ALIA Board Blog

I have been meaning to blog - really, truly - but I’ve sort of got out of the habit.  I have to say that 2011 has started off so unexpectedly for so many Australians that we have all been abit distracted. I hope to use committing to #libday6 (website here, facebook here, twitter here) to put together a few summaries of some of the things ALIA is doing at the moment, abit of what my ‘day job’ is like, reflections on what I do as Executive Director of the national peak body for libraries in Oz, and why I am *still* a librarian even though it is not my current job title!

I have been watching Library Day in the Life since it’s inception and for the past week have been musing - ‘will I, or won’t I’.  Looking at this next week there is alot on as usual, so I hope my late night writings can do it justice. 

So how was today?  Sometimes I feel abit like that Gary Larson cartoon of always being on the phone  (On the way to work in the car handsfree, at the Office and on the mobile wherever I am)  I had the usual wide range of phone calls today, mostly relating to Disaster Recovery with our Queensland and Victorian colleagues.  If you have not been near the TV lately, a great proportion of Australia has been under water with devastating floods, and we will be recovering for quite awhile.  ALIA has been involved with Blue Shield Australia since 2005 and we undertook an extensive library disaster recovery projects in 2009/10 following the Victorian Bushfires. Check out the current links and resources on the ALIA website.   Our first Disaster Recovery Project Manager, Jane Grace recorded her story of being a librarian in the middle of a major natural disaster.  My calls today and over the past few weeks to people in Ipswich, Toowomba and Brisbane indicate that similar stories of library contributions to their communities are happening again - storytelling at recovery centres, co-ordination of assistance, support, and a safe place to be in the craziness of what else is happening.  We have been starting to get reports and photos in from Victorian library colleagues as well.  Our best wishes to them as the waters finally start to receed.

I also caught up with ALIA President, Graham Black, (Leader of our Board of Directors) on the phone as he is now back in Rockhampton, to have some time to update him on a few things and chat about our itinerary for next week - our biggest conference ALIA Information Online.  Looking at all the meetings, functions and activities we need to be involved in next week, I am glad I have been keeping fit.  It’s a full week, non-stop, but we are all looking forward to seeing so many members in Sydney very soon.

My Publishing Manager and I talked through the ALIA Annual Report that we are starting to write for the 2010 calendar year.  It’s very much a combined effort. 

Part of my job is to connect our profession across the sectors (TAFE, University, School, Public and Special Libraries), and disasters prove that all library sectors face similar issues.  I hope that I can connect more of us together at times like this, to learn from past experience and to create opportunities for us to provide effective (useful) recovery projects for libraries and library staff.  We have around 50 library associations and organisations in Australia and ALIA connects and works with many of them when combined effort is needed.  Tonight I am working on proposals for us to combine efforts, collaborate and connect for what will be the next phase of ALIA’s Disaster Recovery Projects.

Many of you would know your Library Association’s Executive Director or CEO - our job is wide ranging, always full of variety, a privilege and very rewarding.  This week I will probably only talk about a snapshot of all that we might deal with in any one day.

Lets see what interesting things are on the agenda for tomorrow for the next #libday6….

Sue Hutley,  ALIA Executive Director  sue.hutley@alia.org.au

librarydayinthelife

If I asked you what was the first day of the week would you reply Sunday or Monday? The reason for my question lies in this week’s ‘big’ project, my involvement in A Day in the Life of a Library Worker. The commencement day for this week long expose of what I get up to as President of ALIA (Australian Library and Information Association) is Monday, which I guess is fair enough as it’s the beginning of the working week. 

Call me old fashioned but I have always thought of Sunday as the 1st day of the week and it was only just before Christmas when in my ‘real’ job I was working with our graphic designers on a calendar to celebrate 150 years of local government here in Orange, NSW, Australia that the concept that it could be otherwise hit home. Opinion is mixed with Wikipedia recording it can be either depending on religion or location. As a chronic procrastinator I like this answer as  it gives me 2 days which I can describe as ‘the start of the week’ when avoiding deadlines.

So what deadlines do I have this week (and more truthfully, what am I procrastinating about)? The lovely Kate, editor of ALIA’s monthly magazine inCite is on my case about my introduction for the 2009 Annual Report with my Frontline column for the March edition not far behind. That girl can nag in the nicest possible way :-)!

The latter is easy peasy as the theme for the March edition if inCite is reading, something I’m passionate about from a professional and personal point of view. ALIA is excited to be working with our partners towards a National Year of Reading in 2012, something we’ve wanted to do for some time. We’ll be announcing details soon. As for the Annual Report that should be a piece of cake but all the great things we did last year far outnumber the  word limit I’ve been allocated (I admit it, I’m hopeless at Twitter!). 

One of the challenges of being the head of any professional association is the juggling act of ‘real’ vs ‘honorary’ job. In the real (read paid) job my estimates for the 2010/2011 financial year are due. In the changing environment in which we work looking ahead for even 12 months can be a challenge with emerging technologies and new products jostling for attention. There’s also the chance of golden opportunities which need to be embraced when they arise. This requires a flexible approach and an informed and skilled workforce - attributes which can be developed through engagement with initiatives such as ALIA’s PD scheme. Which reminds me (and you) to include ALIA membership as a ‘must’ in the budget.

I can put it off no longer, the dreaded Excel spreadsheet calls!  Cheers.

Jan

Jan Richards, ALIA President.

librarydayinthelife

 The team behind my earlier performance were particularly keen on a re-run; believe me we created a monster during that exercise when a borrowed video recorder and a whiteboard on wheels masquerading as an autocue created a sense of ‘Cecil B DeMille’ amongst my colleagues. Luckily fate in the form of the pre-Christmas rush put such silliness to rest and my on-line Yuletide presence is limited to this blog.  

We all have “must read” blogs in our lives. One of mine (apart from this one!) is written by Kathy Doughty from Material Obsession. Last week she captured my mood when she wrote:

I always find this time of year very reflective.  The calendar mind map is always interesting as the year stretches out ahead and then, as if by magic, it is so many pages turned.  I can’t help but stop and sit for a minute and review all the wonder of the past year.   

2009 has been a huge year for ALIA. I will remember it as the year in which we:

• Integrated the results of the member survey into our planning and as a result focused on your # 1 priority, lobbying and advocacy, at the National Advisory Congress

• Weathered the global financial crisis

• Contributed to the discussion on issues affecting our industry; the National Broadband Network, Parallel Importation and internet filtering (to name a few)

• Enhanced the range of PD opportunities including access to online resources and current awareness services

• Worked with fire devastated Victorian communities in the Rebuilding with Books project

• Hosted the first Australian Public Libraries Summit which has led to the development of a Vision and National Framework for the sector

• Delivered Library and Information Week, Summer Reading Club and National Simultaneous Storytime

• Collaborated with other library and information associations

• Held a stand out Library Technician’s Conference in Adelaide

• Worked with LIS educators to accredit courses

• Supported IFLA in their decision to relocate the 2010 Congress to Gothenburg

• Embraced Library 2.0 technologies

And they’re just the things I was able to come up with on a hot December afternoon following a lunch time of shopping.

None of this would have been possible without our:

• fabulous ALIA National Office staff

• Local Liaison Officers

• dedicated Board of Directors

• committed volunteers

• and you our loyal members.

To you all a huge thank you.

As we count down the final days of 2009 I would like to send you all my very warmest wishes for the festive season. It has been a great pleasure to meet, work and reconnect with many of you during the year and I look forward to more of the same in 2010.

Jan

Jan Richards, ALIA President

It was with great excitement this morning I logged on to my bloglines account to see that Michael Stephens (Tame the Web) is coming to speak in Australia early 2008 as part of a CAVAL course.

While I am a big fan of a number of witty library technology blogs and often have monthly favourites that I get a kick out of reading, Michael’s blog would have to be my all-time favourite which I read religiously every morning.

So if I sound a bit like an over-enthused fan in this post - that’s because I am

If you are into practical ‘2.0′ work, driven by user need and free of fads for the sake of technology, I urge all ALIA members to try to see Michael while he is in Australia. He is the bomb.

I am going to email him now to see if he has any spare time on his trip over to meet with ALIA members (with my Director hat on and my biggest fan in Australia hat off - I don’t want to scare him) 

Katy
ALIA Director