The old Night Patrol Office building in Lajamanu has been refurbished and transformed into a new library space for Central Desert Regional Council (CDRC) with funding from Libraries NT.

 The renovation is complete, and the Library is due to open early next year. But before that can happen, the library needs books and staff. Maree Axford, Operations Coordinator for Children’s Services, has coordinated the relocation of the library materials from the Batchelor Learning Centre to the new space.

 “It has been a while coming, but it is good to finally achieve this outcome,” she said.

 There are also new books coming from NT Libraries and a management team of three from CDRC are heading up to Darwin mid-December to a library orientation.

 Manager of Children’s Services, Kate Proctor, said “We’re really looking forward to the library opening next year and recruiting will begin in January. We will be looking for a local person to become a Library Officer.”

The library will be used by local residents for reading, Wi-Fi and studying.

Nyirripi held a football carnival on 1-3 November with Willowra and Yuendumu sending both men’s and women’s teams to participate, while Nyirripi fielded two men’s and a women’s team.

Central Desert Regional Council (CDRC) works crew with help from Community Development Program (CDP), cleaned and leveled the oval in the days leading up to the start to ensure player safety.

Northern Territory Police were present, supported by Community Safety Patrol teams from Southern Tanami Kurdiji.  Due to the family atmosphere they were only spectators throughout the sports weekend.

In the men’s competition Nyirripi, after narrowly defeating Willowra, faced Yuendumu in the grand final. Despite the scores, it proved an entertaining game with Yuendumu proving too strong.

The Nyirripi women’s team were spectators in the women’s grand final with Willowra coming out on top against a determined but young Yuendumu side.

Many individual trophies were handed out at the presentations along with the winner’s prize. “It was great to see the trophies shared between the visiting communities as well as the home team,” said Ray Hocking, relieving Community Services Manager in Nyirripi.