May 2008

In this aliaPUBNEWS broadcast:

National
Re-imagining Library Services (NSLA)

News from ALIA
Cyber-Safety Working Group; Summer Reading Club 2008 -2009; Library and Information Week 2008; ALIA Election Results 2008; Safe Internet for Children in Libraries; Books Alive; National Simultaneous Storytime 2008

Conferences
Library stars: best of the best

Believe it or Not!
Fading Print

Web Resources
Promoting Local Harmony; Online Tele-Prompter

International
Books on Prescription; Welsh Public Libraries Receive a Boost!; Sichuan Earthquake - Library News

States and territories
Helping with Homework (NSW)

Professional Development
Young people & libraries: Self paced learning kit; Disaster Planning - Be Prepared!

Celebrating Libraries and Librarians
Library Song Competition; Literature opens the door

National

Re-imagining Library Services (NSLA)
NSLA (National and State Libraries Australasia) have released an exposure discussion paper draft of their Re-imagining Library Services Strategic Plan. Strategic re-thinking arose out of the 2007 policy statement ‘The Big Bang – Creating the New Library Universe (see:http://tinyurl.com/5n2bep) The plan is a result of workshops and research undertaken to identify where NSLA can collaborate effectively to achieve a common vision of services in the digital age. It outlines how NSLA will ‘re-imagine’ services over the next five years.
http://tinyurl.com/437hz7

News from ALIA

Cyber-Safety Working Group
As part of ALIA’s commitment to internet safety, and as a recognition of the value of libraries in spreading the message, ALIA is very pleased to have been invited to be a member of the Cyber-Safety Consultative Working Group set up by the Department of Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy.
http://tinyurl.com/3ogmsr

Summer Reading Club 2008 -2009
The dates of this year's Summer Reading Club are 1 December 2008 to early February 2009. The theme focuses on sports and the slogan is: Get in the game, READ! The Summer Reading Club includes promotional posters, reading records, puzzles, activities, reading incentives, a website and a library manual - everything a library needs to run the program. Orders will open in June. For more information please visit:
http://www.alia.org.au/src/

Library and Information Week 2008
We hope you had a fantastic LIW and now we want your feedback! Please fill in the form at: http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy/liw/ Don’t forget that ALIA would love to have your photos and stories for inCite and the LIW website. Deadline is 2 June. Email your contributions to incite@alia.org.au .

ALIA Election Results 2008
Congratulations to Jan Richards for her election as ALIA Vice-president (President-elect). Congratulations also to Helen Partridge and Michelle Brennand who were voted in as directors by the membership at large and to Philip Keane who was voted in as director by institutional members. Details of the election results are in the May issue of inCite.
http://www.alia.org.au/governance/elections/2008/

Safe Internet for Children in Libraries
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has released an information pack designed to assist library staff in promoting safe and positive internet experiences in public libraries, particularly for children. The pack will be delivered to every public library in Australia in the next few weeks but in the meantime, the key resources are available online at www.acma.gov.au/libraries and include - * The Cybersmart Guide for Library Staff * The Cybersmart Guide for Families * A cyber rules poster for young internet users Four online information videos will be available in the second week of June 2008. Produced in collaboration with the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and public library representatives, the information pack was officially launched during Library and Information Week 2008.
www.acma.gov.au/libraries

Books Alive
Books Alive is Australia’s largest annual promotion of reading. It is an Australian Government initiative, developed through the Australia Council for the Arts. The month-long campaign will run from 27 July 2008, and include a giveaway book, promotions, advertising, author tours and reading events across the country. ALIA is looking for 40-50 libraries to volunteer to collect statistics. ALIA will be collecting statistics from libraries on behalf of Books Alive. The collection period for statistics is: Sunday 15 June (6 weeks prior to the campaign) until Sunday 31 August. The campaign launch is on Sunday 27 July. Please contact Jane Hardy at jane.hardy@alia.org.au if your library is able to volunteer to collect statistics. There are still a few days in which to register for Books Alive and to receive a promotional pack. Please email Cheryl Akle at cherylakle@bigpond.com to get an order form. Deadline is Friday 30 May.

National Simultaneous Storytime 2008
Tell us what you think! Please fill in the form at: http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy/storytime/2008/feedback.form.html

Conferences

Library stars: best of the best
Library stars: best of the best 9.15am – 4.00pm 2 September 2008, Alice Springs Convention Centre This one-day forum will showcase libraries, projects and successes and will recognise outstanding achievements in the public library sector and inspire public library practitioners. The keynote speaker is Inga Lunden, Director of the Stockholm Public Library. The forum themes reflect the 'dreaming' themes for the ALIA 2008 Biennial Conference: • entrepreneurial • access • meeting places. The program will emphasise informal participation and interaction and there will be plenty of time to discuss each library’s presentation and learn from each other. The final program and the registration form will be available in early June. Summaries of all the nominations will be available too.
http://www.alia.org.au/governance/committees/public.libraries/

Believe it or Not!

Fading Print
This is great! Paper and printer that produce documents that fade within 16-24 hours. The Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) and parent company Xerox are experimenting with a type of paper and a complementary printer that would produce documents that fade away after 16 to 24 hours. A restaurant, for instance, could print its daily specials on a piece of paper, attach the pieces of paper to menus, and then collect the sheets of then-blank paper in the morning to run through the printer again. Can you think of some applications for libraries? How does it work? For more information go to:
http://tinyurl.com/4l8ors

Web Resources

Promoting Local Harmony
Community groups interested in putting in place initiatives that promote local harmony may be able to benefit from a new set of downloadable best practice case studies. The case studies showcase projects and interventions aimed at fostering community harmony and cohesion in multicultural neighbourhoods by: • reducing racism and the stereotyping of marginalised groups; • encouraging mutual interaction and dialogue between communities; • addressing important community issues and concerns; and • engaging in community activities beyond the mere celebration of multiculturalism. The case studies are available on the new StepOne website, which has been developed by the Centre for Research on Social Inclusion at Macquarie University and is supported by the Australian Government through the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. The site – which also includes tips about where to begin in promoting local harmony, a ‘Good Practice Guide’, and links to relevant research, funding and other relevant websites – was launched in Sydney in late March. For more information go to:
http://www.stepone.org.au/

Online Tele-Prompter
Next time you have to deliver a speech or conference paper you may wish to consider using this free service (you will need a computer/laptop and internet connection). A good way to save on paper and printing too! CuePrompter is a free teleprompter/autocue service. Your browser works like a teleprompter -no extra software needed. Free for any use (both commercial and non-commercial). For more information or to try this service go to:
http://www.cueprompter.com/

International

Books on Prescription
Some of you would have heard about the books on prescription / bibliotherapy scheme which runs in part of the UK. Visit the web site below to download a sample prescription pad or there is a wiki with more information at http://bibliotherapy.wetpaint.com/
http://tinyurl.com/6fnxpj

Welsh Public Libraries Receive a Boost!
A NEW chapter in the history of Wales’ libraries will begin with the launch of a £10.5m project to transform the nation’s services. Read more at:
http://tinyurl.com/6a8rlx

Sichuan Earthquake - Library News
Ms. Li Chun, Director of the Bei-chuan Library at the epicenter in Sichuan earthquake was rescued after 70 hours of the magnitude 7.9 earthquake. Two other librarians were also rescued but still two more are missing. The library was completely destroyed during the first quake. Sichuan province has 119 county libraries distributed in this mountainous region in Western China. So far 21 county/region libraries were reported seriously damaged.

States and territories

Helping with Homework (NSW)
On 30 April Fairfield City Library Service launched an innovative partnership with the University of Western Sydney to double the capacity of their yourtutor program. It was great event with the Minister for Western Sydney, Barbara Perry, Vice-Chancellor Janice Reid, Mayor Nick Lalich and NSW State Librarian Regina Sutton in attendance. For more information download the press release from:
http://tinyurl.com/6dbw5l

Professional Development

Young people & libraries: Self paced learning kit
The Youth Action and Policy Association NSW have compiled a useful kit for use by libraries. The kit includes: * Common Scenarios – Young People and Libraries * Law, Policies and Rules * Design, Layout and Observation * Building Rapport & Communicating with Young People * Understanding Young People * Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Young People * Dealing with Alcohol & Other Drug Intoxication * Where to Get Help Download the kit directly from:http://www.yapa.org.au/youth/facts/librarykit.pdf For more information go to:
http://www.yapa.org.au/youth/facts/library.php

Disaster Planning - Be Prepared!
'Be Prepared' was published by the Heritage Collections Council in 2000 and is available in pdf format. It contains invaluable information for smaller institutions on assessing and planning for disasters such as training needs, assessment considerations, safety and damage checklists and templates based on established disaster management plans. Although 'Be Prepared' was written primarily for small museums it does have applicability to libraries e.g. local studies collections. You can read more about this document and download a copy of the guidelines from:
http://www.collectionsaustralia.net/sector_info_item/2

Celebrating Libraries and Librarians

Library Song Competition
Sing the praises of your favourite author or book that rocks your world! Find out more at:
http://tinyurl.com/5zzulc

Literature opens the door
Let us give thanks to librarians. When I was young and knuckleheaded, fighting against being poor, against being brown, against being an immigrant, against being rejected by my father, it was a librarian assigned to a tiny precinct in Central New Jersey who took the time out of her work and with care and arid enthusiasm introduced me to the wonder of books and in the process, I would argue, saved my life. Read more at:
http://tinyurl.com/3ocuzy

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