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Illustration of two human profiles facing each other with open heads, symbolising the exchange of ideas and knowledge. One contains abstract shapes and a light bulb, while the other features a ladder, with arrows connecting the two.

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.

Woman with curly hair and glasses pictured against a colourful digital background, with computer code and data visualisations projected across the image.

Keeping Humans at the Heart of AI

My first encounter with a computer was in Grade 6, which probably gives away something about my age. I remember being fascinated by it almost immediately. There was something extraordinary about typing an instruction and seeing the machine respond. Later, I spent hours learning basic coding, writing what seemed like pages of instructions just to move a cursor into a square on a screen. The result was hardly revolutionary, but the fact that I could make it happen was

Kaarlak: Edith Cowan University’s New City Campus Library Opens in Perth CBD

Kaarlak: Edith Cowan University’s New City Campus Library Opens in Perth CBD

In February 2026, Edith Cowan University (ECU) opened its new state-of-the-art City Campus in the heart of Perth’s CBD. The ECU City Campus is guided by the Life Layers narrative, developed through collaboration between Whadjuk Noongar Elders and ECU. This framework expresses the deep connections between land, water, culture and community through five interconnected layers—Ngarda (Earth/Subterranean), Kep (Water), Kaata (Hills), Moort Boodja (Community/Ecosystem) and Djinda Worlal (Stars/Sky). These layers shape the campus’s design, identity, architecture and cultural storytelling.

Colourful assortment of puzzles, playing cards, dice, dominoes, chess pieces and game pieces arranged around a green background.

Designing for Downtime

This year, as part of a wider teaching and learning initiative, the Brother Liguori Resources Centre (BLRC) Library team at St Joseph’s College undertook an action research project based on passive programming during break times.

Promotional graphic for Library Gen-AI workshops at Curtin, with event details, QR code, and a student seated in a classroom.

Small UX, big insights

As academic libraries respond to the growing presence of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, it’s easy to assume we know what kind of support our students need....

Human hand shaking a robotic hand, symbolising collaboration between people and artificial intelligence

Crafting consistency

The Web and Digital Experience team at Monash University Library explains how an AI‑driven prompt assistant was created to strengthen voice consistency across...