Libraries Looking Out - a South West Forum

On the weekend of the 14th of September 2002 sixty-five delegates from all areas of the library industry braved the wind and rain to gather at the Sanctuary Golf Resort at Bunbury WA. Their reasons for attending were varied, but all were rewarded for their time by an eclectic program of challenging and thought provoking sessions. Whilst all the presentations were excellent, a few stand out. One was the keynote address by the State Minister for Culture and the Arts, the Honorable Sheila McHale. Her keynote address concentrated on the support that colleagues in the information industry extend to one another, as well as the value that library professionals provide to the community at large and set the context for the weekend. Another would have to be Susan Feeney's presentation on marketing libraries. Not only was it full of practical advice gleaned from her own extensive experience in the library and government fields but it was accompanied by an excellent motivational video called simply, FISH. The overriding message was that of choosing ones attitude to the many challenges that face us in our working life - whether it be running a library, or selling fish. Bobbie Bruce's workshop in lobbying skills provided practical tools to respond to the issues raised in the panel discussion on the issues arising from the increase of electronic resources in libraries. Kim Grace woke us all up in the afternoon with and energetic session on children's storytime and cartooning. As with many of the sessions this was an interactive session and we all had fun rediscovering our inner child by learning to draw cartoons - by the end of the session Kim had several offers to run the children's story time at the local public libraries!

enjoying the music Moving on to Sunday's program one of the more inspiring presentations was by Lynda Matthews who is the senior speech pathologist at Esperance. She presented a very thought provoking session on early literacy and the various partnerships that need to be built to tackle the literacy problems within Esperance. One of the more gratifying facts that came out of her community survey was that of all the 'institutions' within the town the Public Library was identified as the place that most people felt could help with literacy problems and was also identified as the most 'trusted' institution this was very gratifying information for those in the audience from a public library background!

Whilst the stated theme of the weekend was 'Libraries Looking Out' the sub text would have to be that of empowerment. Every presenter was extremely enthusiastic and positive in their delivery every presentation told the story of identifying a need or issue and taking steps to address the situation and find a solution. Over and over again we were presented with concrete evidence of the value of taking charge of ones' situation and being proactive in our relationships with our management, customers and colleagues. This message was obviously well received by the delegates as several commented that they felt 'energised and inspired' after the weekend.

Raeco International generously sponsored the Sundowner on Saturday night, which was well attended by the delegates. We were entertained very ably by a local acoustic duo, Ian and Louise Kirk who provided excellent music for us all to munch and chat too. Delegates took full advantage of the ability to mix with colleagues they may not otherwise be able to catch - it was very gratifying for the committee to witness the amount of knowledge sharing and networking that took place.

On a personal level I was absolutely thrilled at the way the weekend went - I must thank all our presenters for their energy and good humour - particularly Belinda Grayson, who didn't let technical hitches get in the way of an excellent and informative presentation on running information sessions on the internet for seniors - I never knew fruit cake was such an asset!! I was particularly pleased with the enthusiasm of the delegates who were obviously going to take full advantage of all the information on offer. Proceedings of the Forum will be produced in the next few weeks, and will be available for sale to those who were unable to attend this excellent event.

Bonnie Rae Bruce, co-convenor.

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