Features Archives - INCITE Magazine

Illustrated graphic of five diverse people engaged in conversation beneath overlapping speech bubbles in yellow, pink, orange, navy and teal.

Reflections on the ALIA Mentoring Program

Thinking about applying for the ALIA Mentoring Scheme? In this reflective piece, mentee Jacinta Ward and mentor Martin Payne share their experiences of the program, exploring the value of a well-matched mentoring relationship, the insights gained through strategic conversations, and the lasting professional connections that can emerge along the way.

Pru Mitchell holding the Victorian Library and Information Award certificate and trophy, alongside a close-up of the carved wooden trophy featuring a native marsupial.

Interview with Pru Mitchell – Winner of the 2025 Victorian Library and Information Award

The 2026 Victorian Library and Information Award is open and in closes on the 21st of June. Ellen Coates, ALIAVic Convener, sat down with last year’s winner Pru Mitchell to talk winning the award, and why nominating your colleagues is so important.

Building Reading Culture: The Big Summer Read

The Big Summer Read (BSR) is a national, library‑led summer reading campaign delivered locally through public libraries across Australia. Rather than focusing on reading levels or performance outcomes, the program centres reading for pleasure, choice and inclusion.

Stylised illustration of two overlapping human profiles facing opposite directions, filled with gradients of teal, purple and pink. At the centre is an open doorway revealing a starry night sky with abstract plants growing inside. A staircase leads toward the doorway, while planets, stars and geometric shapes float around the figures, suggesting imagination, exploration, creativity and inner worlds.

Beyond Book Prescription: Expanding Bibliotherapy in Library Practice

Interest in bibliotherapy has grown across library and community settings alongside increasing attention to wellbeing and mental health. At a time when attention is increasingly fragmented and reading is often shaped by speed and interruption, the way stories are encountered is becoming more significant. Within this context, bibliotherapy is often understood as the recommendation of books for particular needs or life situations, and this continues to be an important aspect of library practice. Alongside this, there is growing focus on how reading is experienced, where story is met in ways that allow reflection, connection and meaning to emerge.

A library staff member sits beside an older patron, helping him use a digital device during a technology support session. Overlaid text promotes a weekly “Digital Drop In” program offering free assistance from Digital Mentors every Wednesday from 10am to 12pm.

Albany Library’s Digital Drop-In Turns Tech Troubles into Triumphs

Every Wednesday for the past four years, something a little magical has been happening at the Albany Public Library. Between 10am and 12pm, a crack team of staff and tech-savvy volunteers sets up shop for what’s affectionately known as Digital Drop-In (or DDI for those in the know)—a free service dedicated to helping community members wrangle the ever-changing digital world.

A library worker retrieves a book from a shelving range in a compact storage area. Rows of books line the shelves, while movable high-density shelving units with hand-crank mechanisms maximise storage space for the collection.

A New Era for Government and Special Libraries

There are over 2,000 special libraries in Australia, yet many of them are buried inside larger organisations and lack visibility. This is the challenge and opportunity of working in a special library – special librarians must tailor their skills and services to match their organisation’s mission or risk losing relevance

Close-up of reserved books lined up in a public library

The hold shelf

The hold shelf sits just inside the entrance, level three, close enough to the doors that it feels less like furniture and more like part of the building’s circulation system, something you pass through rather than arrive at, unless you know it’s there and slow down deliberately, which I always do.