(6 Oct 2020) From ALIA: Tonight’s federal budget, as anticipated, provided an unprecedented level of government spending aimed at jobs and recovery. By putting money into businesses and cash into people’s pockets, the government is banking on Australia emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic in better shape than other national economies. While there remain…
(8 Sept 2020) International Literacy Day today marks the launch of the first ever comprehensive study of school library resourcing and staffing. Commissioned by the School Library Association of SA (SLASA), the School Libraries in South Australia 2019 Census surveyed South Australia’s public, private and Catholic schools to better understand the links between library programs and critical skills…
(12 Aug 2020) From Guardian: When Melbourne’s Yarra Plenty regional libraries first went into lockdown in March, shut the doors and left the remaining unborrowed books on their shelves, staff were sent home with a phone… So the library staff pulled from their database the phone number of every library member over the age of…
(29 Jul 2020) More than 600 academics from 36 Australian universities and members of the academic community have signed an open letter to federal and state education ministers calling for a return to a more democratic, cost-effective and functional structure for Australia’s universities. Australian universities are in crisis. Large-scale redundancies are announced almost daily, with estimates of up to 21,000…
(21 Jul 2020) A survey undertaken by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) shows that public libraries across Australia worked hard to meet, and exceed, patron needs during the nation-wide lockdown in April 2020. While public library buildings were physically closed, library workers continued to provide services including virtual storytimes, click and collect services and…
(6 Jul 2020) Nominations are now open for the Australian Library Design Awards 2021. The awards, run by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), celebrate library design excellence. Libraries which had work completed between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2020 are eligible for entry under one of four award categories: School libraries, Academic libraries,…
(27 Jun 2020) From the Canberran Times: Canberrans will now have access to a new and improved treasure trove of information as the National Library launched its new program on Friday. More than 3000 Australians contributed to a new and improved Trove system, which was unveiled after four years of work. The federal government announced a…
(17 Jun 2020) Public Libraries Victoria (PLV) is the peak body and collaborative service provider for public libraries in Victoria, with representation through institutional membership from every public library in the state. We are looking for an energetic and enthusiastic values driven leader, who is willing to help our sector go to the next level. To be…
(28 May 2020) From the executive summary of the report: This report, commissioned by the Council of Australian University Librarians, for delivery to the DVCsR Committee, provides an analysis of the challenges and opportunities arising from Plan S for Australian researchers and universities, including high-level recommendations on how Australian universities should proceed in order to…
(27 May 2020) The current crisis in relations with China has exposed the extreme delicacy and importance of Australia’s relationship with its Asian neighbours. One lesson of this crisis, highlighted by commentators across the political spectrum, is that Australia must prevent over-dependence on China by fostering closer relations with other regional neighbours, including Japan, South…