15 August 2007

Celebrating 70 years and still going strong

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The Australian Library and Information Association will officially mark its 70th anniversary next Monday, August 20th. Executive Director of the Association, Sue Hutley, says the day will be one of reflection and celebration around the nation's libraries.

"It is amazing to think that, 70 years ago, librarians from around the country gathered in Canberra to form an Association specifically to describe and protect the highest standards for the budding profession in Australia, and here we are in 2007 with thousands of libraries and information professionals delivering on that promise," Ms Hutley said.

"The proof of this success is visible in the statistics - more than nine out of ten Australians believe libraries are important - even if they don't use them," she said.

"Over the last 70 years, we have seen the passing of the Libraries Act, the opening of the National Library of Australia and the development of a framework for accreditation of all library and information training programs around the country. The profession includes some 27,000 workers nationally.

"We now have over 1700 public libraries in Australia, with half the population as registered borrowers. University libraries service just under a million people every year and there are also hundreds of specialist libraries within government departments and in private organisations, all staffed by professionals who have adapted to each new form of technology as it came along. "The training of library and information professionals takes new formats and resources into account and that makes libraries an especially valuable environment in which to use them because there is expert support on hand," she said.

"Our core role is to promote the free flow of information. To do that, we need to constantly improve training so that we can do this appropriately and effectively.

"It's what the first members of the profession sought to do 70 years ago, and it's what the current members seek to do today.""