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New Year, New You, New Library!

YPRL Staff

2 February, 2024

It feels like just yesterday we were celebrating the start of the new year, but the reality is we’re already at the start of February!

If you’re feeling the pressure from your 2024 resolutions, now is the time to change your perspective on the world and come into the new year with a fresh and open mind. What better way to start with a brand-new library and some feel good fiction books to inspire you and get your year on the positive side.

Mernda Library

Mernda Library is our newest branch located in Mernda Town Centre amid a retail precinct offering a variety of stores and products. There are plenty of free parking spaces available, and the Centre is close to public transport.

The library is open six days a week and offers an exciting collection of resources, as well as free Wi-Fi, public PCs, printing services, study areas, and much more.

Come check out our newest branch for all your library needs!

What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama

Also available as eAudio.

“What am I looking for? What am I looking for?

A new way to live from now on, perhaps?” 

Not to be biased (libraries do have all the answers though!), but one of my favourite newly published inspirational reads has to be this one.

It focuses on five different people, aged from 21 to 65 in a range of different careers, who are all feeling a bit stuck and unsatisfied with their lives. Upon discovering the library at their local community house, they seek assistance from the knowledgeable yet strange librarian who offers them more than what they were originally looking for. With their new recommendations in tow, each individual’s eyes are opened to what was right in front of them and they set out, taking matters into their own hands and granting themselves the future they want.

I felt so motivated and hopeful for the future after reading this book as it inspires you to look at life differently and be more open to putting yourself out there.

A Psalm For The Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Also available as eBook.

If you’re looking for a really cosy read, then this one’s for you.

It follows Sibling Dex, a tea monk on the moon Panga, who travels the lands making customised tea blends for their clients to help soothe their troubles. Feeling stuck in their repetitive life, Sibling Dex ventures out into the wild to escape their routine and find answers to who they want to be. They stumble across a robot, Mosscap, who is seeking answers to the complicated question, ‘What do people need?’. Together, Sibling Dex and Mosscap go on a journey to finding life’s purpose and what it means to exist.

Check out the sequel, A Prayer for the Crown Shy, also available as eBook and eAudio, for an equally cosy read that ties the whole story together for a sweet conclusion.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Also available as eBook, eAudio and Large Print.

*I highly recommend checking out the content warnings before reading this book*

What would you do if you could see how different your life could be if you had made different choices? Would you find the life for you, or would you be stuck in an endless search for that one perfect dream?

Nora Seed finds living a bit of a chore. She constantly lives in wonder of ‘what if’ about her life choices and regrets not having made certain decisions. After difficult circumstances, Nora finds herself in the Midnight Library. Guided by a familiar face, she now gets the chance to browse through different versions of her life as if they were books on a shelf and experience that life firsthand. As she travels through the Midnight Library, Nora must decide on what fulfills her and what it means to make life worth living.

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