20 May 2005

Minister awards local library achievers at evening of excellence

West Australian Minister for Education and Training, the Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich MLC, together with ALIA immediate past-president, Imogen Garner, will present the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Excellence Award at an Evening of Excellence on Monday 23 May at the City of Belmont Reception Room, Cloverdale.

Jointly hosted by ALIA and the City of Belmont, the cocktail party event will take place as part of part of Library and Information Week 2005 celebrations, highlighting excellence in the information industry.

The ALIA Excellence Award will be presented to Natasha Griggs - youth services librarian at the Ruth Faulkner Public Library, Belmont - for her innovative work on the Finding MY Place program. A joint initiative of the City of Belmont and the West Australian Department of Education and Training, Finding MY Place is a unique program that aims to encourage disadvantaged young people to remain in a learning environment through education, training and employment.

The ALIA FA Sharr Medal will also be presented on the evening to a West Australian library school graduate who exhibits the most potential and is most likely to have a positive impact on their preferred stream of the library profession.

Library and Information Week 2005 will be held from the 23-29 May. The week provides the opportunity to promote and raise awareness of the value of libraries and information services and information professionals in Australia.

For further details visit http://alia.org.au/advocacy/alw/2005/.