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A silver stethoscope rests across the open pages of a thick book, symbolising the connection between healthcare and knowledge. The softly blurred background features cool blue and white tones with circular bokeh lights, creating a calm, clinical atmosphere.

Reframing the Profession: The Updated HLA Competencies

Health Libraries Australia (HLA) has released its updated Competencies for Health Librarians and Health Library Technicians (2026) – a contemporary and future-oriented framework that reflects the expanding scope, complexity, and impact of health librarianship in Australia.

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.

A crowd of people enters a library through a wide entrance beneath a large illuminated red "LIBRARY" sign. The doorway is decorated with blue and silver star-shaped decorations, creating a welcoming atmosphere as visitors make their way inside.

Lights, Camera, Borrow: Inside the Jerzy Toeplitz Library

Tucked inside the Australian Film Television & Radio School (AFTRS) on Gadigal land in Sydney is a library that many Australians may not have heard of. The Jerzy Toeplitz Library is both an academic library, a public library and a special library. It holds more than 60,000 items spanning books, eBooks, DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, magazines, journals and more, representing the most comprehensive specialist screen arts and broadcasting collection in Australia

Law, Legacy and Libraries: 10 Years of the Law Library of Western Australia

Law, Legacy and Libraries: 10 Years of the Law Library of Western Australia

The Law Library of Western Australia, located in the David Malcolm Justice Centre in the Perth CBD, is the result of an amalgamation of the former Crown Law Library and the Supreme Court Library.

The Library provides services to members of the Judiciary and courts, legal officers of the State, and the broader WA legal profession. It is funded by the Department of Justice, with a contribution from the WA legal profession derived from annual practising certificate fees.

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

Illustration of a human brain split in two: the left side is grey with connected nodes and lines, and the right side is colourful with paint splashes

Knowledge, reading and culture

Adult non-fiction is where libraries stop sounding abstract and start making calls. This item or that one. Credible or crank. Solid synthesis or confident...