December 2004

In this aliaPUBNEWS broadcast:

States and territories
Keep up with news about CASL libraries; Improving access to legal information in NSW; Reading Rulz this summer; Libraries Australia launched

Policy and advocacy
A 'Bookstart' program for Australia

News from ALIA
Standards for public library services in Australia

States and territories

Keep up with news about CASL libraries
natstatlibs is a moderated e-list for news about Australia's state and national libraries and provides a monthly overview of activities and developments in the CASL libraries. To subscribe, follow the link from:
http://www.nla.gov.au/nla/listserv/natstatlibs.html

Improving access to legal information in NSW
The 2004 Legal Information Access Centre (LIAC) Centre of Excellence awards have been awarded to Central West Libraries and Wagga Wagga City Library. The awards recognise the role of public libraries in improving access to the law in NSW. Central West Libraries in partnership with the Orange Commonwealth Carer Respite Centre held a successful series of seminars for 'over 65's' caring for a person with a disability. Wagga Wagga City Library collaborated with the South West Slopes Law Society to produce a brochure on 'Legal resources in Wagga Wagga.'
http://www.liac.sl.nsw.gov.au

Reading Rulz this summer
State libraries from Queensland, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and the ACT have combined efforts to present the first national summer holiday reading program, 'Reading Rulz'. The program has two components: Summer Reading Clubs which children can join at their local library and an interActive website where young people have opportunities to create and submit stories, artwork and have fun with games, puzzles and quizzes. Reading Rulz has grown out of the very successful 'Dive into a book' summer reading program run by the State Library of Queensland in 2003-2004.
http://www.connectqld.org.au/readingrulz/

Libraries Australia launched
The National Library of Australia has launched Libraries Australia, a single gateway to a number of Australian and international databases. The new service has a sophisticated search capability, it offers a simple 'Google-like' search and provides searchers with the choice of ordering material from Australian libraries, document supply services and Australian booksellers and publishers. Libraries Australia will help Australians, through their libraries, to find and get items from the wealth of information held in Australian libraries much more easily than in the past.
http://librariesaustralia.nla.gov.au/

Policy and advocacy

A 'Bookstart' program for Australia
Research over the past 25 years has demonstrated the benefits to literacy of introducing children to books and reading at the earliest age possible. While a number of libraries around Australia are involved in 'Bookstart' type programs to encourage and support reading to babies, there is no systematic national program as exists in the UK and other countries. Friends of Libraries Australia (FOLA) has released a report of a 2004 survey of the forms of 'bookstart' programs operating in Australian public libraries. The report advocates a national literacy development program modeled on the UK's highly successful Bookstart program. Under the program all babies, through their parents or caregivers, would receive a free kit from their local library containing at least one quality board book, information on the critical importance of developing literacy in children by reading to them as babies and information on library membership and storytimes. Such a program requires leadership from the federal government and co-operation between all levels of goverment. The report, 'Australian Bookstart: a national issues, a compelling case' by Alan Bundy is available at:
http://www.libraries.vic.gov.au/infonet/

News from ALIA

Standards for public library services in Australia
The Guide, an initiative of the ALIA's Public Libraries Reference Group, was released on ALIA's website last week. The Guide to Resources enables public libraries in Australia to be aware of what resources are available, both in Australia and overseas (UK, New Zealand and the US), in relation to standards/guidelines/benchmarks for public libraries. It covers both general/comprehensive statements of standards/guidelines/benchmarks and those on specialised topics.
http://alia.org.au/governance/committees/public.libraries/standards.html

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