FEATURED ITEMS

• ALIA Public Libraries Advisory Committee formed
• WA State Government funding of public libraries
• Funding for 44 new library projects in NSW
• Commonwealth Government inquiry into school libraries

• ALIA's top honour goes to Jan Fullerton
• Safer Internet Group latest
• National Standards for public libraries latest
• Public libraries at ALIA Access 2010
• Blue Shield Australia and the MayDay 2010 campaign

• inCite themes 2010 - contributions welcomed
• Library and Information Week 2010
• National Simultaneous Storytime
• ALIA training and PD courses

• Mitchell Library 100
• The Edge
• Prime Minister's Literary Awards
• ACT award
• Miles Franklin longlist

FEATURED ITEMS

Public library groups around the same table

Jan Richards, President of ALIA, writes, 'The ALIA Public Libraries Advisory Committee now includes the heads of all the state-based public library associations; Public Libraries Australia; representatives from the ACT, Tasmania and Northern Territory, as well as individual members. This bringing together of the public library sector around the same table comes after the ALIA Public Libraries Summit in Canberra, in July 2009, when we all agreed to develop a united voice for the Australian public library network. Our first tasks are creating a National Vision and Framework for Public Libraries and National Standards. Both these projects are well underway.' More information on the website at http://www.alia.org.au/governance/committees/public.libraries/

WA State Government funding of public libraries

WA Shadow Arts and Culture Minister John Hyde put out a press release last month entitled Library funding shortfall to hit local government budgets, saying that the State Government was planning a huge drop in funding from $10.8million in 2008-2009 to $6.5million for the next three years. John Day, Minister for Planning, Culture and the Arts, responded, saying that "The previous government made a one-off additional allocation of $4.35million on top of base funding in 2008-2009, which was not continued into future years. The desire to increase funding for new materials for libraries has to be considered in the context of all demands on government funds, at a time which is in contrast to the prevailing economic conditions when this one-off budget boost was given." ALIA has taken up the cause and you can add your voice to the campaign to reinstate the WA State Government investment in public libraries at http://www.alia.org.au/publiclibraries.

Funding for 44 new library projects in NSW

NSW Minister for the Arts Virginia Judge has announced State Government funding for 44 new library projects. The sums range from $14,000 to digitise local studies and oral history materials, to more than $300,000 for technology upgrades and building refurbishment.

Commonwealth Government inquiry into school libraries

ALIA is working closely with the Australian School Library Association to develop separate but complementary submissions to the House Standing Committee on Education and Training inquiry into school libraries. ALIA Executive Director Sue Hutley said, "This is an opportunity for others in the sector - especially public libraries - to support school library colleagues."

The closing date for submissions is Friday 16 April. More information on the website www.alia.org.au/schoollibraries.

ALIA NEWS

ALIA's top honour

National Librarian Jan Fullerton is the recipient of the 2010 HCL Anderson Award, the highest honour in the ALIA portfolio. ALIA President Jan Richards said, "The award recognises Jan's outstanding service to the library and information profession. The National Library under Jan's leadership, has responded innovatively to changes in technology so that all Australians now have greater access to its resources."

Safer Internet Group latest

ALIA, as one of the founding members of the Safer Internet Group, along with Google, Yahoo! and the Inspire Foundation, continues to meet with Federal MPs, Ministers and government advisors. Two new members have joined the Group, formed to lobby against the proposed ISP-level internet filtering. They are the Systems Administrators Guild of Australia and the Internet Society.
http://www.alia.org.au/internetfiltering/

See also the ALIA submission on internet filtering
http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy/submissions/mandatory.filtering.html

National Standards and Guidelines for Public Libraries

Libraries Alive!, who produced the NSW standards and guidelines, have been commissioned to develop a national version. Following the meeting of the ALIA Public Libraries Advisory Committee in Melbourne in February, a reference group was established. The members are Sheena Joyce (WA), John Murrell (VIC) and Janice Nitschke (SA).

Working closely with National and State Libraries Australasia, which collates and reports national statistics for public libraries, the project team has identified relevant state and territory datasets which will form the evidence base for determining whether it is practicable to derive standards and guidelines which are applicable in all jurisdictions. Case studies and other material documenting best practice service provision will also be considered.

Book now for ALIA Access 2010, 3 September, Brisbane

Check out the program for Public Libraries: A Surprise On Every Page! on the Access 2010 web pages.

There's still time to take advantage of the special early bird conference registration - member rate of $795.
http://conferences.alia.org.au/access2010/program.html

Blue Shield Australia and MayDay 2010 campaign

From 1 May, for the whole of the month, Blue Shield Australia will be running its MayDay campaign to raise the profile of disaster preparedness for cultural institutions. Why not take this opportunity to dust off your library's disaster plan? You might also like to join Be Prepared, a free ALIA one-hour teleconference discussion on disaster preparedness, at 2pm AEST, on Wednesday 5 May (more information at http://www.alia.org.au/education/pd/pd.services/sue.mck.html) or attend the Blue Shield Australia/DISACT Symposium - Disaster Proofing Heritage Collections - on 6 May at the National Library of Australia, Canberra (more information and bookings at http://www.alia.org.au/events/disasterproofingheritagecollections_rego.pdf). ALIA's Disaster Planning Guide for Libraries will be launched at the Symposium and will be available on the website after that date as a pdf download.

ALIA REMINDERS

inCite themes 2010: contributions welcomed

'Customer service' is the main topic for the April issue of incite and 'building our profession' for May. After that:

We welcome your contributions. See the full schedule on the website.
http://www.alia.org.au/publishing/incite/deadlines.html

Library and Information Week 2010

Libraries - Access All Areas! runs from 24-30 May in 2010. What are you planning? We'd like to hear about it. Send a quick note to advocacy@alia.org.au.
http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy/liw/

National Simultaneous Storytime

Who have you invited to read Little White Dogs Can't Jump for this year's National Simultaneous Storytime on Wednesday 26 May at 11am? It's a great opportunity to contact your Mayor, MP, or local celebrity. http://www.alia.org.au/storytime/

What's happening in 2010 in ALIA training and PD?

• Connect! ALIA launches Career Connect:
  Career Connect is your connection to the career support you need, when you need it.
  More info: http://www.alia.org.au/careerconnect/


• Meet face-to-face:
  Adam Le Good's 'Managing Challenging Clients', 'Fundamentals of Supervision',
  and 'Leading others through change' coming to Brisbane in May.
  More info: http://www.alia.org.au/education/pd/pd.services/adam.html


• Public speaking is the number one phobia - conquer yours:
  Book in the May course with renowned expert, Dr Irena Yashin-Shaw.
  More info: http://www.alia.org.au/education/pd/pd.services/irena.html


• Nail that job application:
  Members only eCourse: 'Writing to Selection Criteria'.
  More info: http://www.alia.org.au/education/pd/workshops/#2


• FOLIOz 2010:
  Making Your Case Successfully (Machiavel) - Monday 24 May - Friday 9 July 2010.
  Register now http://www.alia.org.au/education/pd/pd.services/folioz2010.html


• Career fair mania:
  Say hello at the ALIA stands! Melbourne Age VCE & Careers Expo 23-25 April &
  the Sydney National Careers & Employment Expo 30 April & 1 May 2010.
  Check out the updated Destination wiki: http://destinationlibrary.pbworks.com/

OTHER NEWS

Mitchell Library 100

The State Library of NSW's ONE Hundred exhibition opened on 8 March, with a VIP event celebrating the centenary of the Mitchell Library.

The Edge

Queensland now has The Edge, a new centre for 15 to 25-year-olds at the State Library in Brisbane.

Prime Minister's literary awards - now for children's and YA fiction

The Prime Minister's literary awards are open for nominations and this year there are two new categories for children's and young adult fiction, bringing the total prize money to $400,000.

ACT Commissioner for Public Administration Award for Service Excellence

Ratinder Dev, manager of the Kingston Library in Canberra, was presented with a Commissioner for Public Administration Award for Service Excellence by ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope at a ceremony in Canberra. The citation ran, "As a library manager in the ACT Library and Information Service, Ratinder has effected change in the workplace by providing efficient and innovative customer services in all her libraries as well as supporting and mentoring staff through a strategic new direction of library services in the ACT."

Longlist for the Miles Franklin Award

The Trust Foundation has announced the twelve Australian authors and their novels selected for the 2010 Miles Franklin Award longlist. It features a combination of well-known and emerging authors, with three debut novels. Previous Miles Franklin Literary Award winners in the running this year are Alex Miller, Tom Keneally, Peter Carey and David Foster. http://www.trust.com.au/awards/miles_franklin/

INTERNATIONAL

UK

The British Government has published The Modernisation Review of Public Libraries: A Policy Statement. In her foreword, Culture Minister Margaret Hodge writes, "as every good librarian knows, public libraries are not about sitting back and passively waiting for people to borrow your books - they are about active engagement with the community, making links to other public services, and responding to the policy imperatives of the day."
http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/consultation_responses/modernisation_review_public_libraries.pdf

US

Opportunity For All: How the American Public Benefits from Internet Access at Public Libraries, is a new piece of research from the University of Washington Information School, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. View the report at http://cis.washington.edu/usimpact/

The International Digital Publishing Forum estimates that e-books will account for 6-8% of US book sales in 2010.

Malaysia

Seven libraries in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, have created the U-Library portal. Users can go online, select the books they want to borrow, and the books are posted to them. There is no charge for borrowing, but users have to pay postage.

CONFERENCES

IMPACT 2010

Early bird registration for the Public Libraries NSW conference in Albury from 13 to 16 July, is now open. The special offer of $390 for members and $410 for non-members runs until 30 April. http://www.impact2010.com.au

SWITCH 2011

The dates have been set for the Public Libraries NSW 2011 SWITCH conference. They are 20 - 22 November, in Sydney.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

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