4 May 1998

City Library promotes Australian Library Week to Perth commuters

City of Perth Library is taking over the Central Railway Station to publicise its services and this week's Australian Library Week.

Perth has a wide range of activities for the week, conducted each year by the Australian Library and Information Association to celebrate the economic, recreational and cultural contributions of libraries to the Australian community.

The Fremantle Dockers joined the local launch of the week's activities on Friday, promoting their project to provide books for libraries in developing countries.

The Perth Mint has a display of old and rare books and the Claremont Library and Information Service features Australian Library Week in its Festival of Writing this month. Patrons of the festival are Elizabeth Jolley and Nicholas Hasluck.

WA librarians feature in a 1999 calendar on sale this week and the Central Metropolitan College of TAFE has organised a series of events, including a competition to design a web page, with a prize of $500 provided by Ameritech Library Services.

During the week, many libraries will have the services of celebrity staff, drawn from the ranks of business, local government and sport.

In a message supporting Australian Library Week, the Federal Minister for Communications, the Information Industry and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston, said that Australia's library community was responding to the opportunities of the 'information age' with vitality and dynamism.