{"id":70609,"date":"2020-08-20T04:53:42","date_gmt":"2020-08-19T18:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/?p=70609"},"modified":"2020-08-18T16:45:33","modified_gmt":"2020-08-18T06:45:33","slug":"burke-closes-the-book-on-an-educational-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/news\/burke-closes-the-book-on-an-educational-era\/","title":{"rendered":"Burke closes the book on an educational era"},"content":{"rendered":"

BALLARAT Books\u2019 owner-operator, John Burke will soon retire, having launched the educational resource business forty-six years ago.<\/p>\n

First working in a Newcastle bookshop at 15, Mr Burke soon became an educational resource expert.<\/p>\n

Exploring Ballarat during a 1973 business visit, he \u201cfell in love with it,\u201d and stayed. With Ron Southall, he launched Ballarat Books in 1974, to promote literacy, help and engage the community.<\/p>\n

Its core business has been coordinating booklists \u2013 now serving 60 schools, originally supporting only Ballarat High \u2013 and providing educational resources for primary, secondary and tertiary students, teachers, parents and home schoolers.<\/p>\n

Mr Burke\u2019s \u201cwonderful\u201d colleagues are his highlight.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been fun. I\u2019ve worked with some of the most incredible, dedicated and caring bunch of people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about their knowledge, but the heart in them. It\u2019s about engaging and listening.\u201d<\/p>\n

The book trade is a \u201cfountain of knowledge.\u201d It\u2019s like \u201cgetting paid for doing a university course,\u201d while watching lives launch.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the knowledge comes through. It\u2019s enthralling to see it, to listen to people talking about why they\u2019re reading, and see families bring their children through…every step of the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes those children come back and work for us as teenagers, they go to uni and then we act as referees,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe doctors, lawyers, electricians, real estate agents that have gone through is phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ballarat Books was sold to Campion Education Australia last August. The Armstrong Street shopfront closed on Friday.<\/p>\n

The business is operational as Campion Education Ballarat<\/a> on Yarrowee Street. Mr Burke\u2019s team will continue, led by Dianne Woodhouse, a staffer of 33 years. While they transition, Mr Burke will do some consulting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m leaving Ballarat Books behind, but I feel rewarded to have secured opportunities for my staff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDianne is one of the best educational booksellers in this country. Our schools know her, our community knows us, and we have a responsibility to give the best service we can.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BALLARAT Books\u2019 owner-operator, John Burke will soon retire, having launched the educational resource business forty-six years ago. First working in a Newcastle bookshop at 15, Mr Burke soon became an educational resource expert. Exploring Ballarat during a 1973 business visit, he \u201cfell in love with it,\u201d and stayed. With Ron Southall, he launched Ballarat Books […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":70610,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-70609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBurke closes the book on an educational era - Golden Plains Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/news\/burke-closes-the-book-on-an-educational-era\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Burke closes the book on an educational era - Golden Plains Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BALLARAT Books\u2019 owner-operator, John Burke will soon retire, having launched the educational resource business forty-six years ago. 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