Features
Why We Joined a Consortium
Across regional Australia, public libraries are facing many of the same challenges. Budgets remain tight while the costs of running a modern library continue to rise, and patrons’ needs evolve. This all leads to staff having to do more with fewer resources.
For many libraries, the question is no longer simply which library management system should we use? Increasingly, it’s how can we work together to deliver better services?
That question was at the heart of the Regional WA Library Consortium, an initiative led by the City of Albany that has grown from just 14 libraries in 2018 to 43 libraries across 28 local governments today.
Who Governs Intelligence?
In July this year, the Australian Government announced the creation of an Office of AI within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. The announcement…
To Busan and Beyond: Reflections from IFLA 2026 World Library and Information Congress
Attending the IFLA 2026 World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) in Busan, South Korea was an incredible professional and cultural experience. As a conference grantee, it was both an honour and a privilege to participate in this global gathering of library professionals and connect with colleagues from around the world.
The Conditions of Attention
The reading spaces I facilitate are intentionally quiet. Stories are read aloud slowly, with spacious pauses between them. There is no requirement to respond, analyse or extract meaning. Participants are invited to listen and to remain with the stories themselves. What interests me afterwards is not only the reading itself, but what the experience reveals about attention and the conditions that allow it to settle.
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.
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.
Reading Without Pressure: Bibliotherapy in the School Library
School libraries have long been places that support not only reading engagement, but also student wellbeing. Within this context, bibliotherapy is gaining attention as a way of connecting young people with literature in meaningful ways.
Profile of the PMI Victorian History Library
The PMI Victorian History Library began life as the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute in 1854 and it still hold true to its original aims of being for the mental moral improvement and rational recreation of its members, by means of Lectures, Discussions, Library, Reading Rooms, Classes, Museum, Philosophical Apparatus, &c. The PMI Library still does all of this, excepting the museum and the Philosophical Apparatus, as the current staff remains unclear on exactly what a “Philosophical apparatus” constitutes. Today the PMI Library specialises in Victorian history and holds a collection of over 70 000 items onsite in its building in Prahran. Most of the PMI Library’s collection is available for loan to its members, with membership only costing $30 a year.
Notable Australian Graphic Novels for 2025!
The ALIA Graphic and Comic Novels Group has announced the titles that have been selected as the Notable Australian Graphic Novels for 2025. Read on to hear…
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
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Twinkl Australia: Future-Ready Libraries Start Here
As technology continues to transform education and the workplace, the role of librarians has never been more important. Libraries are uniquely positioned to equip children and young people with the knowledge, confidence and curiosity needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world.