Eureka Street

Keywords: Libraries

INTERNATIONAL

Friendship in freefall: Unpacking a crisis of civic disconnection
- David Halliday
- 13 December 2024
In 2024, a fifth of Americans reported having no close friends, and the number is growing, especially among those without college degrees. So what are the societal structures behind this crisis in loneliness, and how we can rebuild meaningful connections?
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ARTS AND CULTURE

When poetry became war reporting
- Warwick McFadyen
- 16 October 2024
If only those who send their nation’s youth to war would read Muse of Fire, World War I as seen Through the Lives of the Soldier Poets. It is both homage and horror story. It carries the reader across several fronts – the disparate journeys that led these men to the killing fields of Europe, the blood-soaked chrysalis from which the words of the war poets arose.
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RELIGION

I am pilgrim
- Ann Rennie
- 13 September 2024
2 Comments
People visit graves and castles, libraries and mansions, battlefields and places of historical significance to feel a little of the lives of others, to pay homage, to make that human connection. We make secular pilgrimages to places that we have dreamt about or read in books or seen on screen. Wherever we go, these are ultimately visits to places within.
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INTERNATIONAL

Digital discrimination
- Gillian Bouras
- 04 July 2024
9 Comments
Digital dominance and the disappearance of print newspapers leaves older generations grappling with endless new tech. I still seek the tactile experience of newsprint — a challenge as publications move online. In an increasingly automated world, I’m not alone in reminiscing about the days when personal interactions were the norm.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Taller when prone: The contradictions of Les Murray
- Paul Mitchell
- 10 May 2024
2 Comments
Les Murray once confessed it was his mission to 'irritate the hell out of the eloquent who would oppress my people,' by being a paradox that their categories can’t assimilate: the Subhuman Redneck who writes poems. And therein lies the ‘poem’ of Les Murray: complex, contradictory, sublime, and sometimes ready to whip his enemies with a scorpion’s tail.
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AUSTRALIA

The geography of loneliness
- John Chesterman and Ilan Wiesel
- 01 March 2024
1 Comment
The key to combatting increasing levels of loneliness and social isolation will likely start in the way we think about cities, public spaces and social care to enable meaningful connections between people, and help to guard against harms caused by habitual loneliness. But we'll need to get creative.
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AUSTRALIA

Referendums and reading lists reveal similar societal anxieties
- Andrew Hamilton
- 04 October 2023
4 Comments
An examination of school reading lists and libraries unveils striking parallels with the debates and concerns surrounding the Referendum, highlighting the pervasive societal anxieties and the intricate interplay of national identity and values, and the ongoing need for empathy.
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RELIGION

Must suppression bring on depression?
- Andrew Hamilton
- 17 August 2023
4 Comments
Despite taking place 250 years ago, the Jesuit Suppression remains a deeply felt experience. Today, as exiles shape headlines, this chapter in Jesuit history poses a resonant question: How does a faith community endure and evolve when its very existence is challenged by the authority it holds sacred?
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Undeterred by Kondo, let your library overflow
- Philip Harvey
- 20 July 2023
6 Comments
It's all very well to remove excess furniture, but furniture is not books. How many chairs does one need? Chairs are not books. To reduce a library as a household expedience is to objectify the books. Their contents are emptied of value, their history relegated to out-of-date. They have no more meaning than books in an Ikea display room. (From 2019)
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ARTS AND CULTURE

In praise of libraries
- Andrew Hamilton
- 01 May 2023
2 Comments
As the world moves towards digitalisation, the importance of physical libraries is increasingly being questioned. But as local libraries struggle with underfunding and centralisation, the question remains: where else have we found their equivalent today?
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AUSTRALIA

Grappling with AI
- Michael McVeigh
- 15 February 2023
1 Comment
As the AI revolution begins, the question publishers must consider is how to integrate AI as a tool that enhances human skills and wisdom without replacing them. Ultimately, the goal should be to make our contribution to society more human, not less.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Critical issues
- Kate Moriarty
- 07 February 2023
2 Comments
Do you get imposter thoughts? Do you have an inner critic who has nasty things to say whenever you set out to create? You're not alone. If you are looking for a fun activity that will bring you into constant confrontation with your inner critic, write a novel. I did, and here’s what I learnt along the way.
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Keywords: Libraries