Australian libraries

Libraries connect people to ideas. It's a vital part of our commitment to promoting the free flow of information and facilitating all Australians' access to recorded knowledge, information, and creative works.

Australians are supported for their development of literacy and reading, education, business, community and digital access through a network of approximately 1,600 national, state and public library service points. In addition, Australians benefit from services provided by approximately 9000 school libraries, 42 university libraries, 387 TAFE campus libraries, and thousands of health libraries, law libraries and other special libraries.

Australian libraries fact sheet [ pdf 117 KB ]

School libraries

The key principle for ALIA is that there should be a teacher librarian in every Australian school in order to achieve the best educational and social outcomes for all young Australians, and to ensure their lifelong participation in the Australian economy, culture and society.

ALIA submission to Inquiry into School Libraries and Teacher Librarians

Visit the ALIA and school libraries page for further information about ALIA policies and advocacy.

Public libraries

Public libraries at a glance...

• There are over 1500 public libraries across Australia and 8500 library staff, who provide expert guidance.
• Almost ten million people or nearly 50% of the population are library members and many more use them as study spaces, for online research, and just to browse the collections of books, CDs, DVDs, newspapers and magazines.
• There are over 9 million visits to public libraries each month giving a total of almost 110 million annual visits
• Australians borrow more than 177 million items a year and make nearly 10 million enquiries.
• There are 9400 PCs in our libraries of which almost 8000 have internet access.
• All this costs Australians $830 million - just over 10c a day each.

Source:
The Australian Public Libraries Statistical Report 2007-08.
State Library of Queensland, September 2009

Public library statistics and services in Australia

ALIA and public libraries

Little book of public libraries

ALIA Public Libraries Summit 2009

Special libraries

Special libraries cover a very diverse range of institutions and subject areas: law, research, government departments and agencies, health/medicine, agriculture, theology, corporate, cultural (eg art, museums), etc.

Here are some statistics:

• There are approximately 450 health/medical libraries. Health librarians are responsible for knowledge support to clinicians, managers, educators, researchers and some directly serve patients or health consumers
• There are over 400 corporate/business libraries in Australia and they play a key role in ensuring that business strategy and decision-making is supported by accurate, current, relevant information sources

The ALIA Special Libraries Advisory Committee has put together excellent links to resources for special libraries. Visit the wiki which was designed as a resource sharing tool for the special libraries community.

University libraries

There are 40 university libraries and 221 branch libraries in Australia's universities.

Here are some statistics:

• There are over 19 million loans every year in Australian university libraries
• The total expenditure in 2008 was almost $580 million
• University libraries provide services to over 1 million people

The Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) has as its mission to "improve access by the staff and students of Australian universities to the information resources that are fundamental to the advancement of teaching, learning and research". CAUL maintains a comprehensive statistics site.

TAFE libraries

There are over 400,000 fulltime-equivalent TAFE students in Australia and they are supported by 387 campus libraries. TAFE libraries had 14 million visits in 2006.

The ALIA TAFE Libraries Advisory Committee advises the ALIA Board of Directors on the development of a strategic program for members working in TAFE libraries or with interests in TAFE librarianship.

National and state libraries

National & State Libraries Australasia (NSLA) represents the national, state and territory libraries of Australia and New Zealand.

Here are some statistics from NSLA.

In 2008-2009:

Public libraries, the digital economy and the National Broadband Network

ALIA submission to Senate Select Committee on the National Broadband Network

ALIA submission to Digital Economy Future Directions consultation paper

ALIA submission to Infrastructure Australia

Public libraries provide vital infrastructure for Australia's digital future

ALIA internet policies and surveys

ALIA statement on internet content regulation

ALIA media releases about internet filtering

ALIA internet access surveys