Queensland, Australia: City Looks to Commercialise #Libraries ow.ly/kt34S via @infodocket Tip: @mattrweaver

— Library Journal (@LibraryJournal) April 26, 2013

A short time later I found the article on our local newspaper website – The Gold Coast Bulletin.

City looks to commercialise libraries (April 27, 2013) by Stephanie Bedo.

ABC Gold Coast (on Facebook) is asking what locals think about having to pay to check out books, and if collection development preferred e-books over print resources. Check out their responses.

Letters to the Editor

LIBRARY

The Gold Coast Bulletin
Apr 29 2013

I FIND it amazing we can’t afford library services but can afford the exorbitant wages of councillors and CEOs like Dale Dickson. – Grasshopper AS much as libraries are nice relaxing places and a good place to store records on paper, Colette McCool’s…read more…

Facts & Figures about Gold Coast Library Services – one of the busiest public libraries in Australia.

Public Libraries advocacy resources from ALIA

It looks like the target of 600 signatures is going to be surpassed.

Image by League of Women Voters of California  used under a Creative Commons Licence.

From today’s (11 September 2012) p. 5 Courier Mail. Black day for coal jobs: positions slashed as industry reels from price falls and slowing China. This article is accompanied by a table outlining what is so far known about the Queensland 2012 budget. In the table listed under Savings: “State government departmental libraries”

So far I have not found any other news articles on the government library cuts. I look forward to more detail being generally available.

One document I plan to take a closer look at is the Queensland Government Agency Libraries Review. This is a MS Word document that does not appear to have a date within it!! But on the website (Department of the Premier and Cabinet) where I accessed it, it says Last updated 23 April 2012 and Last reviewed: 27 October 2011.  Based on content it appears that this review was undertaken in 2010. On the website it states…

“The review identified potential options for future service delivery. The key projects to be implemented include the development of a single library and research portal for all government officers; increasing the visibility and accessibility of information and knowledge resources to those officers regardless of their agency affiliation and introducing more cost effective purchasing and licensing arrangements.”

So clearly some actions towards cost saving and efficiencies were already in the pipeline.

ALIA has launched a campaign called Dumb Idea. The key message of this campaign against the library cuts is,

“Cutting expenditure on government libraries is a dumb idea. We hope the Queensland government will see sense, call a halt to the cuts and renew its investment in these essential library and information services.”…

based on these two main reasons:”

1. We do not want government policy based on Google, Twitter and Wikipedia.
2. It will not save money in the long run. “

A press release is also on the ALIA website. (10 September 2012)

ALIA’s open letter to the Queensland Premier, Campbell Newman. (4th September)

“If you believe in giving government scientists, researchers, politicians and bureaucrats access to vital information that enables them to do their jobs well; if you want them to make informed, well-balanced decisions; if, ultimately, you want Queensland to be well governed, we urge you to retain well-resourced government libraries run by qualified professionals.”

On LinkedIn there is a conversation to generate ideas to educate the Queensland government and the public on why special/government libraries exist and why closing them is a bad idea. If any government department librarians would like to write a post that explains why, we can host it here on Libraries Interact – Let us know. A missal from the trenches or a day-in-the-life post would be good.

Australian Library and Information Association: Official This is a private group so you will have to join to participate in the discussion.

And, on a tangent…..

The radio interview title is not directly about government departmental libraries, the connection between ‘dumbing down’ and poor library funding strikes a chord though.

Library funding cuts and poor Qld literacy figures from Mornings with Steve Austin, an interview with Sue McKerracher, the Executive Director of the Australian Library and Information Association. 07 September 2012.

If you find other news articles or related resources please add a comment with links/details.

PS – for those interested, that newspaper page is embedded using PressDisplay’s feature to blog this page.

How do libraries reassert their identity as providers of balanced and significant information in the age of Google? That’s the question of the day.

Follow the hashtag #LiGW2012 on Twitter or you can see them captured as a set using CoveritLive at Kathryn Greenhill’s blog – Librarians Matter.

SLQ plans to provide the event as a webcast for those of us who can’t attend.

This seemed like a very appropriate image to use – Google autosuggest about libraries.

Image by herzogbr used under a Creative Commons licence.

Jo is Youth Outreach Librarian at Logan Library Service in Queensland.  Logan has 280,000 residents, 63 suburbs, 9  libraries spread across a 960 km2 area, serves 185 ethnic groups and is growing by more than 2% each year.

PH – I saw on Twitter that your work team won a customer service innovation award for a program at Logan Libraries. Who’s on the team?JB - The Logan Libraries Young peoples team is made up of Young People’s Librarian Jenny Hall (Pictured), Youth outreach librarian, me (Jo Beazley pictured) and 8 YPLO’s (Young peoples liaison officers). 

PH – Tell us about the program.
JB – Technology for Toddlers is a hands-on computer and technology session held at Logan City Council Libraries for parents and carers and their children aged 2 – 5 years.  A training package and resources for the Technology for Toddler sessions were created by the Young Peoples Librarian in consultation with the Young Peoples Team.   Interested Young Peoples staff  were trained in implementing the sessions and using the resources at the libraries.   Staff have continued to roll out and further develop the resources for these sessions at the nine library branches.

The sessions were not just about educating the young children how to use the computers and learning software but they were about educating the parents and carers attending. Parents and carers are the first and most influential educators of children and these sessions were about putting quality free technology resources available from the libraries for the very young into the hands of these educators. Many adults are happy to explore technology resources with young children at home or at the library but there are many who need help to know where to start and what is available.

 
PH – What’s involved, how is the program delivered?
JB – The sessions involved staff demonstrating and leading participants in using a range of free online resources available to help develop literacy and computer skills in young children.  The aim of the sessions was to provide participants with opportunities to:

• Gain new knowledge and understanding of the ways technology (computers) can help their children learn.
• Discover the range of computer software in the library to support and enhance learning
• Build links between the home and the library
• Attain new skills to further develop a home learning environment
• Gain an understanding of why children should become familiar with technology
• Learn how young children can use computers
• Participate with their child/ren in activities exploring hands on use for computers, hardware and software available for parents learning alongside their children.

PH – What have you enjoyed most about it?
JB -  I personally loved watching the mums learn basic computing at the same time as their children are, and seeing both hands on the mouse.

PH – What challenges were faced in developing this program?
JB – Staff buy in.  Trying to convince staff that booking out a meeting room of PC’s for mums and toddlers is good use of the machines.

PH – How long as the program been going?
JB – A trial of the tech for Toddlers sessions commenced in February and May last year across the 9 Logan City Council Library branches.  Due to the program’s success the sessions continue to be held at various branches in 2011.

Thanks Jo, and congratulations to the team at Logan Libraries on their award and the success of the program.

Image by Jobeaz reproduced under a CC licence.

This initiative is about benefiting the community – through the food donations to those in need, and also in providing the opportunity for library users to maintain use of library services where often they would be unable to until their library fines were at an appropriate amount deemed by the library’s policy. What happens with the money raised from paid library fines is often a mystery – both to the library customer paying the fine, and to those who work in libraries alike. Library fines are in place for many reasons primarily to ensure fair access to library resources, but most importantly the revenue raised from library fines should go back to benefit the community – whatever community the library serves. In this case Brisbane City Council are serving both their library community and the greater community in which they live. Do you know what happens to the money raised from your library’s fines?

It would be great to see similar initiatives rolled out across libraries of all kinds all over Australia. I suggest you all encourage your library to participate in a Christmas in July initiative – in the same vein as Brisbane City Council’s – to waive library fines in exchange for a donation of a can of food. Would your library participate?

The 2010 event will challenge the traditional format of ALIA conferences with a focus on making the conference more ‘accessible’ for delegates and vendors. More will be revealed as the planning progresses……

The 3-day multi-sector conference will feature library tours, video streaming, a conference dinner and an associated exhibition with library industry suppliers.

ALIA Access will also feature a rich online component.

Conference website – the first and last word on official conference news and information

Conference blog (RSS feed) -  The blog will feature speaker profiles, list the companies which will be sponsoring and exhibiting at the conference, highlight changes to the conference program as well as sharing the best things to do and places to visit in Brisbane.  Feel free to use the comments sections in the blog to ask questions and discuss the conference.

Twitter – members of the conference committee will be using this account to keep you up to date with conference planning, as well as highlighting changes to the conference website and blog

Facebook – another place to watch for breaking conference news, along with space to share conference stories, photos and more.

For those of you who like to blog, tweet, photoshare and slideshare, there is also a conference tag – #aliaaccess. Please add the tag to your posts, photos, tweets etc. so your colleagues from around the world can follow the conference through your reports, discussions, debates and images.

I look forward to meeting you in Brisbane in September.

Warren Cheetham
Digital Coordinator, ALIA Access 2010 Conference Committee

QPLA/PLA CONFERENCE 2009 : CHANGE AND CHALLENGE
11 – 14 October 2009 Jupiters Townsville Hotel and Casino

The theme of the conference is appropriately Change and Challenge. It will feature many outstanding speakers and will highlight how we can deal with change and challenges in the three key areas of technology, organisations and community more effectively. The program features several concurrent sessions thereby allowing you to tailor the sessions you attend to your own needs and interests. Check out our exciting programme at the PLA conference website.

Keynote Speakers

Using technology in a time of social and organisational change – Dr Michael Stephens is currently a library and information science educator at the Dominican University Illinois, USA and is an international speaker on libraries, technology and innovation.

Future trends: demographics, libraries and change – Bernard Salt is a highly respected commentator on consumer, cultural and demographic trends. He is a regular contributor to The Australian and the author of The Big Shift: Welcome to the Third Australian Culture.

Public Libraries, social inclusion and community development – Noel Pearson is an influential Aboriginal Australian lawyer and land rights activist. He believes Indigenous policy needs to change direction, notably in relation to welfare, substance abuse, child protection and economic development.

Other speakers

The conference program (available here) contains an exciting range of speakers from public, state and the National Library of Australia covering topics such as digitisation, cultural change, community development, managing collections and much more.

Forums

Three exciting forums will bring together panels of passionate and committed library professionals to discuss and debate the themes of the conference.

Blog and tags

You can follow the latest news before, during and after the conference by checking the conference blog (http://auspublib2009.wordpress.com/) or adding it to your favourite feedreader (RSS feed).

• Read speaker profiles to find out who will be speaking about what at the conference.
• Discover which companies will be exhibiting at the conference, and find out about special deals.
• Keep up to date with changes to the conference program .
• Discover the best things to do and places to visit in Townsville.
• Read reports of conference sessions.
• Ask questions, debate and discuss the keynote and concurrent sessions.
• Look for last minutes changes to tours, programs etc.

For those of you who like to blog, tweet, photoshare and slideshare, there is also a conference tag. Please add the tag to your posts, photos, tweets etc. so your colleagues from around the world can follow the conference through your reports, discussions, debates and images.

Tag for blogs, photoshare and slideshare: qpla09
Hashtag for Twitter: #qpla09

I look forward to meeting you in Townsville in October!

THEME:    Web 2.0. Now what?

 DATE:       Thursday 20 November 2008

TIME:         8:30 – 4:30 (coffee available from 8:30am, post-conference drinks from 4:30pm).

VENUE:     State Library of Queensland

COST:       $40 (includes an admission entry to the Game On exhibition being held at slq, and all day tea and coffee, lunch and post-conference drinks) Please advise us of any special dietary requirements on your Registration Form.

WHO:        Anyone who is interested and has some prior knowledge of Library 2.0 and is also prepared to share ideas, experiences and thoughts.

TICKETS: Book via QTIX . Please note that registration involves two steps:

1.      Register your booking with QTIX.

2.      Complete the registration form included in the slq UnConference 2008: Web 2.0. Now what? Wiki and forward it to slq.

WHAT TO BRING: Yourself, your interests, an open mind and your enthusiasm. Laptops welcome – free wireless internet access is available.

THE WIKI:   slq UnConference 2008: Web 2.0. Now what?

 Social Networking Showcase Presentations @ the slq UnConference 2008

We would like to hear from you if you or your library:

• Have been involved in a leading-edge library 2.0 project which has made an impact?
• Has been able to use some of the new tools to involve a wider community?
• Has developed new ethics and behaviours to cope with change?

It doesn’t matter if you are from a large or small library, as long as you are prepared to share your experience using a maximum of 20 slides, 20 seconds each for a maximum of 6 minutes.

Showcase presentations aim to provide delegates of the UnConference the chance to view successful library application of web 2.0 tools.

The result: 6-minute talks with jam-packed, significant visuals, and everyone asking for more. Based on pecha-kucha (Japanese for “chatter”), applies a simple set of rules to presentations: maximum of 20 slides displayed for 20 seconds each. Say what you need to say in less than six minutes of exquisitely matched words and images and then take a seat.

Send your proposals to mary.kajewski <at> slq.qld.gov.au

“Repositories : into the future” will be held at Customs House in Brisbane on Tuesday the 14th October. It is followed the next day by ARROW Community Day at Queensland University of Technology.

Details: News and Events (Australian Research Repositories Online to the World)