Archive for the ‘Summit Information’ Category

More news about Public Library Ambassadors

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009

When Jan Richards officially launched the Public Library Ambassadors campaign at the Summit on 16 July, we had four ambassadors signed up.  Now we have five.

720 ABC Perth radio presenter Russell Woolf has come on board.  With thousands of listeners tuning in every weekday to hear his program, Loclib’s Julie Caddy is delighted that he has agreed to be a voice for public libraries in WA, along with Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan.

You can check out all our ambassadors on our new ALIA Public Library Ambassador Flickr site and find out more about the campaign on our Library Ambassadors page.

Sue McKerracher, Project Officer

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Today’s the day!!

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

As I type this, and probably as you read this, the Public Libraries Summit is underway!

It has been a very exciting year for the Public Libraries Advisory Committee (PLAC). My time on the committee beginning with the ‘Library Stars’ event at last year’s biennial conference, ongoing evaluation of ALIA policies, submissions to government organisations, the library ambassadors program, the little book of public libraries and, of course, now the summit.

Regular updates from the summit are being tweeted by @ALIANational with the keyword #Summit09 and include summaries of who is saying what, photographs and more information about the summit.

I think now is the time to say ‘Thank you’ to my colleagues on PLAC who have worked very hard getting these projects underway. You may think that being on an ALIA Committee is all consuming – but it’s not! We all hold down full-time positions outside of PLAC and have the extremely satisfying benefit of seeing the results of our efforts being well supported by ALIA members and interested stakeholders.

Kathryn Cass

ALIA Public Libraries Advisory Committee Member

P.S. Don’t forget to follow what’s happening at the summit via Twitter at http://twitter.com/ALIANational

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Tomorrow is only a day away!

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
The Public Libraries Summit tomorrow pulls together a number of different threads that we’ve been working on over the last few months.  There will be an important announcement about Public Library Standards; the first outing for the Little Book of Public Libraries, and the national launch of the Public Library Ambassadors campaign.  In advance of the latter, ALIA has assisted local library services with a few pilot projects and you can see the first ambassadors on our new Flickr site - www.flickr.com/photos/aliapubliclibraries.  We’re delighted to have such a good spread of personalities, across three states, but this is only the start.  Why not use the toolkit at http://www.alia.org.au/governance/committees/public.libraries/summit09/public.library.ambassadors.html to recruit your own library ambassador and start generating those news headlines for your library service?
Jan Richards
ALIA President

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Summit Submissions and why you should read them!

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

As the time draws nearer to the Public Libraries Summit, why not check out what will be discussed by reading the Submissions made by your colleagues and other interested parties!

The submissions are on many varied topics such as Early childhood education and literacy, the development of closer ties between public libraries and healthcare professionals, the role public libraries play in society, and public libraries and access to electronic databases and information online.

There are also regional submissions from NSW, Vic, Qld, WA and SA

One of my favourite submissions is from Jenn Martin about A Bibliotherapy Partnership between Public Libraries and Health Services. I had heard of ‘Books on prescription’ before and thought “What a great idea!” but then never got around to implementing it! Reading Jenn’s submission reiterated to me the importance of public libraries collaborating with other government and community organisations to promote the ideals that all public libraries stand for… namely “social inclusion, literacy, [and] life-long learning”. We all know that there are some great health related resources in our libraries to help people, but do our patrons? Do doctors and hospitals and their patients know? Developing a strong Bibliotherapy partnership and program, I believe, will help fill this information gap!

All the submissions make for very interesting reading! So check them out. And don’t forget to register the points in the ‘professional reading’ category for the ALIA PD Scheme.

Kathryn Cass

ALIA Public Libraries Advisory Committee Member

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Public Libraries - the heart of the “cultural” community!

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

We’re always talking about how public libraries add value to their communities – it’s one of the foundation stones of the forthcoming ALIA Public Libraries Summit. If we needed further evidence of this we need go no further than the results of the 2009 NSW Cultural Awards  which were presented last Friday. Public libraries shone brightly with their innovative and engaging projects.

Congratulations to Randwick City Library Service whose winning project Migrant’s Story provided a unique opportunity for children and older migrants to interact, form lasting relationships and experience life from another’s point of view.

The uplifting stories were collated into a book which was launched by Peter Garrett AM, Member for Kingsford Smith and Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Arts. The stories that the young participants have created has provided a lasting record of multicultural history for generations to come.

Kogarah Library and Cultural Services’ highly commended Connecting Community and Culture project provided the opportunity to connect people from differing age groups, socio-economic and cultural backgrounds through planned community and cultural events, workshops and exhibitions undertaken throughout 2008, The cultural programs bought a new element to traditional Library services and positioned the Library as a cultural hub.

Hurstville City Library, Museum & Gallery was also highly commended for their collaborative approach to inspiring events, innovative exhibitions, and technological tools to engage their diverse communities. The  Chinese community was celebrated in Kung Hei Fat Choy, a photographic exhibition and collection display; Indigenous artists worked with Hurstville City Library, Museum & Gallery in the extremely popular Annette Webb and Friends exhibition; while schools, children/families participated in Show Offs! an exhibition of artworks from three special schools.

Well done to all 3 libraries - I hope you celebrated appropriately!

Jan Richards

ALIA Vice-President

 

 

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Today was to be the day !

Thursday, March 26th, 2009

Well,  it was to be today  - the ALIA Public Libraries Summit that is.

I have been in nearly daily contact with Senator Stephens’ office over the past couple, of weeks working with the staff there on confirming another suitable date for July.    As their event planning does not yet quite extend into July - we will have to wait a little longer for the new date.

In the meantime, there is still more news on Summit activities  :

Sue McKerrecher  (Ambassador Project Officer) has been working with libraries on getting their Ambassador program off the ground.  This hands-on support seems to be assisting, and ALIA has been pleased to offer this to public libraries.

Submissions have all been very interesting reading and PLAC, Board members and staff are now putting together the themes into further documents as preparation for the Summit.   If you would like to make any comments on any of the submissions, please email the ALIA Public Libraries Summit Project Officer.

The Public Library Associations have met via teleconference early March and will be meeting face-to-face in Parkes in late June just prior to the Public Libraries New South Wales - Country Symposium.

We are still working hard in the background on documents and other initiatives  - more news on the Blog and website over the coming weeks.

Sue Hutley,  ALIA Executive Director

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Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Last week I felt a little like to mother of the bride! The invitations had been sent, the venue had been booked, we’d decided on catering and seating plans, and some fabulous gifts  (read submissions) were pouring in. Unfortunately the people we really  wanted to be there were reluctantly unable to come at this time. It was a bit like a wedding without the bridal party.

So after a good deal of consultation we decided to postpone, a decision that’s been met with understanding and support. We hope to be able to confirm the new date in the next few days but in the interim please focus on how you can be part of this momentous event.

You can do this in a number of ways. The later date means we’re still accepting submissions so if you’d been considering writing one but time had gotten the better of you don’t despair! We’ll be putting the ones that we’ve received up on the website in the next week and this may give you feed for thought.

I’d also encourage you to become involved in the Ambassador Program. More information and suggestions will also be forthcoming on this in the next week so keep checking back.

Finally do talk about the Summit and what it might mean at a local level. I prepared a report for my own Library Committee last week and they were keen to be involved through the Ambassador Program and to be kept informed (in fact one Councillor declared we needed more money in the budget to be able to promote our Ambassador, what a star!!!).  Use this as an opportunity to position your own library in the minds of decision makers while working towards a national goal.

Best wishes

Jan Richards

ALIA Vice President

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How summits work

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

For those of you interested in how summits work, the obvious source of information is my Frontline column in last July’s Incite. I wrote about the Education and Workforce Summit which we held in March 2008. For that summit about 60 people, almost all from libraries, assembled at the State Library of Victoria.

The Public Libraries Summit is like that summit in one way - not everyone can go.  All summits are selective by their nature.

The Public Libraries Summit is also different because it is definitely NOT about librarians talking to each other. As Jan Richards put it in yesterday’s blog post,  this summit is planned as “the seed of an ongoing conversation with the Federal Government and other partners.” This is not a summit to get our own act together, it is a summit for building bridges with government.

This is a very good time to talk to governments, Commonwealth, state and local. Because there has been a change of at the top, there is a stronger possibility of new thinking and new agendas. The summit is to put public libraries on the agenda of government, Commonwealth, state and local.

You can help. We need everyone’s ideas. You can put your ideas by writing submissions and proposals. There is information on how to do this here. As I suggested, this is a time for new thinking and new ideas, and above all for communicating them to governments. Soon, please - the deadline is 27 February.
                                                      Derek Whitehead,  ALIA President

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48 Days and Counting!

Friday, February 6th, 2009

In 48 days ALIA will be hosting the first ever Australian Public Libraries Summit at the National Library of Australia in Canberra.

In 48 days my tomato bushes will have borne fruit, the zucchini will have taken on mammoth proportions, and the persimmons on the tree in my garden will be turning orange. So why the gardening references? August Birrell (1850 -1933) wrote “Libraries are not made; they grow” – and so it is with the ALIA Public Libraries Summit. Every day it matures as planning progresses. We don’t see the Summit as an end in itself, rather as the seed of an ongoing conversation with the Federal Government and other partners.

I would encourage you to think about how you can help us “grow” the Summit. Perhaps you can submit a working paper on one of the topics suggested on the website or another relevant subject by 27th February 2009.  Your participation will ensure our message is enriched and strengthened.

I also urge you to become involved in the Public Library Ambassador program, which will not only lend support to the positioning of public libraries but add a grass-roots element to our strategic direction. Imagine the media monitors picking up stories of Ambassadors from across Australia – success! It also promises to be a lot of fun. Check the website for details of how to get started.

Jan Richards, ALIA Vice-president   

jan.richards@alia.org.au

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