Public libraries

ALIA Library

Understanding Australian public library responses to the COVID-19 crisis

On 24th March 2020 the Prime Minister of Australia declared the immediate closure of libraries across the country as part of the national attempt to slow the rate of COVID-19 infections. This meant over 1,600 public library service points across the country in urban, regional and remote locations, were no longer able to offer services on their premises.
 

Australian public library staff living through a pandemic: personal experience of serving the community

[Peer reviewed] Abstract: The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic forced public library staff to rapidly rethink the services they offered as lockdown restrictions meant that libraries as social venues briefly came to an end. Online content was developed overnight to fill the void. This study examines the impact that the contactless operational model has had on library services across Australia, as seen through the eyes of eight public library staff. The qualitative study contributes in-depth data to scant literature about public libraries and the pandemic in an Australian context.

Greening libraries: a literature review for the Australian Library and Information Association

The Greening Libraries Literature Review provides an overview of academic and professional literature relating to sustainability practices in the library and information sector in Australia and overseas. It is the first output from the Greening libraries research project and was commissioned by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) with the support of the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL).

Submission in response to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications Regional Telecommunications Review

The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and ALIA Australian Public Library Alliance (APLA) respond to the Regional Telecommunications Review issues paper drafted by the Australian Federal Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications.

Online Storytime: Second Quarterly Report April-June 2021

In 2021 the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) is piloting a scheme where publishers can permit the use of their Australian picture book titles in 'Online Storytime 2021' in return for a small annual payment from public library branches.
 
The pilot follows the popularity of Online Storytime in Australian public libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic, where Australian children and caregivers embraced the online reading of picture books by their local librarians with many hundreds uploaded since April 2020.
 

Renew Our Libraries

Article published in INCITE  September/October 2019 Volume 40, Issue 9/10.
Robert Knight shares how, after successive state governments spent decades underfunding New South Wales public libraries, the 2018–2019 Renew Our Libraries campaign successfully delivered the largest single increase in library funding since the introduction of the NSW Library Act in 1939. 

Library Design Conference 2021: Changing Spaces

Library Design Conference 2021: Changing Spaces virtual conference held on 18 March 2021.
This document provides a conference program. Featuring presentations on:

  • Designing public buildings in a post-COVID environment (Keynote)
  • Changing faces, spaces and places: the impact of Library space transformation at the University of Western Australia
  • The Creative Technology Hub sets sail
  • State Library Victoria
  • City of Salisbury Library
  • Library Design Awards 2021
  • Library Design Awards panel

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