ALIA Board Blog

Today is the last day of Library Day in the Life 6.  There is even a #libday6 Twitter Fountain.

The weekend is often a time for reading, writing, listening and thinking. 

READING:- Just a few bits for this weekend include - OCLC’s Perceptions of Libraries 2010 report & Gartners 2011 Tech Predictions (via twitter).  I am also catching up on the Google Australia blog and tweets, seeing as I will be introducing fellow Safer Internet Group member, Iarla Flynn on Tuesday at ALIA Information Online.  

I have a couple of library news feeds and this one came through :  South Korea to Open 180 Libraries, UK to Cut 400 (& mention of ALIA Disaster Recovery resources and Australian libraries and floods).        and all the tweets for #ALIAioc of course.

This coming week if you are an ALIA Member you will be hearing about our support for our colleagues in the UK and we hope that you join in the Save our Libraries Day campaign on 5th February 2011.  Tweet, blog and email to let the world know that libraries are valuable, and should not be closed.

WRITING:  I needed to do a few notes for speeches for the coming week at #ALIAioc. Also the finishing touches to a brief submission this time for Book Industry Strategy Group (I always wish for more comments from members for our submissions as we mostly get only a handful of comments or less).     Also a few notes for our Boardroom Bound workshop session tomorrow.  Have you thought about becoming a board director?  ALIA conducts these sessions usually at our larger conferences.   And finally the writing has included this blog post.  I have enjoyed doing abit more blog writing this week (it is my 5th Anniversary of blogging and starting as ALIA ED this month), but may have to cut back abit as conferences, board meetings and travels start to overtake the next few weeks.  I will try to be more regular with my 2011 blogging now that #libday6 has finished.

THINKING and LISTENING:  It’s good to have some uninterrupted time to think, plan, ponder, create, consider ideas.  I love driving (except for extreme long trips) and the four hours from Canberra to Sydney (with a good Coffee Stop in the middle) is a good amount of easy driving time.  It’s also great listening with the iPod on shuffle, including a few new songs downloaded before the trip to mix it up abit.  Music is the other thing that keeps me going.

Tonight,  a walk around Darling Harbour and Pyrmont, and a beautiful Sydney sunset, before the next week at a fantastic ALIA Conference. 

Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director

It’s been a busy few weeks on the ALIA advocacy front ….

ALIA continues to work with the Safer Internet Group  to lobby for a more effective and efficient suite of methods to provide Australian children with a safer experience online - rather than spending tax-payer dollars on mandatory ISP filtering of URL’s.  There has been a variety of media again in the last few days  [ selection here : Google vs Australia : new net censorship battle   & Google and Yahoo criticise ‘heavy handed’ internet plans  ] of our partners telling their stories to the world. 

The Inquiry into School Libraries and Teacher Librarians was called and submissions are due in a very quick timeframe - ALIA will need to finalise it’s submission by Thursday 15th April.   You can send your comments relating to the Terms of Reference to advocacy@alia.org.au . This is an incredibly significant opportunity for all within the Australian library sector - Why? some of you may ask (especially if you don’t work in a school library).  Here are just a few reasons (from my perspective) :

1.  This is the first library-focussed House of Representatives Inquiry in a very long time  2.  School libraries are often the most memorable experiences that many young Australians have of libraries  - we all remember our school librarian - and this is our opportunity to suggest how the school library experience can be improved 3.  Qualified Teacher Librarians are becoming scarcer these days - we need more of them  4.  Teacher Librarians contribute to the literacy levels of young Australians and assist with teaching information literacy and digital literacy skills which are going to be so important in our future digital economy  5.  The Australian Government has spent millions on building new libraries as part of the B.E.R - but we know that a room full of books and chairs does not facilitate what a library really is, and should be   6.  Those in public libraries work with school children for their educational and recreational reading and information needs and while many public libraries work closely with their local school library staff - collections and services could be better co-ordinated and utilised   7.  Those working in TAFE and University Libraries see the next phase of the learner life-cycle (and the influences that teacher librarians during school have on students)    8.  Those working in special libraries see the results of teacher librarians doing a great job by teaching young people how to use libraries effectively and become information literate workers

So, school libraries and teacher librarians have a great influence on our profession.  It’s time to make your comments, contribute and get involved  (that’s what advocating is about).  ALIA and ASLA (the Australian School Library Association) are working together but on separate submissions.  I am also pleased to hear that a number of the State Public Library Associations will be putting in submissions.  Individuals and other organisations connected with school libraries are also planning to meet the 16th April deadline to submit their thoughts, suggestions and ideas.   Following the submissions we will be preparing (in quick time again) for public hearings in each state and the presentation to the committee by the Library Associations in Canberra in May.   More information will be posted to this page over the coming months - http://www.alia.org.au/schoollibraries

There has also been lots of news around the budget cuts to Western Australian library funding  : Big Cuts put Local Libraries at risk - 29 March 2010  & Reverse Library budget cuts - Opposition - 30 March 2010    and  ABC WA Blog - and links .    This issue does not end with a few media reports last week - we will be posting further suggestions on advocating for improved funding to this page shortly  - http://www.alia.org.au/publiclibraries .

Remember -  every member can be an advocate - and we thank you for your support and your input to these important national issues.

Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director

Today ALIA joined with another not-for-profit organisation, the Inspire Foundation, as well as internet giants Google Australia and Yahoo! Australia to release a joint statement of Core Principles to further engage in the community debate against proposed mandatory ISP internet filtering.  We have been working with these organisations to encourage the government to make amendments to their proposed legislation, being tabled at the Autumn session.   Read the ALIA media release and the Core Principles statement at  http://www.alia.org.au/internetfiltering

ALIA has been lobbying on this issue for decades, but really it goes back to the core values of libraries and library staff -  the two key points that relate to this issue  from the ALIA Constitutional Objects and our Core Values  are :

“To promote the free flow of information and ideas in the interest of all Australians and a thriving culture, economy and democracy”   and  “Promotion of the free flow of information and ideas through open access to recorded knowledge, information, and creative works.”   

We are concerned that URL filtering is only one very small part of removing illegal material that assists in child protection.  We know that most of the activity relating to child pornography and child abuse occurs with direct contact, chat rooms and peer-to-peer networking  - that’s why we want a greater increase in funding for the expertly trained AFP Child Protection unit.

ALIA will continue to work with ACMA on educating library staff, children, parents, carers and the community on safer internet surfing.   The http://www.cybersmart.org.au website should be high on all of our Favourites list and spread amongst our networks.  The videos for library staff are a great professional development activity.  We know that parents and carers want more information and sessions to update their knowledge to assist children with creating a safer environment in the digital economy.  As the Education Revolution laptops roll out to each school, a comprehensive national education program on cybersafety should be joining them.  This means additional government funding to internet safety education.

For an excellent summary of the proposed filtering and RC Classication, and what other countries do to reduce illegal internet material,  take a look through Untangling the Net.

We recently asked our members to submit feedback to the RC Classification submission, and members can continue to take the opportunity to comment through our advocacy@alia.org.au email.  Look out for the notifications of forthcoming submissions during the year.  We also thank our partner library associations who joined with us for this submission.

Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director

This week in Canberra we celebrated the launch of Information Awareness Month at the National Archives of Australia  - and who better to celebrate with than with politicians, the Canberra tradition !  

Senator Faulkner gave an interesting speech at the launch that was also attended by Senator Lundy, outlining the FOI Review.   To quote from the speech -  “ The draft Information Commissioner Bill 2009 and Freedom of Information Amendment (Reform) Bill 2009, have been released for public consultation. They will deliver the first substantial overhaul of the federal Freedom of Information regime since the Act’s inception in 1982.   The legislation will also implement a new Commonwealth Government publication scheme. This publication scheme will require agencies to actively consider the types of information they have which can and should be made available to the public. It will not only encourage, but mandate, agencies to publish what they can lawfully publish – forcing a change of attitude for agencies to think about what they should be publishing rather than what they are obliged to. ”

 Submissions are due this coming week and ALIA has asked other key library peak bodies to join them in a combined submission for this review.  Chair of the ALIA Government Publications Advisory Committee, Roxanne Missingham is leading this submission.  You thoughts and comments as ALIA members are still welcome.  Send them to jane.hardy@alia.org.au by Tuesday 12th May. 

ALIA is pleased to join with many other information-related Associations in Information Awareness Month.  Take a look at the website for events near you during the month.