Volume 38 Nº 1: March 2002

From the chair

Alison Gregg

Because I'm on leave this week, I've had the pleasure of sitting on a chair in the sun and ruminating on the issues and ideas I never have time for in a busy working life. Ah! time for reflection ... It's what we all need, but so few of us can find. I've thought of people to see, books to read, places to visit, ideas to explore - and I've also been thinking very much of the future of Orana.

As many of you will know, Orana publication and management is vested in a management committee set up under the new (2001) structure of the Australian Library and Information Association. Gone are the ALIA National School Libraries Section and its counterpart, the ALIA National Children's and Youth Services Section. These were the ALIA (formerly LAA) sections sharing joint management of the journal for the last 30 years.

Their place has now been taken by the new Orana Management and Readership Group. It sounds a clumsy title but it's the best we could devise to give a form and structure to the diverse range of enthusiasts - CYSS specialists in public libraries, academics and students working in the fields of children's literature and literacy, teachers, parents, editors, authors and illustrators - that make up the readership of Orana.

From 1989 to 2001, Orana was managed by an Advisory Board elected by each of the state groups of its constituent bodies. Regular teleconference meetings enabled public librarians and teacher librarians from around Australia to set the agenda and future directions for the journal. Financial and editorial control rested in this elected body, which furnished 6-monthly reports to all its constituent groups.

No more. Since July 2001 Orana management has been vested in the Committee of Orana Management and Readership Group. Shirley Campbell, former head of the Library of Radford College Canberra, has taken on the role of treasurer to the Board in addition to her invaluable work as production editor. Children's librarian Judy Drayton is our secretary, and I fill the third position in the troika as its convenor.

While the new structure has survived its teething stage very well, we now need - once more - a new Plan for the Future. Under Dr Anne Clyde's leadership in 1989, the then Orana Management Committee produced a blueprint that served us well. But where to now? What do you, the readers, want of your journal? What are the topics that should be covered? Who do you want to write for you? Are you prepared to write yourself? Who do you want to represent your interests on the Committee? Would you be prepared to contribute your own experience, expertise and ideas to a quarterly teleconference? Would you like to join a small network of likeminded people who want to see a vibrant, relevant journal representing the interests of young readers, librarians and teachers around Australia? We'd love to welcome you to membership of the Orana Committee.

In the old days, editing and managing Orana was relatively straightforward. Now it's not. With the abolition of so many ALIA groups, we can no longer rely on group nominees to swell our ranks. But the rewards for Orana Management and Readership Group are still the same. We contribute to a journal that we know provides a useful forum. We're passionate about librarianship for children and young people in any setting. Orana reflects our passion and provides support, encouragement and expertise to those at the frontline.

As the old recruiting poster has it: We need YOU! And we need you NOW! Please nominate yourself or encourage a colleague to contact us. Phone, e-mail or fax any of the addresses listed on the inside cover. We look forward to hearing from you.

Alison Gregg is convenor of the Orana Management and Readership Group.