ALIA Board Blog

The weekend is often for catching up - on the housework, back to school organising, the online and other reading, and some fresh air - in preparation for the week ahead.   Some of my online reading this weekend included prep for meetings with ministerial officers this coming week, expressing our opposition to mandatory filtering and pulling together case studies and comments for the ALIA submission.  Also catching up on Parliament too - and the positive and supportive comments by Senator Trood regarding the National Library of Australia and  ‘Indeed, it is a national treasure.’  Other parliamentary-related reading included Kevin Rudd’s new book ‘Jasper & Abby and the Great Australia Day Kerfuffle’.  We are hoping that Kevin (and Rhys Muldoon and Carla Zapel) might like to get involved in National Simultaneous Storytime this year on 26th May, as our chosen book has an animal theme as well, being ‘Little White Dogs Can’t Jump’.

This coming week marks ALIA’s first time (or first time in a long time) at the VALA Trade Exhibition - visit Kate, Steph, Judy, Margie, Jeannine and myself at Booth #43.    Either side of VALA, two of our key Advisory Committees are meeting face-to-face.  The first in-person gathering of the ALIA TAFE Libraries Advisory Committee and another important meeting of the ALIA Public Libraries Advisory Committee.   #ALIANational will be part of the #VALA2010 twittering as well.

It is the anniversary of the Victorian Bushfires - a message is on the ALIA Disaster Recovery webpage - and there is a Blue Shield Australia gathering this week too.

This week also marks Safer Internet Day on Tuesday 9th February.   You can download the video and/or add the logo to your site/facebook/twitter links.  It is an opportunity for library staff in all types of libraries to highlight the importance of cybersafety education.  In the meetings that I will be in with other IT industry stakeholders visiting ministerial advisors at parliament house in the next few days we will be reminding the government about our objection to censorship and to filtering legitimate material, as part of maintaining a democratic society.

And of course - Library Lovers Day (with or without the apostrophe) - to be celebrated at the end of the week ahead.  Most libraries are planning LLD events on Friday or next Monday the 15th.     Jan’s post below reminds us that we can all do something simple to remind our clients and friends to love Australian libraries.  I hope that many public librarians are using The Little Book of Public Libraries as an LLD ‘gift’ for their decision makers and champions, and for other sectors there are some great ideas on the website at http://www.librarylovers.org.au/ 

but wherever you are this week - may it be a good one.

Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director

Only a week to go until Library Lovers’ Day on 14 February. At ALIA we’d love to know what you’ve got planned for the celebrations. At my own library we’re running a literary lovers’ quiz with a box of chocolates as the prize (predictable I know!). We had a lot of fun coming up with the questions; it led to an extended morning tea with lots of ‘ I loved that book’ comments :-)!

LLD started life as a public library activity but over the few years it’s been in operation we’ve been delighted to see other sectors come on board. Last year we had a fabulous response from school libraries. Let’s take it even further in 2010. As we’ve said many times in the past not everyone gets flowers on this romantic day but everyone has a library they can love.

Meanwhile I’ve created a fantastic prop for my husband’s bookshop to promote Valentine’s Day (well I think it’s great). In a true Better Homes and Gardens moment I had him cut a huge heart out of craft wood which I painted hot pink. I then laid an old lace tablecloth over the top, stood on a chair and blasted it with orange spray paint. The effect is very Tonia Todman! Needless to say the tablecloth has been retired to the tip.

Cheers

Jan

Jan Richards, ALIA President

What does the ALIA President do on Sundays? Has a leisurely breakfast, catches up with family and friends, takes a long walk, reads, enjoys a glass of wine and a good meal, and ends the day feeling content, ready for the week ahead. This Sunday I am far from home but my routine has been remarkably similar.

I left Melbourne bound for Queensland mid morning. For me flying is dedicated to reading of the recreational variety; long ago I developed a rigid personal policy of no reports or business papers en route, why waste a dedicated space of total enjoyment where someone else runs around and makes the coffee? By the time we began our descent I’d finished my novel and had time to contemplate it. I did have a second book ready to go in the overhead locker but it was too much trouble to climb over the passenger in the aisle seat dig it out(besides which she was engrossed in her own book). On Sunday there’s no need to rush!

Brisbane is a great city to explore, even on a day with intermittent rain. Four hours later I had roamed far along the river, on foot and by ferry. There’s such a holiday feel about being in a different environment, especially when it’s sub-tropical. I wasn’t surprised that my travels took me to the beautiful State Library of Queensland building which hugs the river and looks across the water at the funky Brisbane City Library. Nor was I shocked to discover myself buying something in the Art Gallery store which is another favourite!

Here we are at the end of day 7. So how did my week conclude? Would you believe standing the middle of the aptly named Goodwill Bridge which spans the Brisbane River, soaked to the skin and laughing wildly with fellow ALIA Directors Graham Black and Philip Keane! Yes we shunned the offers of lifts and decided to be healthy and walk back to the hotel after dinner unaware that the heavens were about to open. Philip’s fold up umbrella and the badly broken one Graham had rescued from a dustbin were no match for the downpour and in the end we gave up retiring to a nearby pub and calling for a taxi.

As I write the rain has started again, a wondrous sound for this drought effected city, and the perfect lullaby on which to close.

Jan

Jan Richards, ALIA President

  librarydayinthelife

January sees the start of the ALIA financial year and by the end of the month our auditors have arrived to do the analysis of the previous year’s accounts.  Our Annual Report financials in 2008 were clearly affected by the GFC.   At the end of the first full ALIA financial year after the financial squashing our investments received, we are starting to bounce back slowly.  ALIA House continues to be a major (but aging) asset with the next 3-year-annual re-valuation to be reflected in the 2009 figures.   Salaries and staff movements continue to be our major expense, as would be expected in an organisation where providing professional services and facilitating the many groups, committees, events, campaigns and activities to members is our priority.  A restructure of ALIA National Office management staffing began in December 2009 and will continue though the first half of 2010.  Positions will be advertised during coming months. 

The Board of Directors election nominations closed on 13^th January 2010 and the unusual situation of having the same number of nominations for available positions occurred.  This means that the Association is not required to conduct an election this year.  A number of members considered nominating this year (and discussed their intentions with our current board members) but indicated that it was just not quite the right time for them either personally or professionally.  A director position not only comes with significant responsibilities (ASIC and AICD give good summaries) but also a great time commitment.  To enable greater effectiveness for board processes, the ALIA Board has implemented a few changes how the company’s board started out in the early 2000’s in regards to meetings and board decisions.  The board meets more frequently than in the past – with teleconference meetings (as official board meetings) in between the face-to-face meetings often held in Canberra or other capitals (as I write this I am on the plane to a board planning meeting in Brisbane, the closest location for three of our current board members).   We also have 6 Standing Committees of the Board, which a board member chairs. The focus of these SC’s is high level discussion, research, reports and recommendations also using key expert member input, for that board member Chair to bring to board meetings.  It allows a board member to focus on one or two area of strategic importance for the Association – while at the same time getting the summaries and overall picture by hearing from other board members and the Executive Director.  Our congratulations to Margaret, John, Andrew and Julie and we look forward to working with you all and getting ready for your official terms from May2010 to May2012. We also acknowledge their employers and staff and families who will be supporting them in their role as a board member (it really is a combined effort).

Other members expressed their interest in nominating this year, but after further information realised that they may need more background in finance or governance, or just learning more about the wide scope of work of the Association to become a more productive board member so that they might get the best out of their 2-year term on the board.  The ALIA Boardroom Bound program will continue and you can sign up for a board buddy.  Some potential board members have considered nominating for an ALIA Advisory Committee in the meantime.  We need quite a few more members to assist with these committees – nominations are being called again in the March edition of inCite, so keep a look out for that.

Advocacy will be a great focus for us at ALIA in 2010.  Over the past few weeks it has centred on the ISP filtering proposals and RC Classification and the ACMA blacklist.  Your case studies so far on examples of how library-related enquiries and research work can be inhibited by ISP filtering have been very useful for our submission – please continue to send your comments and responses to advocacy@alia.org.au by 10^th February so that we can finalise the submission by the due date.

Following on from the ALIA Public Libraries Summit we are also continuing on with the discussion around the social inclusion contribution that libraries make to society.  It’s sometimes interesting to see who reads blog posts – including comment from the Social Inclusion Minister these past few days (thanks Ursula for taking the time).  We are very much looking forward to working with DEEWR, the Social Inclusion Board and Senator Stephens’ office on continuing to place libraries at the centre of our community contributions in this area.  Her comments on literacy and reading and the national agenda comes at a time when our third ALIA Summer Reading Club is coming to an end and the announcement of the book for National Simultaneous Storytime for 2010 is made.  ALIA members should feel proud of the contribution that these national reading campaigns contribute to the nation’s literacy agenda – and they are great fun too.  We hope you have enjoyed ‘Reading on the Wild Side’ and are now placing your order for ‘Little White Dogs Can’t Jump’ and putting the date of 26 May 2010 into the diary to organise a reading session in your library – no matter what type it might be.  The importance of reading and literacy, and how literate citizens improve our society, can be highlighted by library staff everywhere.

Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director

A day for me before I head north to Brisbane in the morning for an ALIA Board meeting. Keeping a promise to myself I spent the morning exploring the lanes and arcades of this beautiful city, picking up a few essential items which I can’t get at home and indulging in a beautiful vintage day dress - I have a family wedding coming up in April and I think it will be perfect. I procrastinated over a pair of shoes which match perfectly and now that the shops are closed regret my inaction!

Made a quick visit to the City Library in Flinders Lane which was buzzing with people;, DVDs and the internet seemed high on everyone’s agendas. It goes without saying that I collected their brochures on my way out. As a Library Manager I always feel guilty sloping into someone else’s turf unannounced; it’s great to see what other people are doing but I think we owe our colleagues the courtesy of allowing them to show us around and talk us through their service. In this case I don’t feel too bad as the Library Services Coordinator, Barry McGuren is an old friend and we’ve been stealing ideas from each other for years. It will be good to catch up when I phone and confess all next week.

I spent a couple of hours at the Immigration Museum in Flinders Street, which explores the moving stories of people from all over the world who have migrated to Australia. Some great interactive displays, several of which resonate with me through family connections. The Museum’s Discovery Centre was a treasure trove of resources for general and family historians/researchers. As a rabid family historian myself with a recently unearthed Victorian connection I ‘bookmarked’ it for further exploration.

Time now to do a little work for my forthcoming meeting but perhaps a quick swim first.

Cheers to you all

Jan

Jan Richards, ALIA President

  librarydayinthelife

The Conference wrapped up yesterday with more passionate and inspirational speakers demonstrating the width and depth of the topic encapsulated in those  two words, ’social inclusion’. As always I came away with a head spinning with ideas and how they could be implemented or adjusted into my own situation/s (ie ALIA and ‘real’ job). After many years I’ve learnt that attendance a conference/workshop/seminar is not a mandate to go home and change everything. If there’s something which moves you to act, great! … if it’s for the better. It may also cause you to re-assess what you’re already doing and reaffirm that you’re on track. From my perspective PD in the form of conferences etc is really about taking off the blinkers and opening up your mind; it is legitimised day-dreaming :-).

Back to the hotel to find that I had neighbours in the adjoining room - I knew because I had one of those linking doors which are usually pretty soundproof, though not in this case! I pretended it would get better but I knew I had to do something when a friend asked who else was with me when I was taking a call from her in the furthest reaches of my room. Gold star to the young lady on reception who acknowledged and took ownership of the problem and had me moved and settled into an upgraded room within 5 minutes of my plea for help. I’ve already sent a message to the hotel management acknowledging her.

This brings me to the April issue of inCite which is about customer service - our editor Kate is currently looking for stories and I’ve been pondering what I’ll write about in my Frontline article. My library prides itself on customer service and over the years as a staff we’ve attended multiple training courses, include it as a regular item on our meeting agendas and have champions in place to keep us on track. Despite this from time to time we fall by the wayside and I find the dreaded letter of complaint in my in-tray, ditto with ALIA. 

Often we make a mistake in trying to fix the problem without involving our client. Last night the young woman at reception gave me several options, some of which were unnecessarily over-the-top. In a session at the Social Inclusion Conference yesterday a speaker was reflecting on disadvantaged communities and he urged participants to ask them what the solution was as usually they have already figured it out, they just don’t have the resources to do it. Something we can all learn from.

Jan

Jan Richards, ALIA President

 librarydayinthelife

 You might have guessed from my last post that I’m in Melbourne, always a treat, especially when there’s the prospect of a days R&R (read shopping) on Saturday.  I’m here for the Australian Government’s Social Inclusion Conference , billed as an ‘opportunity to join a national conversation about effective and innovative social inclusion policy and practice’.

As we all know libraries, and by their very nature public libraries, are key contributors to social inclusion. So much so that ALIA formed our inaugural Public Libraries Summit in July 2009 around the topic with Senator the Hon Ursula Stephens, Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and Parliamentary Secretary for the Voluntary Sector as our keynote speaker. In her address Senator Stephens talked about public libraries as ‘hubs of community life’, neutral spaces for learning, access to the internet and e-learning. 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.’

Imagine then the delight of the  public library attendees at this weeks event (Karen, Sue, Anna and me) when in his keynote address  Professor Sir Michael Marmot visiting from  London spoke about the difference reading to children from birth makes in their future development and the importance of the local public library in this and other social inclusion initiatives. The facilitator assured us this wasn’t the last we’d hear about libraries! I can tell you there was real cause for air punching over morning tea and this continued when pioneer of the Hume Learning Village Concept, Frank McGuire managed (after several attempts) to get the microphone during question time.

As the day progressed the anticipated inclusion of libraries and how they can contribute to the government’s agenda didn’t eventuate, or at least not in any of the sessions I participated in and after conversations with colleagues who went to different streams I think the zero approach was pretty widespread.  Anna asked ‘why aren’t there any library speakers or case studies demonstrating what we do, everyone else seems to be represented?’  I had no answer.

Following afternoon tea Hon Julia Gillard MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Social Inclusion launched A Stronger Fairer Australia the Australian Government’s statement  setting out their plan for acheiving a vision of social inclusion. I can only applaud such a development and the obvious work that has gone into its development.

When I got back to the hotel I sat down with a glass of wine to read through the document and see where we fit into the jigsaw. After the direction of the day I guess I wasn’t surprised to find no mention of the word ‘library’, disappointed yes, but not surprised. Hey I’m realistic enough to be able to slot us into ‘other agencies’ and demonstrate by success how we slot in.

What I found much, much more distressing was the lack of recognition of the role of reading in the priority ‘Improving the Life Chances of Children at Greatest Risk of long Term Disadvantage’.  Yes, we can doubtless build it into some of the other initiatives which are included in this policy but when will our governments get it - literacy can be addressed from birth by the simple intervention of reading to your child. I’d be happy to be proved wrong, to have someone say to me ‘look, here it is on page …’ because after all it was my first read and I was getting fairly tetchy towards the end.

We’ll work through this and with our partners begin to align ourselves with this policy. But right now my response is ‘why does it always have to be so #$%&^ hard!’

Jan

Jan Richards, ALIA President

 librarydayinthelife

Some days it’s just too hard to blog. Yesterday was one of those days. I  spent  a good part of the day travelling between home and Melbourne (more of that in a later post) but with the technologies so abundantly available to us at our nation’s airports that’s not an excuse.

Rather I spent the day with a heavy heart following the tragic, accidental death of a friend’s 19 year old daughter. Eliza was a beautiful young person with a great future ahead of her. Despite her youth she’d already done and given so much. One of the stories her proud Dad loved to recount with a mixture of horror and admiration was of her riding pillion on a scooter down the Champs Elysee on New Year’s Eve during a student exchange. When choosing a volunteer project for her Duke of Edinburgh Award, Eliza came to my Library, bringing a ray of sunshine with her. She’ll be sadly missed by many, many people.

Last week I attended the funeral of former CSU Librarian and ALIA member Margaret McPherson in Bathurst. Margaret’s death too was totally unexpected. Since her retirement she had pursued her many interests with even more enthusiasm and when I  caught up with her late last year she was eager to fill me in on her many plans and schemes. The funeral service for Margaret was testament to the high regard in which she was held in the many areas of her life, and to her love of church music; breathtaking.

Both Margaret and Eliza have gone too soon but they both embraced life with a passion and made their dreams a reality. I think that’s a lesson we can all learn from. One of those fridge magnets I normally eschew has a message I can really relate to “Life is not a dress rehearsal”. Please reflect on that.

Jan

Jan Richards, ALIA President

 librarydayinthelife

Now why would I be writing a blog post on the Australia Day public holiday?  Besides the fact that I have a little more time to think and write today, it’s because I am celebrating being an Australian - in a free and democratic country.  But what of the near future in regards to our internet…. yes, the NBN is a nation-building activity, but what of the proposed mandatory ISP filtering.  It seems to go against not only the general Aussie way of things, but the core values of ALIA members.

Senator, we welcome the opportunity to comment and to be part of the debate and we absolutely agree that the issue of child abuse and pornography is abhorant and needs addressing.  But the Blacklist is just one form of the internet - the blacklist covers URL’s only, it does not protect children against pornographic activities in the areas of peer-to-peer networking, instant messaging, direct emails and chat rooms.  A significant shift of the cost of the proposed mandatory filtering into additional government funding for the AFP Child Protection initiatives would go a long way here.   Library staff should be aware that anyone can report illegal internet material at anytime by lodging a complaint to ACMA via this webpage.   It is a concern that filtering can give a false sense of security.

Last week I met with a few other like-minded organisational partners to forward the debate on ISP filtering and how ALIA on behalf of it’s members can contribute to this.  We will also be requesting discussion time at the next CWG meeting about the proposals and drafted legislation.

You will note on the ALIA e-lists and ALIATwitter in the coming days a reminder of the ALIA submission to the RC Classification.

We believe that Cybersafety Education should be mandatory, not filtering.   Every Australian should not be treated like a child - adults have the right to look after their children, to educate themselves on how to protect their children, to have greater access to resources and experts to assist with this education, and adults do have the right to view material that is not illegal on the internet  –  in a free and democratic society where freedom of information is regarded as a right of it’s citizens. 

Topics that are sensitive - including euthanasia, terrorism, sexual persuasion and suicide  - might not be long conversations around the Australia Day BBQ, but every Australian still has the right to access information about these issues.

ALIA members and friends, I encourage you to take the time to update youself on the current ISP filtering issues - this recent report is a great summary  “Untangling the Net : The scope of content caught by mandatory internet filtering”.   There are also more questions from the IIA that you will find of interest.

ALIA will be completing our submission to the RC Classification review and be writing to the minister again with questions and comments.  What can you do?

1.  Contribute to the ALIA Submission :  Email your comments, example case studies of how filtering impedes access to information and topics of common interest to advocacy@alia.org.au .  If you belong to another Australian Library Association/Organisation, then encourage your executive to contact the ALIA Executive Director to join in the combined submission executive.director@alia.org.au .   Please note that the 5 main questions to respond to for this submission

2.  Individuals may also make a submission directly to the RC Classification review by 12th February 2010, or write to the Minister at any time

3.  Support ALIA through your membership contribution to ensure that we can continue our advocacy work in this and other important areas.

4.  Update your knowledge on the issues, and the specifics of the proposed internet filtering.  Take a few minutes to view Cybersmart resources for library staff and send this link to your colleagues. 

5.  Use Safer Internet Day on 9th February 2010 to highlight online safety messages and cybersafety resources to your customers, networks and friends.  Check out the ‘Think before you post’ downloadable poster, tips and YouTube.

Happy Australia Day.  Lets continue to live in a truly democratic society where censorship will be rejected.

Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director

It’s sizzling hot here in Orange, the perfect weather in which to celebrate our National Day. The young people across the road are gearing up for a party this evening and the flag with its distinctive southern cross is proudly on display. Me? I’ll be enjoying something crisp, white and cold on the back deck far away from the revelry.

Time too to check the Australia Day honours to see which of our colleagues, friends and supporters have been acknowledged. Libraries are so intrinsically linked to their communities that there are always people we want to say well done to, even though their citation may not use the word ‘library’. On first glance congratulations to Dr Peter Goldsworthy, author and Chairman of the Libraries Board of South Australia and to ‘red Wiggle’ Murray Cook who happens to be the patron of my own library’s early childhood reading program. When the ALIA office opens tomorrow I know we’ll be notified of other links. 

For many Australians the 26 January signals the end of the summer holiday season. Tomorrow marks the return to school for millions of students across the country.  All this was in evidence yesterday when I battled my way through a frantic sea of parents and children in the staionery section of a local department store. University and college students will be hot on their heels, returning to study in the coming weeks.  My thoughts go out to our library colleagues in the education sector gearing up for a new year.

The return to school affects us all regardless of the sector we’re in as life across the nation returns to normal and staffing levels regain some balance. These days I usually work through January and treasure this time when life isn’t as pressured; when there arn’t as many conference calls to take and when the staff take time out to have a paddle-pop together on the grass mid afternoon rather than coffee on the run. I guess that will all change come tomorrow.

Happy Australia Day.

Jan

Jan Richards, ALIA President

librarydayinthelife