, but back to what we were
chatting about a little bit earlier. Maureen, the ability for
people to register, if perhaps they're not yet a Vision
Australia Library member. It's never too late. Always really happy
(10:43):
to have some new members join up, especially in the
lead up to the Melbourne Writers Festival. So what's the
best way for people to register? And perhaps an email
or phone number if they would like to find out more?
Or perhaps they're having a bit of trouble signing up,
or just need to ask a few questions.
S2 (11:05):
Beautiful. Well, if they go onto our website just before
they get to what's on, there's a lovely headline that
says join the library and they can just fill out
the online form there. And that's a very accessible form.
But if they do have a problem with that, then
they're more than welcome to actually phone the Vision Australia library.
(11:25):
And that's on 1300 654 656. And then one of our wonderful
library staff will help them with the process. Or alternatively,
they can actually email the library. And the email address
is library membership one word at Vision Australia. And any
(11:47):
of the library team can help them with that registration.
If they're already a Vision Australia client, then it's a
very simple process. We literally just tick a box. If
you're not a Vision Australia client, you can still be
a Vision Australia Library member. You just need to provide
verification that you're actually eligible. So you have a print disability.
(12:09):
And that doesn't necessarily mean that you need to be
blind or low vision. It just means that you actually
have a disability for reading a hard copy print version
of a book. So that may be that some people
may be an amputee, or they may have had a stroke,
or they may have Parkinson's, or they may be dyslexic.
(12:31):
There's many, many reasons why people may struggle with a
hard copy book, and they are all eligible to then
join the Vision Australia library.
S1 (12:40):
Okay, well, I've been speaking today with Maureen O'Reilly, community
engagement coordinator from the Vision Australia Library, here to chat
to me all about the upcoming events the library is
putting on as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival, as
(13:01):
well as national simultaneous storytime later on in the month. Maureen,
thank you so much for your time today. Great to
catch up with you as always.
S2 (13:12):
It is always wonderful to talk to you, Sam.
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