ALIA submission to Infrastructure Australia, October 2008

This submission from the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) discusses how investment in libraries can be expected to generate economic as well as social, cultural and environmental benefits. Libraries sustain the community in social, cultural and environmental terms and contribute positively in terms of economic value, benefit and activity. ALIA advocates the development of an informed society that can partake and participate in skilled decision-making.
 
Accurate, relevant and timely information is the key ingredient to effective decision-making. Australia's long-term economic development is dependent on its ability to use information to make decisions that enable growth, progress and productivity. Libraries and the library profession contribute to an informed society by acquiring, organising, archiving, retrieving, using, synthesising and analysing information and thereby empowering users so that they can utilise this information in their decision-making processes. ALIA supports the development of a 21st century information infrastructure with libraries as the conduit for a sustainable knowledge economy.