The inspiration for the Bodja Chair is a piece of furniture in the National Gallery in Canberra known as the Jimmy Possum Chair.

The story is that Jimmy Possum worked out of a hollowed out tree in a remote Tasmanian forest, early in the 20th century.

Bodja Chairs are not elaborate and are constructed from found, scrounged, salvaged and recycled timber. To fit the theme, each piece of timber has a story to it, and this is incorporated into the history of the chair and its making.

Participation in the manufacture of the chair is more than learning how to construct a piece of furniture, although this is a key element in the process.

Participants gain an appreciation of assessing the suitability of the timber, acquire basic skills in tool use, and benefit from the satisfaction of constructing a useful artefact.

The final stage is the application of a suitable finish. This may result in a hand painted, very decorative, but solid piece of furniture.

This week, Bundaberg has been fortunate enought to host Michael Epworth.

Michael, who is from Brisbane, is a master in the art of Bodja Chair construction. He has had the opportunity to restore an original Jimmy Possum Chair, which inspired him to develop designs and techniques for the manufacture of Bodja Chairs.

Michael will instruct local indigenous youth students working in a new CDEP Furniture Making and Finishing course.

This project - which is sponsored by Friends of the Library - has inspired many stories and strengthened connections between organisations and individuals.

We all like listening to, and telling stories, as these are ways of understanding who we are and where we come from.

The Bodja Chair will be the source of many stories. As libraries contain hundreds of thousands of stories, this is an appropriate home for the story chair.