Blue Mountains News

During the summer school holidays (December 2024 – January 2025) all six Library branches hosted a collaborative community art project, 'Expressive Monkey's Collaborative Castles in the style of Mary Blair'.

The creative castles project, which wrapped up on 4 February, continued Blue Mountains Library’s fun and colourful collaborative projects that run every school holidays for everyone in the community.  Branches from Blaxland to Blackheath were filled with sensational and unique fortifications created by the Mountains community, one even with a moat attached.

Mary Blair was an artist famous for her colour work on the animated films of Walt Disney. Much of the most iconic imagery appearing in Disney's early animated films was designed by Mary. She was best known for designing the castle in Disney’s ‘It’s a Small World’.

Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill said: “Libraries are vital public spaces that provide knowledge and entertainment to everyone. But they are also hubs of creativity and innovation that bring families and communities together.

“Libraries stand apart as one of the last public spaces we can visit without the need to spend money. Not only is that extremely rare, but it’s also essential to many.

“Public libraries have long stood as guardians of equity and imagination, bringing books, knowledge and entertainment to everyone who walks through the door, or indeed logs in online.

“Blue Mountains Libraries are so much more than that and the work our Library team does to bring knowledge and entertainment out of the page and into ‘3D’ is phenomenal,” Cr Greenhill concluded.

Blue Mountains City Council has six public library branches, located in Blaxland, Springwood, Lawson, Wentworth Falls, Katoomba and Blackheath. Residents can borrow books, DVDs and music, surf the internet, study, meet friends and new people, enjoy pre-school reading and rhyme programs with their kids, or even enjoy a game of chess or hear a local history talk. There is also a Home Library Service for isolated residents.

Our branches also provide places to relax with family, assistance for the elderly and isolated, and provide enjoyment and learning for children.

Visit the Library every school holiday to join in with our constantly changing, creative community art projects, suitable for all ages. Blue Mountains Library will be partnering with the Blue Mountains Theatre and Community Hub to present a new bird crafting event during the April school holidays.