ALIA Schools

Newsletter, June 2007

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the committee members of ALIA Schools I am writing to give you an update on our activities. Contact details for committee members can be found at http://alia.org.au under the heading Groups.

Professional Development: please mark the following dates in your diary.

• August 4: Effective Management Made Easy: please see enclosed flyer
• October 27: School Libraries: Virtual tours

Dates for Committee Meetings: Regular meetings are held on Saturdays at 9.30 a.m. in the Library Resource Centre at Santa Maria College, 50 Separation Street, Northcote. Entry is via Wardrop Grove and members or observers are welcome to attend. The dates for 2007 are as follows: August 4*, September 8, October 27*, November 17. The meeting will commence immediately following the professional development sessions on the days marked with an asterisk.

Change of name: At the May meeting, the committee agreed that the group is to be called ALIA Schools. The decision to delete Victoria from the group's name is part of a strategy to broaden the membership base and offer more professional development opportunities in electronic format.

ALIA Schools e-list: Current subscribers to the e-list will be automatically transferred to the ALIA Schools e-list. Any member who has not yet joined the e-list is encouraged to do so. Increasingly, regular electronic communication will be used to keep members informed. To join the e-list, follow these steps:

• Connect to the ALIA website at www.alia.org.au
• Click on e-list in the header

Scroll down to aliaSCHOOLS and follow the prompts to join the e-list. You will need your membership number and a password to join. If you do not yet have a password send an email to ALIA and it will be forwarded promptly.

Achievements: two major initiatives are nearing completion, both have been made possible through partnerships that ALIA Schools has formed. The first is the electronic publication of A Manual for Developing Policies and Procedures in Australian School Library Resource Centres. This has been made possible by a joint working party formed between ALIA Schools and the Victorian Catholic Teacher Librarians (VCTL). It is an essential professional tool for ensuring that school libraries are well managed by providing templates for documenting policies and procedures. Congratulations to the working party for producing this practical and easy to use document. Under the guidance of Anne Girolami as chair, members of the joint working party generously gave many hours of their time to make this publication freely available. It will be available on both the ALIA and Myclasses websites and it will be launched during the August 4 seminar. The other achievement is the completion of the Australian School Libraries Research Survey. This project is an initiative of the joint ALIA/ASLA Policy Advisory Group (PAG) in partnership with Edith Cowan University. You are asked to complete this electronic survey and help to create the first national database with information about resources and staff levels in Australian school libraries. Details about how to complete the survey will be available soon. It is anticipated that the information collated from the survey will be used for national lobbying by ALIA and ASLA to promote equitable access and improve conditions in school libraries. Anne Girolami has been the chairperson of the PAG since its inception in February 2002 and the gathering of statistical information was in the terms of reference for this group. Congratulations to all those who have been part of the development of this survey, especially to Anne for her immense contribution.

Sandra Ryan, Convenor, ALIA Schools