Grants help FNQ libraries start new chapters

SEVEN Far Northern libraries are sharing in more than $140,000 for literacy programs including story trails, translating nursery rhymes into traditional languages and pop-up libraries.

Arts Minister Leeanne Enoch said Public Library Grants funding were for early literary programs such as First 5 Forever, and other public library programs.

“These grants support councils to achieve local outcomes, reach communities and highlight the important role public libraries play in our communities. The councils are:

■ Aurukun Shire Council: $30,000 to work with students and Wik Elders to build a BioCultural Catalogue and digital database of the Koolkan Wetland area.

■ Cairns Regional Council: $30,000 for Cairns Libraries to continue the dynamic program Full STEAM Ahead where Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics come together with a bang.

■ Cook Shire Council: $12,960 to work with First Nations artists and translate four popular nursery rhymes into local Guugu Yimithirr and Kuku Yalanji languages.

■ Hope Vale Aboriginal Shire Council: $30,000 to improve and redevelop the entrance and foyer to the Hope Vale Indigenous Knowledge Centre.

■ Mareeba Shire Council: $10,092 to run the First 5 Forever – splash and sing at the Dimbulah Community Centre.

■ Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council: $10,000 for First 5 to You project.

■ Weipa Town Authority: $4350 for the convertible PlaySpace for First 5 Forever programming.

■ Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire Council: $15,000 for the Digital Campfire.

Picture: STEWART McLEAN MOTORISTS AT FAULT: Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Paul Taylor, QFES Inspector Stephen Tognolini, Queensland Ambulance Assistant Commissioner Michelle Baxter, Dr John O'Neill, and Queensland Transport and Main Roads Regional Director Adan Ainsworth are well aware of the Cape’s car crash woes.