‘Community Publishing in Regional Australia’ is a collaborative research project funded by the Australian Research Council’s Linkage Project scheme. It brings together researchers from Melbourne and Brisbane, book industry partners and four regional Australian councils to explore writing and publishing activity in Australia’s regional communities.

In August 2023, the research team visited Mparntwe (Alice Springs) to learn about local writing and publishing activities and to deliver a workshop about independent publishing. While we were in Mparntwe, we visited three places that shaped our understanding of book culture in the region: the Batchelor Institute Library, Red Kangaroo Books and the Alice Springs Public Library. This article provides a brief snapshot of each place and their connection to their community. 

Batchelor Institute Library

The Batchelor Institute Library, located on the grounds of Mparntwe’s Desert Peoples Centre, is a place for Batchelor’s staff and students, as well as the wider community, to come and enjoy their extensive collection of fiction, nonfiction, reference books and journals, as well as games, DVDs and CDs. The walls of the library are covered in student artwork, as well as photographs that celebrate the diverse achievements of Batchelor staff and students. It is a warm and inviting space with comfortable spots to sit and read.  

As we arrived at the Desert Peoples Centre, we were struck by the way that the low-lying campus buildings, set among the red dirt and silvery vegetation, provided an uninterrupted view of the Tjoritja (Macdonnell Ranges), emphasising the vital relationship between learning and the land. Walking up to the library building, we bumped into Adelaide, who had attended our independent publishing workshop at the Alice Springs Library the previous day. She worked for a local language organisation andd was coming to Batchelor’s library to use their big stapler for some of her resources. In return, she would leave some of the language resources for the library's collection. This interaction typifies the nature of community and collaboration in Mparntwe, where people and organisations coalesce around the common aims of language, cultural heritage, knowledge and education. 

We were taken on a tour of the library by Melissa Raymond, Manager of the library and information services, and Associate Professor Kathryn Gilbey, Executive Dean, who shared stories of the library and Batchelor’s community of scholars and guided us through one of the world’s largest collections of First Nations literature. Batchelor Institute aims to be an institution where ‘truth, knowledge and wisdom meet’. Sitting among the stacks sharing a cup of tea and biscuits—surrounded by First Nations books, artworks and accolades—it was clear that this aim was deeply embedded into the fabric of the library. 

What also became clear from our conversations with Melissa and Kathryn was their commitment to the collection’s accessibility for their community. Library visitors did not have to reside in Mparntwe to borrow books from the Batchelor library and could receive borrowed books via the post. Melissa includes a self-addressed post bag, as well as generous loan lengths, to ensure that readers could enjoy books from the collection while located on Country and easily return them once they were finished. These small adjustments to the traditional conventions of library lending practices help Batchelor to achieve their aims and truly service their community. 

Red Kangaroo Books

When Red Kangaroo Books opened in the centre of town on Todd Mall in 2007, Mpantwe was home to several independent and chain bookstores. Seventeen years later, Red Kangaroo is now the only bookstore between Port Augusta in South Australia and Darwin in the Northern Territory. Over the past decade, Red Kangaroo’s manager Bronwyn Druce has made the bookstore a central part of the local community of readers.

Red Kangaroo Books was the first place we visited after arriving in Mparntwe. Bronwyn had recently been named the 2023 Australian Bookseller of the Year and we were keen to see the bookstore and talk with Bronwyn about the local book culture. The store is visually exciting with each shelf teaming with an impressive diversity of titles. However, there was one display in particular that was distinct. Located close to the door, there was a tall shelf labelled ‘Centralian History’ that featured dozens of books, displayed face-out, about the history of the region, written by local authors. Many of the titles in the display were self-published by local authors and printed about five minutes down the road at Coleman’s Printing. This collection of books about the region, many of which were produced in town, demonstrates the role Red Kangaroo plays in helping to support the preservation and celebration of local stories. 

What is interesting about Bronwyn and Red Kangaroo Books is that the store strikes a balance between being a place for tourists to shop and a place that is important to the local community. One of the ways she does this is through the events Red Kangaroo hosts throughout the year, launching books by local writers and hosting talks with authors who travel through the region. These events make the store a central hub for cultural activity in Mparntwe. 

Alice Springs Public Library

The Alice Springs Public Library is located in the heart of Mparntwe, on the banks of the dry Todd River. The library is a hub for many Centralians, offering a place to meet, read, study and watch TV. The libraries special collection is a rich archive of materials—books, periodicals, reports and artworks—that relate to the history, culture and significance of Mparntwe and Central Australia. This unique collection contains more than 6000 digitised images depicting the history of the region, as well as a digital archive of the Centralian Advocate from 1947. 

Like many of the places we visited on our fieldwork trip, the Alice Springs Public Library is deeply connected to its community and the region. This is reflected in the special collection, but also the programs and facilities that are made available to the community. For example, there is an extensive collection of First Nations language resources available to borrow. Some of these resources are published by local publishers and university presses, others are self-published and printed locally. The language resources come in many forms and are written for language learners of many different age groups. The library also has a TV viewing area, where community members can come and relax and watch television together with headphones on. These different facilities demonstrate the role that the library plays in the community, and the work that the library have done to ensure it is a place for everyone in the region. 

We held our independent publishing workshop and follow-up drop-in session at the Alice Springs Library, two events that brought together an eclectic group of aspiring writers. There were writers working on fantasy novels, self-help books, memoirs, family history, biographies, critical theory and many more. We were struck at the diversity of books the writers were working on, as well as the way so many of the projects were inspired by the history and culture of Mparntwe and its people. This diversity demonstrates the vibrancy of Mparntwe’s writing culture and the stories that are ready to be shared.   

Our research continues throughout 2024 and 2025. This year we will be visiting Broken Hill in New South Wales, and Burdekin and Winton in Queensland. If you would like to stay in touch with our research activities, you can follow us on social media (@communitypublishinginaus) or sign up to receive our newsletter.