Archive for the ‘ALIA PLAC’ Category

Fancy a trip to Sydney?

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

 

Bet that subject line caught your attention! .. read on

The ALIA Biennial will be held at the Hilton Hotel, Sydney between 10-13 July 2012. 

 

The Organising Committee has borrowed the theme Discover from the National Year of Reading (also in 2012) and this offers a wealth of opportunities for thought provoking presentations. There will be an engaging and relevant theme for public libraries throughout the program which you can contribute to.

The Conference Organising Committee is now inviting abstract submissions relating to the conference themes. Check out the website for further details about the ‘hows’ and remember the abstract submission deadline – Wednesday 30 November 2011  

 

Start planning now!

 

Cheers

Jan

Jan Richards, Chair ALIA Public Libraries Advisory Committee

 

 

 

Posted in ALIA, ALIA Biennial Sydney 2012, ALIA PLAC | No Comments »

Will the Cats make it a trifecta?

Friday, September 30th, 2011

A day out from the 2011 AFL Grand Final many will associate the Victorian city of Geelong with the hopefully victorious Cats (that’s of course unless you’re a Collingwood supporter). But Geelong has another reason to celebrate this week.

patti20head20shot202

Geelong Regional Library CEO, Patti Manolis has been selected as the only Australian participant to join the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s inaugural International Network of Emerging Library Innovators (INELI). The program will be launched at the LIANZA Conference in October. Patti  will  join 19 others from around the world who represent the UK, Kenya, Netherlands, Chile, Botswana, Germany, Philippines, Kyrgyzstan, Egypt, China, South Africa and New Zealand.

Congratulations Patti, this is fantastic news!

Geelong was also successful in the first round of Regional Development Australia Grant Funding with its application for the new Geelong Library and Heritage Centre announced earlier this month which will be a project to watch.

Come on Cats, do your city proud, make it a trifecta :-)

Cheers

Jan

Jan Richards, Chair ALIA PLAC

Posted in ALIA PLAC, Library Buildings | No Comments »

Beat this one!

Friday, October 15th, 2010

As we near the tail end of our ‘big and little’ competition we have a spectacular entry from Manly Library who have submitted details of their MANLY AFLOAT mobile library service (in the smallest library category!).  The MANLY AFLOAT vehicle has been servicing the commuters on Manly Wharf between 7:15am and 9:15am Monday to Friday since 2007. The vehicle measures 1.15m wide and 3.35m long. It has 5.72 linear metres of face out display shelving, which can take up to 4 books deep.  The service has its own stock, just like a physical branch library.  Library users can return the main Library stock through this service, and order/reserve the main Library stock as well.  A handheld PDA is used to issue and return books, it’s an offline system which is loaded daily into the Library circulation system.

 

Richard Barclay the Library Assistant who manages the service also regularly answers Community Information questions, tourist questions, bus & transport questions… and he knows all the answers!

The MANLY AFLOAT vehicle at Manly Wharf with Manly Library staff member Richard Barclay

The MANLY AFLOAT vehicle at Manly Wharf with Manly Library staff member Richard Barclay

 

 

 

A big thanks to Louise McMorland, Youth Librarian at Manly for sending this entry in.

 

Cheers

 

Jan

Jan Richards, Chair ALIA PLAC

 
 

Posted in ALIA PLAC, Library Buildings, Public Libraries | No Comments »

You know what they say …

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

Good things come in small packages. Must be true as everyone is very keen to tell me about their ’small’ library (and they all look gorgeous).

Kate Hithersay, Library Manager at Derby Public Library  was the first person to respond when I sent out my appeal with a question, did a ‘temporary’ site count? Needless to say I was intrigued and demanded more details. Kate explains:

Fitzroy Crossing is in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia.  It is located 2686 km north of Perth, 258 km east of Derby. Among other facilities the town once boasted the Tarunda Shopping Centre (where the Post Office lived), a dedicated Public Library and a dedicated Tourist Centre.

 

Then in July 2009 disaster struck!! The shopping centre burnt down. The Post Office had no where to go and apparently as a Post Office takes precedence over a Public Library (???), the PO moved into the library space. The library resources were packed up and put in the storeroom for the time being.  However, the library members revolted at this insult and the library was forced to reopen in December 2009, sharing space with the Tourist Centre (temporarily).This once proud library has know been reduced to a space of 20.2 sq metres.

 

pict0988

 

pict0989

 

 Good news though, the new improved Fitzroy Crossing Public Library is to re open towards the end of this year.

We’ll make sure Kate keeps us updated on that! Keep your stories coming in.

Cheers

 

Jan

 

Jan Richards, Chair, ALIA PLAC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in ALIA PLAC, Library Buildings, Public Libraries | No Comments »

Mine is bigger/smaller than yours!

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010
The ALIA Public Libraries Advisory Committee has been asked to identify Australia’s biggest and smallest library - and so the search begins. Does your Library qualify for one of these titles? I know we should trust you but if you want to be involved you’ll have to get the tape measure out and supply us with sq metreage so we can confirm to confirm a definite winner in each category. Oh, and a photo would be great. All entries should be with  me by COB Friday 15th October jrichards@orange.nsw.gov.au. Will there be a prize? Yes indeed there will be a certificate, some lovely (yet to be arranged) publicity and maybe something else. We’ll be progressively posting your stories here.
 
To get your creative juices started you might want to look at this story about a library in a phone box in North Yorkshire. It takes the term ‘re-purposing’ to a totally new level.
 
Have a great day
 
Jan
Jan Richards, Chair,  ALIA PLAC

Posted in ALIA PLAC, Public Libraries | No Comments »