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Welcome to the August 2009 edition of aliaPUBNEWS.

aliaPUBNEWS is an initiative of the Australian Library and Information Association's Public Libraries Advisory Committee http://www.alia.org.au/governance/committees/public.libraries/

aliaPUBNEWS is a free monthly electronic bulletin for those concerned with supporting and promoting the further development of Australia's public library services. aliaPUBNEWS spans the policy and strategic issues and service developments having an impact on public libraries in Australia. All our list members are encouraged to send in their comments to 'Feedback' at the end of this newsletter.
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In this aliaPUBNEWS broadcast:


NEWS FROM ALIA STATE NATIONAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES WEB RESOURCES
NEWS FROM ALIA

ALIA Public Libraries Summit


The ALIA Public Libraries Summit was held on Thursday 16 July 2009. The Summit was opened by Senator the Hon Ursula Stephens, Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and Parliamentary Secretary for the Voluntary Sector. Greg Cook, from the Centre for Leadership and Management, facilitated the Summit.

Senator Stephens described libraries as having "a rare and privileged position in the nation's heart". She said "they will remain a vital part of the future … a neutral third place, with the capacity to connect people with the outside world". The Summit was the first time politicians, their advisors, representatives of not for profit organisations and senior figures from the library world had come together to debate the future of public libraries in the 21st century. The delegates presented ALIA with the mandate to develop a national framework for Australia's 1500 public libraries.

The Summit also provided the opportunity to launch the Public Library Ambassador Program, the Little Book of Public Libraries, and an initiative to create new National Standards for Public Libraries which will form the basis of future agreements between public libraries and their government funders.

The following presentations were delivered during the morning of the Summit:

  • Jan Richards, President, ALIA Libraries and Social Inclusion the story so far
  • Geoff Strempel, Deputy Chair, PLA - Children, early reading, and a literate Australia
  • Roxanne Missingham, Chair, Electronic Resources Australia - Encouraging the digital economy and digital citizenship
  • Frank McGuire, Pioneer of Hume Global Learning Village - Social inclusion and community partnerships safety, fairness, participation
  • Regina Sutton, Chair, National and State Libraries Australasia - Health and ageing
The afternoon session provided the opportunity for discussions of the key themes and the development of a clearer description of how public libraries could further assist or champion each of these issues.

ALIA and representatives of each of the seven state public library associations facilitated the smaller workshops. They focussed on:

  • Public libraries as National Champions of community engagement by government
    • Review of themes, case studies, and projects described in the morning
    • Suggestions for further initiatives
  • National Framework for ‘partnering' between all levels of government and public libraries
    • Developing draft principles and objectives
    • Processes for ongoing engagement
    • Policy implications
For more information and photos from the Summit please visit:

http://www.alia.org.au/summit09/

Little book of public libraries– how to get it, how to use it

The Little book of public libraries arrived at ALIA House in mid-July, and all pre-ordered copies have been sent out. But what happens when it arrives? ALIA has put together a list of ways your library and library-supporters might use the Little book to get the public library message out.

http://www.alia.org.au/publiclibraries/How.to.use.html

We also have a small surplus of copies available for order. Place an order via the order form, or by contacting Jamie, 02 6215 8232, Jamie.smith@alia.org.au

http://www.alia.org.au/publiclibraries/LBPL.order.form.pdf

ALIA Public Library Ambassadors

We know Australians love their libraries. With such latent goodwill in the community, why do we want to appoint Public Library Ambassadors? ALIA recognises that we need a more active appreciation of public libraries; a surge in popular appeal to support our position as a vital service. Library Ambassadors will be the public face of their local library, publicise their library and influence public opinion about libraries.

See how the program is coming along at:

http://www.alia.org.au/publiclibraries/

aliaNEWS

ALIA produces a monthly e-newsletter called aliaNEWS. It is a regular newsletter distributed free to all members of ALIA and other interested individuals. It provides subscribers with news about ALIA, including events, membership issues, professional development opportunities, awards and grants, conference registration deadlines, publications, industry events, campaigns, and LIS activities generally.

Anyone interested in ALIA and the LIS sector is invited to subscribe to aliaNEWS.

To subscribe and to read back issues, go to: http://www.alia.org.au/alianet/e-lists/alianews/

National Broadband Network submission and transcript

ALIA was invited to appear at the public hearing on the National Broadband Network on 20 July. Read the ALIA submission and link to the Senate Select Committee website to read other submissions and the public hearing transcript.

The submission stated: "The goal of connecting 90 percent of all Australian homes, schools and workplaces must recognise the role of public libraries in providing vital infrastructure for Australia's digital future. Located in every local government area across the nation and at the heart of their local communities, public libraries are perfectly positioned to deliver results in Australia's digital future. Australia's public libraries continue to address the need for equitable community access to a wide range of educational, information, cultural and recreational services which are dependent on online information services."

http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy/submissions/national.broadband.html

Your voice: National Advisory Congress

Ever wonder how ALIA sets its direction? Ever wish you had a say in it? ALIA is your Association and you do get to have your say at the National Advisory Congress. Check out the NAC regional meeting dates for 2009. The 2009 NAC will focus on Lobbying and Advocacy. Submissions on this theme are now available.

http://www.alia.org.au/governance/nac/2009/

Membership renewals

ALIA's membership renewals were sent in June. You can choose to renew your membership online http://membership.alia.org.au/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=ALIA/ccms.r?pageid=39&CallerID=6002, via B-pay, ph 1800 020 071, fax 02 6282 2249, or by post. Direct debit payment is also available. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us in membership.

membership@alia.org.au

PD Postings – ALIA member benefit

PD Postings is a monthly electronic publication sent directly to ALIA members. It provides a monthly selection of professional development opportunities across a wide variety of skills, issues and subjects of interest to the industry. Many are free and online, so everyone can participate no matter what your circumstances - and claim points towards certification of practice.

Interested in joining ALIA and receiving PD Postings? ALIA membership gives you an advantage from the moment you join. With networks of more than 5,000 library and information professionals, career resources, discounts on events and professional development opportunities, and access to services such as online LIS journals and copyright advice, you will benefit right away.

http://www.alia.org.au/membership.benefits/

Have you found us on Twitter?

ALIA has joined the Twitterverse. Follow us online at http://www.twitter.com/alianational

New ALIA public libraries web page

We have developed a new public libraries web page that brings together all the ALIA services, activities, policy and strategic issues for public libraries.

http://www.alia.org.au/publiclibraries/

Summer Reading Club – Read on the Wild Side

Hear the call of nature with the Summer Reading Club, READ on the WILD SIDE 2010 program! The Summer Reading Club will run from 1 December 2009 to 12 February 2010. Swap and share planning ideas at the SRC Wiki at http://www.alia.org.au/src/wiki/pmwiki.php

http://www.summerreadingclub.org.au/

Parallel importation – your questions answered

The Productivity Commission's decision to recommend repealing the current restrictions has garnered plenty of recent press. But how many of us really understand what parallel importation means, and what it means for Australian authors, publishers, and book buyers?

ALIA supports the Productivity Commission's decision, and has put together a Q&A to address the most common questions.

http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy/copyright/your.ques.answered.html

You can also read ALIA's original submission to the Commission.

http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/85886/sub252.pdf

Promotional merchandise available

ALIA has some limited left over stock from the Library and Information Week and National Simultaneous Storytime 2009 campaigns. These items are ideal for giveaways and incentives. To view the list of merchandise still available click of the campaign website links below.

http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy/storytime/2009/merchandise.html

http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy/liw/merchandise.html

Librarians 2 coming to ABC 1 in August

The second series of the comedy series, The Librarians, premieres Wednesday 5 August at 9pm on ABC1. Series two guest stars some of Australia's best known actors including Vince Colosimo, Noni Hazlehurst, Hamish Blake, Tony Martin, Francis Greenslade and Denise Scott.

http://www.alia.org.au/thelibrarians

STATE

Living Library event


After six months of hard work and with the help of a volunteer committee Pittwater Library held its first official Living Library at Mona Vale Library on Saturday 4th July.

Mike Dalton from Channel 9's Today show was present and his report on the event was aired nationally on Thursday morning 9 July 2009.

There were 13 'Living Books' available to be borrowed representing a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences, such as a police inspector, a disabled artist, mother of triplets, a survivor of the holocaust and a Tibetan national.

About 30 'Readers' borrowed the Living books and there was a terrific buzz in the library during the event. Readers and books were stationed at seven different locations throughout the library and up to 4 readers could borrow a book at once. Books and Readers were all engrossed in conversation for their allocated 30 minutes and some even longer.

The library received very positive feedback from all the Books and Readers and the happy, relaxed vibe afterwards from all those involved was amazing. The event was certainly a great way of strengthening social cohesion, giving individuals the opportunity to engage and learn from other interesting people in their community.

The library sees this event strengthening the concept that the local library plays a vital role as a community hub.

Social media 'meetup'

Mosman Library (Sydney) are going to publicise soon a date for a social media 'meetup' at the library and are hoping it will be the first of many. But before they do, they are inviting comments on the idea.

Birmingham's social media surgeries are the model Mosman Library will be working from (see: http://tinyurl.com/birminghamsocialsurgery), and it will provide an opportunity for neighbourhoods, community groups and local residents to help each other communicate, organise and just do things online. Mosman Library would like to facilitate this sharing of information and experience at a local level.

Right now Mosman is looking for 'social media champions' – people who are already talking, sharing and doing stuff online, and who might like to drop in and work with those interested in setting up a blog, podcast or social network for their community or group.

http://refdesk.mosmanlibraryblogs.com/article/98/introducing-social-media-mob-mosman

NATIONAL

Significance 2.0 – Part 6 now available online

The Collections Council of Australia is pleased to announce that the complete version of ‘Part 6 Significance in action applications' is now available online at: http://significance.collectionscouncil.com.au/online/848

If you own a hard copy of Significance 2.0 a guide to assessing the significance of collections, you will know that only a summary of this section was printed in the book. Now you can access Part 6 in its entirety.

INTERNATIONAL

Mobile Library design winner

Muungano is a Swedish design group established in 1996. In Swahili, Muungano means fusion or unification, honouring the goals, activities and business of Muungano.

Muungano got the chance to design a library bus for the northern town of Kiruna and it has won the prize ´Library bus of the year´ presented by the Swedish librarian society. It is also nominated for a prize in the graphic design contest KOLLA and is nominated for a Gulden Egg, the prestigious Swedish advertising award.

The function of the new bus is to supply a larger service, where new digital media is presented as well as traditional printed material. The bus will also function as a place for people to communicate on the web and enable meetings between different groups in the society. Because of the lack of sunlight during most of the year in the north the bus will be like a lantern when dark to attract people and light up the surroundings. The bus includes a library, a small cinema, computer games, a music listening couch, Internet station and personal service.

To see a picture of the library bus, go to: http://www.muungano.com/#

25 ways for libraries to support book groups

Here are some ways that libraries can support book groups:

  1. Organise groups, provide staff leaders for those groups, or train community volunteers to lead the groups.
  2. Provide book databases and training in how to use these databases to prepare discussion materials.
  3. Collect discussion materials for groups on demand–reviews, author biographies, and other related material.
More ways to support books groups can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/support-book-groups

What's your excuse?

Thought you'd heard them all? San Francisco Public Library are waiving overdue fines if you have a good excuse as to why you kept the book.

Here are a few examples:

"I immensely enjoyed reading the book and thought it was my own copy." – Frederick

"I checked out some books and while I had them I cleaned my room, they were put up on a shelf in my closet and forgotten about until I went to the library to check out more books. I now have about $300 worth of fines and all because I cleaned my room. This is why my room is best left 'uniquely organized'."
– Kristin

http://sfpl.lib.ca.us/fineamnesty/yourexcuses.htm

Librarians go wild

The stereotype of the librarian — horn-rimmed glasses, hair in a bun, finger to her lips stubbornly shushing — was nowhere to be found at this year's Librarian Book Cart Drill Championships held recently in Chicago. Five teams of librarians — dressed in costumes ranging from Vikings to Elvis Presley — competed for the coveted gold book cart.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106561675

http://tinyurl.com/groupinglibrarians

World's largest public library advertisement?

Public libraries are an incredible resource. Yet, a great advertising campaign for public libraries has never been done before according to the President of TechForEducators.com. Why not? How many more great books will be read? And how many lives will change as a result?” TechForEducators.com claims their billboard is the world's largest public library advertisement. The advertisement's headline exceeds 41 feet [12.4968 m] and the call to action spans the length of the billboard at 48 feet [14.6304 m].

The Bedtime Reading Quilt is made of several layers, which can be torn off as you read. The quilt contains some of the classic bedtime stories for your pleasure, keeping you both warm and indentation free.

See the sign and read more at: http://tinyurl.com/largestlibrarysign

The Library of Congress is now on Facebook

The Library's mission is to make its resources available and useful to the Congress and the American people and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations. This is just another way to achieve their mission:

http://www.facebook.com/libraryofcongress

CONFERENCES

ALIA National Library and Information Technicians Conference 15–18 September 2009

You can still register for this conference. There is an exciting and stimulating program that focuses on the conference theme Technology Technique Unique.

Keynote speakers
Elaina Norlin - Technology
Irena Yashin-Shaw – Technique
Carol Cooper – Unique

Invited plenary speakers
Michael Coghlan - Web 2.0 and the future
Greg Gebhart - Cybersafety in public libraries
Roxanne Missingham - Creating value in a digital world: libraries, library technicians and the revolution
Helen Roberts and Ian McDonald - Copyright Issues

Website: http://conferences.alia.org.au/libtec2009/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18131723932

LIANZA Conference 12-14 October 2009

LIANZA Conference 2009: He Tangata He Tangata He Tangata 12-14 October 2009, Christchurch, New Zealand

Website: http://www.lianza.org.nz/events/conference2009/speakers.html
Blog: http://lianza2009.wordpress.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Lianzacon2009

PLA/QPLA Conference 11-14 October 2009

The conference will be held in Townsville, Queensland from 11 to 14 October 2009 with the theme being Change and Challenge. Early bird registrations close 28 August 2009. All QPLA and PLA members registering before this time will go into a draw for a free full conference registration!

For more details including registrations, program, trade and sponsorship information please see: http://www.pla.org.au/conferences.html

SWITCH: Public Libraries in a Changing Environment 23-24 November 2009

Please refer to the Public Libraries NSW Metropolitan Association's website for more information: http://www.plmnsw.org.au or http://tinyurl.com/plmnsw-conference

Public Libraries NSW Country Conference - Albury Entertainment Centre on 13-16 July 2010

The title of the conference is IMPACT, and the program aims to address a variety of current and emerging issues associated with contemporary library service provision. A lively social program will complement the speakers program to provide an informative, friendly and enjoyable conference experience for all delegates. This is the first joint country-metropolitan conference to be hosted by Public Libraries NSW–Country, and we expect a great deal of interest from both country and metropolitan delegates.

More information will be advised regarding this conference will be available soon.

WEB RESOURCES

Book craft

From those favourite bedtime stories to the classics you read in high school, books play an important role in people's lives. Whether in actual physical form as a slightly tattered and worn copy or simply as a series of memories, we carry these treasured tomes with us. But as much as there are books you cherish, there are other works out there you just couldn't get through. No matter how many times you cracked open the cover, the book just never held your interest. Your bookshelves are packed with books you've enjoyed, but what about those books that didn't make the cut? You didn't like them, so chances are many of your friends won't, either. So there's no point in passing them on. But you can't throw them away, either.

Love it or hate it, throwing away a book is wasteful. Instead of trashing it, why not try crafting it into something useful…. Like turning your book into a vase!

To read how to turn a book or magazine into a vase - go to: http://tinyurl.com/bookintoavase

Web 3.0 concepts explained in plain English

Web 3.0 - This will be about semantic web (or the meaning of data), personalisation (e.g. iGoogle), intelligent search and behavioural advertising among other things.

If that sounds confusing, check out some presentations that help you understand Web 3.0 in simple English. Each takes a different approach to explain Web 3.0 and the last presentation uses an example of a "postage stamp" to explain the "semantic web".

http://www.labnol.org/internet/web-3-concepts-explained/8908/

Busting social media myths

Do you need a few ideas to encourage social media use in your organisation? This blog post about social media myths may be able to help.

Read more about the 10 local government social media myths at: http://tinyurl.com/socialmediamyths

The adventures of Tober the library cat


Hey cat lovers! Read about whose really in charge of the Thorntown Public Library at: http://tobersadventures.blogspot.com/

Here's a blog excerpt: My staff people keep taking these things called Vacations. I do not understand what they are for. Every time one of them has a Vacation coming up, they get all excited and start counting down days, and when the countdown is over they stop showing up to work. Usually, when multiple staff people are on Vacation at the same time, the Food Service around here gets pretty sketchy. (I almost experienced something called brunch for the first time last week. Assistant Boss Karen saved the day and insisted that I get my breakfast--although it didn't happen until 10:00am.)

100 places to connect with other bibliophiles online

Reading is no longer an individual activity. Thanks to online book clubs, book trading networks, social media sites just for librarians and book lovers, kids' networks and more, connecting with your fellow bibliophiles and talking about favourite books is easier than ever.

For 100 places to connect online go to: http://tinyurl.com/100placestoconnect

Creating a culture of learning in your library

Check out a great ALA slideshow from Lori Reed and Pat Carterette on creating a learning culture in your library.

http://www.slideshare.net/LoriReed/ala-2009-creating-a-culture-of-learning

Future of libraries

Check out the discussion at:

http://toptrends.nowandnext.com

FEEDBACK

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Australian Library and Information Association
PO Box 6335 Kingston ACT 2604 AUSTRALIA
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http://www.alia.org.au