APSIG newsletter no. 57: March 2005

ALIA National Policy Congress 2004

Celebrating success
Deveni Temu, APSIG convenor

The ALIA National Policy Congress 2004 was held at the ALIA House in Canberra on 19 and 20 November. Thirty five delegates participated: ten regional representatives, nine invited group delegates, seven members of the ALIA Board of Directors and nine observers composed mainly of local liaison officers.

On the afternoon of the 19 November, the delegates were welcomed at an afternoon tea party. This was followed by the launch of the ALIA online shop by Imogen Garner.

The highlight for me was the five-minute presentations on the success stories from the various groups represented at the congress. It was very encouraging to hear about what our colleagues achieved with so little resources; such as the strong networking groups operating now in Alice Springs, Cairns and Northern Territory. These success stories demonstrated to me the real commitment, enthusiasm and support given by ordinary librarians doing their bit for the library and information profession in Australia.

I was fortunate to have been nominated by the ACT groups to represent the region. Our success stories were:

• Beth Clary, joint winner of the Library Technician of the Year 2004 award.
• ACTive ALIA midwinter dinner and prize-giving attended by 50 members.
• ACT public library trivia night to raise funds for East Timor libraries.
• APSIG lunch time seminar on digital heritage preservation and sustainability which attracted well over 100 people, many from the non library sector.
• Retired librarians (affectionately known as previously employed retired librarians (PEARLS), meeting regularly at the national library and reminiscing over tea, coffee and cake.

All delegates were given the opportunity to review and comment on the ALIA 2005 - 2006 plan. Many of the comments were accepted for inclusion in the final draft of the plan.

It was a privilege to represent the region and I found the experience very encouraging and professionally rewarding. The fact that I met so many like minded people face-to-face and share in their stories was truly worth half the weekend doing ALIA business.

I can certainly recommend being involved in ALIA activities for anyone out there.