Public libraries

This document represents a statement of intent between INELI-Oceania, Australian Library and Information Association, Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa, National and State Libraries Australasia, National Library of Australia, National Library of New Zealand, State Library of Queensland, Public Libraries Victoria Network, Yarra Plenty Regional Libraries and Auckland Libraries.

This digital guide was produced by RMIT researchers to support Australian Public Libraries to develop and enhance digital literacy programs for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities. The guide was produced as a result of a project conducted in partnership with Hume Libraries. The project was initiated in response to the 2019, Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) report, ’Services for Migrants and Refugees’, which examined the programs that were being implemented across Australian Libraries.

ALIA Information Online 2015 Conference, 2-5 February 2015, Sydney: at the edge.

Abstract:

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.

[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 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).

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.

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.

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. 

Pre-read speaker notes for presentation at National Library and Information Technicians' Symposium 2019.

This paper discusses the direction and development undertaken in expanding library services into social spaces, and the challenge of establishing a social presence for community building through Facebook.