ALIA Schools

Newsletter, March/April 2009

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the committee members of ALIA Schools I am writing to give you an update on our activities for 2009. Contact details for committee members can be found at www.alia.org.au under the heading Groups.

Professional Development: the committee endeavors to provide opportunities for all ALIA Schools members to participate, hence the online forums. Please mark the following dates in your diary:

• May 30: Online Safari: Literature in the online environment, including Book Week (flyer enclosed)
• August: Web 2.0, Web 3.0….. online forum
• October 24: Print and Beyond: Collection Development for the 21st century

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, Victoria. Entry is via Wardrop Grove and members or observers are welcome to attend. The remaining dates for 2009 are as follows: May 2 and 30*, July 25, September 5, October 24*, November 21. The meeting will commence immediately following the professional development sessions on the days marked with an asterisk.

Policy Advisory Group: The executive committees of both ALIA and ASLA have ratified the policies reviewed by the ALIA/ASLA Policy Advisory Group (PAG) in 2008. The policies can be found at http://www.alia.org.au/governance/board/reports/2009.03.html. Congratulations to the members of the PAG for this valuable work.

National Curriculum Board (NCB) Consultations: ALIA Schools continues to liaise with the NCB. You will be kept informed about any further opportunities for feedback via the e-list.

Teaching Australia: ALIA Schools is part of the Teaching Australia Network Forum. This is a network of National Professional Associations involved with teaching. Progress is being monitored by ALIA Schools and you will be informed of any developments via the e-list.

Bushfire response: In February, at the State Library of Victoria, ALIA hosted a Library and Publishing industry round table discussion on how best to coordinate the industry’s responses to the crisis in Victoria. As a result of this meeting ALIA has appointed an acting Disaster Recovery Project Manager, Jane Grace, to plan for medium and long term action. One initiative is to investigate the establishment of a fund to aid in building Community Support, Health and Wellbeing around Literacy and Reading. The industry is working towards funding the Disaster Recovery position as a twelve month appointment and possibly broadening the brief to include how it can respond to other emergencies of this type in the future. At the local level, the public libraries are hosting story times and most of the children affected have returned to schools in adjoining communities. Money donations are still being directed to the Red Cross Appeal.

Regular electronic communication with members is again a priority for 2009 so please join the e-list so that you can receive communication from ALIA Schools and take part in the August online forum. I look forward to your participation in the planned activities.
Sandra Ryan
Convenor, ALIA Schools