Indigi-Links: Connecting libraries and indigenous people: Developing an environment where information literacy programs can succeed

Alan Kodai
Senior librarian, Alice Springs Public Library

Public libraries will not be able to contribute to the information literacy levels of Australia's indigenous people unless they first make a determined effort to welcome indigenous people into what are generally seen as 'whitefella' institutions. This means libraries themselves must take the initiative to form links with indigenous people and their communities and organisations.

Over the past two years, Alice Springs Public Library has been making a determined effort to promote itself as a public institution which welcomes indigenous people.

Some 30 percent of our users identify themselves as and'indigenous'. On some days as much as 75 percent of all visitors to the library are indigenous. While the majority are central Australian, particularly Arrende, Walpiri, Luritja, Pitjantjatjara and Pintupi, we've also had visitors from the Nullarbor and Groote Eylandt.

As a consequence, the library has been making efforts to develop resources and services of particular interest to indigenous people, including the local knowledge collection, the Ara Winki Pitjantjatjara database, and the Indigi-Links website which provides links to numerous indigenous or indigenous-related websites. The uptake of these resources amongst indigenous people has been astonishing, the news spread largely by word of mouth.

Nevertheless, presumptions should not be made about what indigenous people are seeking from a library service. A basic example: some of the most popular videos in the library amongst indigenous people are not just those with and 'black' themes such as Bush Mechanics and Jedda, but also The ANZACs television series staring Paul Hogan, Spice Girls, and Santana Live in Concert.

The success of our own modest ventures has largely been due to the efforts of particular staff with experience and links to the central Australian Aboriginal communities. The development of resources has run side-by-side with the staging of events designed to create goodwill and maintain links between the Library and its indigenous users.

For instance, in May this year we had a public gathering at the library commemorating the life and times of former senator Bernie Kilgariff (father of Alice Springs mayor Fran Kilgariff), and his life-long friends, artist and land rights activist Wenten Rubuntja and Pastor Eli Rubuntja.

The goodwill and support that such events create amongst indigenous people and organisations in Alice Springs means that these organisations are now increasingly willing to support further projects and initiatives on our part. This provides an environment where the library's role in helping to develop information literacy amongst the indigenous people of central Australia can actually achieve positive results

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