ALIA Board Blog

I am sitting staring at a yacht skimming across the blue waters of Gothenburg, well I assume it is Gothenburg as it is just a photo on the wall of my hotel room in front of the desk that I am sitting at. 

The weather has been warm but overcast and the threat of rain looms at all times.  Like my colleagues from the ALIA board, I have had a busy week.  It started in Oslo at a joint pre conference satellite from the IFLA sections, Libraries Serving Persons with Special Needs (LSN), the Literacy and Reading section and the section I chair, Libraries serving persons with print disabilities (LPD).  Over the two days I heard many talks on the delivery of services to people with dementia, blind and dyslexic. But the main one that stood out for me was the report from the BUS-biblioteket which is a hospital library for children and young people. It is situated at the Queen Silvia hospital for children and young people in Gothenburg, which is the largest children and youth hospital of northern Europe. The library was awarded the prize ’Library of the year’ 2009-2010, which is appointed by DIK – the Swedish librarian´s trade union.  The activities and events they offer for the patients and visitors of the hospital are truly amazing, inspiring and impressive.

 Now in Gothenburg I have spent many hours in meetings, discussions on copyright especially limitations and exceptions.  Information meetings about recent  WIPO and standing committee discussions on the treaty for cross border lending of copyright material for the print disabled, the development of a manifesto for libraries serving persons with print disabilities, the Global Accessible Library and the Trusted Intermediary project, plus our own section committee meeting.  

Graham has advised that we were entertained by the ABBA cover group at the opening of the conference, who from a distance did look remarkably like ABBA back in the 80s.  Now I was not one of the many who got up an danced, ABBA is fine in small doses or through movies like muriels wedding but the rest of the audience did appreciate the chance to move their arms and hips.  

Over 3,000 delegates have converged on Gothenburg at the same time that the cultural festival is underway so you can imagine what a lively and exciting place it is to be.  Last night was the opening of the trade exhibition and the usual vendors were present, w that was interesting is the precence of family search, the church of the latter day saints geneaology software, this is the first time I have seen this group at a library conference. I wonder if Ancestry.com is taking their market share.   Ironically opposite their stand is the Ron L Hubbard booth, rows of books by the charismatic and infamous author are available for viewing, one wonders if this is a recruitment drive for the church of scientology or the selling of Ron’s books, probably both. 

This morning the key speaker, Henning Mankell, a renowned Swedish crime writer, occasional children’s author and dramatist, best known for a series of mystery novels starring his most iconic creation ,Inspector Kurt Wallander now made into a television drama and has recently aired in Australia spoke on literacy and dignity and the importance of improving literacy levels across the world and how important libraries are to this cause.

Join the Australian National year of reading 2012     http://www.love2read.org.au/

Julie Rae

Board member

The ALIA Every Member an Advocate national roadshow kicked off last week with workshops held in Darwin. Northern Territorians gathered at the Charles Darwin University library to hear Sue McKerracher present ALIA’s recommended approach to advocacy and lobbying and workshoped with participants on their local issues and individual library needs. The reason for the Every Member an Advocate workshops is that we all need to advocate on behalf of our own libraries and the profession.  At a national level, ALIA lobbies the federal government on a number of issues, working with the DEEWR (School Libraries, VET & PPP), Social Inclusion (Public Libraries), DBCDE (Broadband and Cybersafety), FAHCSIA (Access and Disability) and DEWHA (Libraries, the arts and literacy) and Innovation (BISG) on specific issues and programs or involved in Inquiries or Groups reporting to government.  http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy

Last week was also the launch of the Safer Internet Group’s website http://www.saferinternetgroup.org

ALIA is also there to lobby on behalf of libraries where a local team is unable to do so because of the constraints of their position.  There have again been recent reports of many restructures and industrial relations issues in public libraries around Australia.  Members are encouraged to contact us by email with your initial request for assistance regarding such matters or phone the MembersLine 1800 020071.

The workshops show just how easy it can be for everyone to become an effective advocate, without having to step too far outside their own comfort zone.  It’s such an important skill to have, we have made the advocacy workshops free for ALIA members, Please make the time and be a part of these events when they are held in your state or territory.   The feedback from the Darwin workshops has been positive with 26 people sharpening their advocacy skill-set - now there’s just a few more thousand to go!

Dates and locations for the workshops are on the ALIA PD calendar – visit http://www.alia.org.au/education/pd/pd.services/training.calendar.html 

Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director

Believe it or not we’ve just said farewell to the last day of summer and welcomed the first day of Autumn. Not only does that mean that we’re in for some cooler weather but it also means that we’er only 6 months away for ALIA Access 2010 in Brisbane. (Its also a reminder that my eldest daughter’s birthday is in 6 months time as well!)

Brisbane in September is normally beautiful – the days are warm and sunny and there is still a chill in the air (at least for us Queenslanders) in the evenings. While we don’t have much control over the weather we are looking forward to presenting our members and other delegates with a dynamic conference. We’ve only had 13 months to plan and deliver ALIA Access which is not much time to prepare and plan for a conference of this magnitude ( there’s nothing like a quickly looming deadline to focus the mind!) so we decided to do something different – a conference that’s more engaging and more focused on our members’ areas of interest.
I expect there will be a number of highlights for delegates. Firstly, there’s the stream or symposium approach to the conference. This will give each of the participating sectors or interest groups an opportunity to discuss, debate and showcase issues, trends and achievements in their own sector/area of interest. Secondly, there is also the converse -  the opportunity to engage with other sectors/interest groups. Thirdly, we’re trying new initiatives such as live videostreaming of selected sessions. It won’t be the same as being there but it will enable those who can’t attend the whole conference to  participate via the net. We’re still working on the finer details with this so once we’ve got it sorted we’ll advise members accordingly. Fourthly, a new approach to the conference dinner- what we’re calling the ‘Dine Around Dinner’.

I’ve been to some great conference dinners – good food, great music, good company. I’ve also attended some dinners where the alternative drop wasn’t what I would have wished for and the music was so loud I couldn’t talk to my colleagues at the same table. As we’re doing something different with the conference proper we thought we’d do something different for the Conference Dinner. Brisbane has some great restaurants around the conference venue in South Brisbane. The Dine Around’ dinner will give delegates the opportunity to chose their own restaurant from a selected list of establishments and when they get to the restaurant they’ll be able to chose their own food and drink up to a specified value. Delegates will be able to pre-book their restaurant with their registration. We’ll be encouraging delegates  to liaise with their colleagues prior to the conference about where they’d like to eat.

So, what am I hoping to get out of ALIA  Access 2010? Well, where do I start! Getting ideas and inspiration from other sectors. I work in the higher education sector. Over the past couple of years I’ve attended a couple of ‘broad church’ conferences where I’ve picked some really interesting strategies and  approaches to customer service from some the public libraries that probably wouldn’t have been discussed in my ‘home’ sector. Meeting members of ALIA from across the nation to discuss their needs, what the Association is doing well and what we can do to provide new and/or enhanced services. And finally, there is always catching up with colleagues over a coffee or a cleansing ale!

There is still a lot to prepare for the conference. The Conference Organising Committee consisting of ALIA members, ALIA National Office staff and staff from our Conference organiser, ICE, are working hard on the details. There is also a lot of work being undertaken by each of the stream organisers to pull the program together. Conferences like this just don’t happen without the involvement of a number of dedicated people!

Registration will be open soon, but if you can’t wait to find out more about ALIA Access 2010 check out the conference website at http://conferences.alia.org.au/access2010/

Graham

Graham Black

ALIA Vice President and Convenor, ALIA Access 2010 Organising Committee

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

Before October slips off the calendar I best do a few notes on the month that was…..  

[and Happy Thanksgiving (to our Canucks), Pink Ribbon Day and Halloween as it’s the end of the month - and Congrats to a couple of the ALIA staff who got Married this month]

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the 2009 National Advisory Congress meetings, and the Board and staff who made all the arrangements.  Take a look at the reports on Your Thoughts about ALIA and Lobbying and Advocacy.  http://www.alia.org.au/governance/nac/2009/

The Gov2.0 #gov2.0 twittering has also been interesting this month and this mashup competition also looks good  http://data.australia.gov.au/  - will a librarian team win ? 

The applications closed this month for the 2010 Aurora Institute - check out the new Foundation website at http://www.aurorafoundation.org.au/ 

Developing the next generation of library leaders is something that ALIA supports and the ALIA Aurora Scholarship may be offered again to a successful ALIA Member and Aurora applicant for the 2010 Institute.

ALIA has many (many) Awards and Scholarships http://www.alia.org.au/awards  and the Membership and Awards Standing Committee has been discussing and reviewing these.   Speaking of committees, we have had alot of members joining and retiring from Advisory Committees.  Did you know that we have Advisory Committee guidelines now?  Take a look here:-  http://www.alia.org.au/governance/committees/   The new Library Technician Advisory Committee will be forming soon as well.

This month a hand-picked print edition of a Harvard Business Review arrived in a package in the mail (thanks Dad) and it was nice to read a print copy of a journal  - it is still one of the things I miss about not being in an actual library - being able to browse the latest titles and journals on display.  I also started the latest Dan Brown novel.  I often wonder what is on the bedside bookshelf of other library-types (?) The latest print publication from IFLA also came in the mail - with lots of Aussie authors (Congratulations on your articles about Regenerating the Profession).     The future of reading has also been a topic of conversation this month.  At ALIA we have had some discussions about a Year of Reading for Australia in coming years - a proposal out of the ALIA Public Libraries Summit.  ALIA has produced a consultation paper on the draft National vision and framework for public libraries and we are seeking feedback from Summit delegates and all ALIA members by 11 December 2009.

ALIA also hosted the Public Library Associations Meeting in Townsville prior to the PLA/QPLA Conference.  The project has now started to produce National Standards for Public Libraries - with Libraries Alive being the consultants assisting with the project - and with a completion timeframe in the first half of 2010.  More information will be posted on this project on the ALIA and Summit websites.

A number of the ALIA Board and Staff members attended the informative CAVAL People in the Information Profession conference.  There were many comments about ALIA’s role in education, collaboration with educators and practitioners, careers and course recognition.   Take a look through the Course Recognition pages (yes, ALIA is the only Association to do CR out of the 50-or-so Australian Library Associations and organisations)    and the new ALIA Career Connect information launched this month. http://www.alia.org.au/careerconnect/ 

Course recognition visits and reports will be one of the major memories of October 2009 - the number of reports written, proofed, redrafted, corrected, recrafted and then sent, followed up, discussed, commented on and replies made will continue throughout the next months.   Our thanks for the patience of all of the LIS Educators for some of the waiting periods this year.   The LT Educators’ Annual Meeting weekend, held in Canberra on 23rd and 24th October was a great success with around 40 educators meeting to discuss the site visits that were conducted during 2009, to deliver best practice examples and to share two days of professional development. 

Rebuilding with Books has also been a huge project this year.  Thanks to Jane Grace and Sue McKerracher as ALIA Disaster Recovery Project Managers during 2009.  http://www.alia.org.au/disasterrecovery - great photos and stories on this site.

We finished the month with sad news of the passing of Kay Poustie, a treasured and revered member of ALIA and a great contributor to the Association and the Profession.  Links here :    http://aliaretirees.blogspot.com/    http://www.alia.org.au/awards/fellowships/1997a.html   I have already received many sincere and thoughtful condolence messages from members, and these will be collated for the Poustie Family and the ALIA community.

Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director

Spring in Canberra and the blossoms are out at ALIA House.

How time (and the travel kilometres) flies past.   The IFLA Milan Congress turned out to be a busy week of meetings and sessions for all the Aussies who attended.  The thing I like, is that even though you can’t be in many places at once, between all the 2.0 and other links from IFLA,  Flickr, Twitter and Facebook friends photos, I can piece together lots of the conference sessions that I missed out on.  

Over the past few months Dr Gill Hallam (acting as Chair of the Panels), Dianne Walton-Sonda (ALIA Education Manager) and a number of library technician practitioners have visited all nineteen Institutions and RTO’s delivering the Diploma in Library and Information Studies to undertake course recognition site visits for the first time in 10 years.  This has been one of our big projects over the past 18 months.  While the site visits have concluded, the reports are still being put together.  A representative from all institutions will attend the ALIA Annual Library Technician Educators’ meeting in Canberra in October to share best practice examples and talk more about ALIA Course Recognition processes.

Library technicians and significant others around Australia are planning their suitcase packing with only a few days until the ALIA Library and Information Technicians Conference in Adelaide.  Thanks in advance to the conference committee ‘Team Adelaide’, for their hours and hours of effort coming to fruition in the coming days.  It just seemed like yesterday that the committee and ALIA staff were having a drink in the bar across the road from the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne after the last conference two years ago, to start the enthusiasm and planning for Adelaide.   This year there will be abit of a theme at the dinner which should be fun –  “ It is 30 years since the first Library and Information Technicians Conference, so celebrate in style by wearing your favourite outfit from the past 30 years. A prize will be awarded for the best outfit!”   and keep up with things at http://twitter.com/LibTecsConf09

Over the past few weeks we have taken a slight breath after the ALIA Public Libraries Summit and have begun the basics of a plan for the next few months.  We will keep in touch with news to public libraries through our ALIA PLAssoc e-list (some of you would be getting the forwarded messages) as well as on the Summit website and blog and we will be meeting many public librarians at the PLA Conference in Townsville in October.

Two newer ALIA Projects also continue their important work :  The Living Libraries Australia website got transferred to ALIA this week, and the ALIA Disaster Recovery Project is getting ready for Rebuilding with Books - helping Black Saturday families.

I hope many of you are planning to attend a National Advisory Congress meeting near you – or why not join us on the phone if you can’t make it in person for whatever reason.  It is a great opportunity to have your voice heard as to how the Association can improve in the area of Lobbying and Advocacy (rated in our Membership survey as high importance).

With it being the 9^th month of 2009, here is a list of 9 things to remember to do this month  :

1. Attend the 2009 ALIA Library and Information Technicians Conference (yes, you can still register at the last minute), or put it in your diary to keep up with the papers and blogging and tweets from 15^th-18^th September.
2. Renew your ALIA membership ( if you haven’t renewed in 09 yet, your access to Members’ Only areas and the online journals has now been stopped).  Even better - encourage nine colleagues to join as new ALIA members this month to help us make a strong library association.
3. Put in your diary to attend one of the (more than nine) ALIA NAC meetings near you, or comment on the papers or join one of the teleconferences.  (Adelaide and Brisbane are on on 09/09/09 b.t.w.)
4. Catch up on any missed episodes of the ABC TV The Librarians II series shows  - and watching it at 9pm on 9^th September (with lots of Victorian librarians featured tonight in this last episode).
5. Make sure you have registered for other library events happening around the country – ALIA Top End Syposium09 in Darwin, ALIA Acquisitions Seminar in Adelaide,  and ASLA09 in Perth, PLA09 in Townsville, CAVAL09 in Melbourne, PLM09 in Sydney.
6. Borrow nine items from your local public library this month – librarians are sometimes the best and worst library borrowers J
7. Brush up on your internet searching  skills to find a few more suggestions for how to celebrate on 09/09/09
8. Do a quick Benchmarking exercise -  your library service against nine others that might be similar – check out what they are doing and compare innovations, spaces, services, staffing.   Think of nine new things you would like to do @ your library.
9. Get back in touch with nine library colleagues you haven’t talked to lately – networking and sharing stories and experiences is a key part of our collaborative profession.

SueHutley,  ALIA Executive Director, sue.hutley@alia.org.au 

What have you been viewing, reading and listening to this month ?   Here are a just a few on my list for the month of April :

Catching up again on some very interesting TV episodes of Q&A and InSight – with Minister Conroy … and reading the papers and reports from the Cyber-safety Working Group meeting I attended.   Listening again to the ABC Radio Ideas Festival episode in Queensland with lots of familiar ‘library’ voices from around the country.   I am catching up on some professional reading through our new ALIA LIS Journal package. Full-text articles that I have missed having access to (back to a little bit of librarian heaven).  

This month we advertised the part-time contract position of ALIA Disaster Recovery Project Manager and applications have now closed, which I am now going through.   I am also reading the updates from Jane Grace, currently acting in this position – and she’s doing a great job.  Check out the BACwiki linked from the ALIA Disaster Recovery webpage.   Related meeting documents include starting to finalise the Blue Shield Australia Operational Guidelines and Forward Plan  and MayDay material.

More reading – with the call for submission documents for the Not-for-Profit review and the FOI Legislations review. Hoping that some of our members and colleagues from other Library Associations in Australia will assist us with good quality joint submissions. Speaking of submissions, there are some really interesting one’s that we have received for the ALIA Public Libraries Summit – with the new date being announced as 16 July 2009. Take a look!     There’s also the recent Canberra Times article written by ALIA Government Publications Advisory Committee Chair, Roxanne Missingham.   Guess I should add up these reading points for my ALIA PD Scheme documentation, and see what other things are included in the latest PD postings and the new Institutional member newsletter LIS Management in Focus .  I have been attempting some Web2.0 professional development reading too,  on Twitter in particular.  Thanks to my friends who have suggested some good videos and websites for me to ‘get ready’. 

I looked through the websites and picked out some ALIA & IFLA information and transformed them into Trivia Questions that we all did after-dinner at the 2009 ALIES Conference in beautiful Mt Macedon at the EMA Training Centre. I had forgotten how ‘particular’ librarians are with trivia questions and answers, and will refine the questions much better if I do that again, but it was lots of fun :-)        I’ve been looking through a lot of Association websites recently - especially the 52 or so  library associations and organisations in Australia.   Jan Richards (incoming ALIA President) and I will be contacting all of the Executives of all of these Associations and Organisations in the coming weeks.

Some of the other reports crossing my mouseclicks include the PWC CEO’s Report for 2009 - with the phrase “We’re all in this [the GFC] together” ringing true.

And lastly, my ipod music - what I really can’t do without.  Top 10 to Classical downloaded this month … a good mix to listen to.

I hope that you too have had some interesting reading, viewing and music that has helped you along this month.

Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director

ALIA has been represented on the National Living Libraries Strategy Project Steering Committee and working with other reps on the committee over the past couple of years to further and assist with the Living Libraries Australia Strategy which has been a project funded by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and supported by Lismore City Council.     Does your library have a ‘living library’  ??  See the list of libraries and other organisations involved here.  It’s not just public libraries that conduct living libraries  - University, school and TAFE libraries are also involved.

Future developments include the production of a promotional CD about Living Libraries and living books.  There are already great resources available at the website to help your library start a living library project.

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