ALIA Board Blog

Australian library industry appoints central Disaster Recovery Support position

At a meeting in Melbourne on Friday 20^th February 2009 library professionals and supporters agreed to fund and appoint a disaster recovery support role to coordinate their efforts. The meeting was organised by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and held at the State Library of Victoria. It  focused on immediate actions to assist bushfire-affected communities, as well as in the medium to longer term. 

Representatives were present from public libraries in the bushfire region, the Public Libraries Victoria Network, the State Library of Victoria, school libraries and school library associations, the Victorian Government, and the book industry.

It was agreed to call on all Australian libraries and library organisations to support and contribute to funding the position of ALIA Disaster Recovery Project Manager.  Many people in libraries and the book industry wish to provide relevant support for bushfire victims, and coordination of this swell of support from the national library association was seen as the most effective response we could make.

There was a hope expressed that lessons learned from the new position, which will focus on Victorian bushfire relief, will help libraries manage similar responses in the future and to create a model for future crisis management.

“Library staff are generous, but we are also practical, and want to make sure that donations and support from our industry are coordinated and distributed at the right time and to meet real needs.  We also want to work with the book industry to get a more coordinated effort going.”  – Derek Whitehead, ALIA President.

“The library industry has always been a supportive and collaborative one – especially in times of hardship.   This ALIA position will enable our industry and profession to develop models for future coordinated support when a disaster strikes.  We have already offered support from Public Libraries Victoria Network and many public library services.” – John Murrell, PLVN President.

Jane Grace, currently Outreach Manager for Yarra Plenty Regional Library Service, will take up the acting position of ALIA Disaster Recovery Project Manager immediately to ensure appropriate support is provided to bushfire families and the wider communities.  Ms Grace will also be working with Queensland colleagues on needs and requirements for flood affected areas.

 “I am very pleased to be able to take up this interim position to co-ordinate immediate support and future models and information tools to assist communities get back on track.  People are often well-meaning, but getting the needs and requirements right for the people on the ground is our aim.  Libraries really are providing an amazing service in these difficult times and making a difference in people’s lives.”  – Jane Grace, Acting ALIA Disaster Recovery Project Manager.

Calls for applicants for the ongoing position of ALIA Disaster Recovery Project Manager will be conducted in the coming weeks with more information available at http://www.alia.org.au/employment

We would like to thank everyone in the library community who have been in contact with PLVN, SLV and ALIA and the library and book trade organisations offering support.  Please keep checking the ALIA website for further information in the coming days and weeks.

Libraries are at the very heart of our communities. By working together with local people and organisations, we can make a significant contribution to rebuilding those communities and the lives of those affected.

Australian Library and Information Association:  Derek Whitehead, President, 03 9214 8333 

Public Libraries Victoria Network: John Murrell, President, 03 5622 2849 or 0409 016 701  

Other contacts: Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director, 02 6215 8215 or 0412 764 922 

The ALIA Board and National Office have received many and varied emails and enquiries regarding the Victorian Bushfire disaster, which continued throughout last week as more communities experienced fires.  Again, our thoughts of support and condolence are with all of our Victorian colleagues, their families and those all around the country affected by these tragic events.

We know that ALIA members and library staff around the country have shown their support - by donating to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal Fund.  We know how generous ‘library people’ are, and at this time, it will be no exception.  We have on an individual level - contributed cash, are giving blood, donated goods that have made their way in containers, and our volunteer time already.  Much more will be needed though over the coming months.  I am sure that most libraries are already organising fundraising morning teas and other events.

It was great to see the librarian and the library mentioned in the 7.30 Report on 12/2/08, and don’t forget to add the Widget where you can.

One week on, I have put together below a very brief synopsis of some of the known library-related initiatives starting to occur :- 

Public Libraries Network Victoria (VicLink) will be a main contact for future support requirements and will be a part of co-ordinating specific donations etc. (see John Murrell and Christine Mackenzie’s email)

ALIA’s Victorian Local Liaison Officer, Margie Anderson (as the local contact) and President Derek Whitehead will be in touch with key Victorian stakeholders and supporters to arrange more collaborative efforts, and to determine most urgent needs, over the coming weeks.  Keep up-to-date via the  aliaVIC e-list as well as this blog.

A number of publishers, the Australian Publishers Association and vendors have been in contact with me and more news on supporting donations of new books is currently being arranged and these details will be announced soon.

ALIA is one of the pilar bodies of Blue Shield Australia.  Working with other pillar body volunteers, information through the AICCM is available on salvaging and preservation of damaged cultural and other family heirlooms and personal items.  Blue Shield pillar representatives will meet on Monday 23rd February at ALIA House to discuss further collaboration.

The Australian Law Librarians’ Association has made a donation to the Red Cross Fund.

The Oz-TL (Teacher Librarians) e-list has had messages advising of a Teddy Bear Drive.  Donations of new teddies has started and you can contact the following people for more information.   Kate Hole  khole@tpg.com.au  or Jeananne Brown
 BROWJEA1@lavalla.sale.catholic.edu.au    are the co-ordinators. Teddies can be POSTED to :  Mt. Lilydale Mercy College,  120 Anderson Street,  Lilydale  3140
or
Kildare Campus, Lavalla Catholic College, PO Box 1080, Traralgon  3844

or DELIVERED to  Werribee Primary School, Deutgam Street, Werribee
and Kildare Campus, Lavalla Catholic College, Kosciusko Street, Traralgon  3844
 Other school updates also at  SLAV Blog & aliaSchools e-list

I encourage all ALIA members to continue to show generosity of spirit and your support.  Please also let us know at ALIA National Office of your stories, and contributions to donations, by emailing me at  sue.hutley@alia.org.au 

Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director 

It is a little while since we took home the take home messages (the Board met in Brisbane on 14 July), but they are now available on the ALIA website, here. Perhaps the most significant message is that there will be a public libraries summit, most likely in Canberra, in March 2009. ALIA has allocated a budget to the process, and has called for expressions of interest for the position of project officer - advertised here.

What is the Summit for? The goal is to clarify and advance the policy agenda for public libraries at all three levels of government, and raise the profile of public libraries nationally. In particular, a key goal of the whole process is to demonstrate the many ways in which public libraries contribute to a wide range of policy goals.

The Summit process will be led by Jan Richards, Vice President of ALIA and a prominent public librarian, and will be assisted by ALIA’s Public Libraries Advisory Committee and its chair, Vicki McDonald. We are looking for a wide range of contributions from people with a strong public library commitment. If you are interested in being involved, please get in touch with Sue Hutley and offer your assistance.

There are a lot more take home messages, too. About advisory committees, the membership survey scheduled for October, IFLA2010 in Brisbane, Health Libraries Australia, and the ALIA National Library and Information Technicians Conferences 2009 in Adelaide.

Given the number of phone calls and emails I’ve received it’s surprising how many of you were “out and about” between 10 and 11 this morning and able to listen to Radio National, either that or you’d picked up on the gossip doing the rounds that public libraries were to feature on The Book Show.

It was a great opportunity to focus on the importance of the public library network and to talk about our successes and the challenges that confront us. I was joined on air by Andrew Finegan - performer and librarian at Darwin City Council library and the Northern Territory Library; Jill Bartholemeusz - librarian at the Athenaeum subscription library in Melbourne; and Audrey Semons - member of the Friends of Great Lakes Library  group from NSW.  I was there wearing several hats including of course my ALIA Vice-Presidential one (”ALIA red” of course!).

I rather enjoy radio interviews as it’s such a personal medium, besides which you don’t have to fuss over bad hair. However I found being involved in a discussion with 3 other interviwees rather disconcerting as you were never sure who the next question was going to be directed to. I would have loved to have spoken about some of Andrew’s topics

During the course of the week The Book Show had asked listeners to contact them with thoughts on public libraries and why they are important and they were overwhelmed by the response. The majority view was that public libraries are an incredibly valuable community resource and they deserve better treatment from government. This is no surprise to any of us but great feedback, especially when aired on the national broadcaster. Arranging the interview was an example of the high level of cooperation that exists between peak library bodies in Australia.

 If you’d like to listen the interview is available as a podcast following the link below. Have a great weekend - it’s bitterly cold and raining here in Orange. I’m desperately hoping for snow!

Cheers

Jan  

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bookshow/stories/2008/2262714.htm