INCITE Magazine Volume 44 | Issue 2

Beauty Meets Brawn

Engage library users with a discovery service that combines a modern user interface and sophisticated search technology.

EBSCO Discovery Service anticipates end-users’ research needs through unique features:

• A modern interface that meets users’ needs, preferences, and research interests, including browsing the EBSCO Knowledge Graph

ebsco.com/discovery

• Mobile-friendly design and functionality

• Quality data and precision search

• Integrations with key tools and interfaces

Kylie

kylie.fiddy@alia.org.au

Christina

Welcome to the second edition of INCITE for 2023. We hope you have been enjoying the new look and feel of the magazine, as well as the submissions, new features and updates from ALIA.

In this edition – our biggest yet – we bring you everything from case studies on disaster preparedness to an interview with young adult novelist Holden Sheppard to conversations with and about the latest in AI technology: ChatGPT. Generative artificial intelligence is top of mind for many in the sector. Our two case studies, one from Dr Nicole Johnston on behalf of ALIA RAC and the other from Anand Kochunny, provide accounts of what it’s like to chat with the bot of the moment and what we might expect to see as it continues to evolve. The results don’t fall neatly into the categories of ‘pro’ or ‘con’, but rather demonstrate the complexity of this technology in application, and the urgent need to apply and hone our critical thinking skills when engaging with this tool.

In our regular column ‘Library stories’, we hear from teacher librarian Michelle Coxsen on her winding journey from being a library technician to a librarian to a teacher and back again. We also hear from TAFE librarian Rory Caddis on what he calls the ‘secret world’ of TAFE libraries. For our CPD spotlight we talked to Michelle Collins about her experience of the ALIA CPD scheme and her recent training in Rachael Robertson’s Extreme Leadership Academy. Current ALIA Board Member Mary Carroll is our very special guest writer for our ‘From the archive’ section, exploring Gough Whitlam, his government and libraries in Australia.

By Liz Bradtke Editor

Our features section for this edition is especially rich. In addition to the pieces mentioned earlier, we have articles on the new wave of Australian graphic novels, how to foster a love of research in printrich environments, and global and Indigenous trends in library design.

Finally, in ALIA News, you’ll find an advocacy round-up, a re-introduction from the continuing New Generation Advisory Committee, an account from ALIA Rainbow on their participation in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, and an article by inaugural Charlotte Henry Study Grant recipient Kaley Schelks on where her research has taken her since winning the grant.

We hope you enjoy this bumper edition of INCITE. Submissions for the next edition are open and will close on 17 July 2023.

Liz Bradtke, Editor incite@alia.org.au

Acknowledgment of Country

The Australian Library and Information Association acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to lands, waters, cultures and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; and to Elders past and present.

Artwork: Richard Allan Jr.

Jane Cowell AALIA (DCP) ALIA President

Thank you to all the ALIA members who got involved in the recent ALIA election – those who had the courage to nominate and all members who took the time to cast your vote. I am very honoured to take on the role of President for the next three years, listening to members’ concerns, responding to the challenges facing our industry in the coming years and pinpointing where ALIA can make a difference. For a strong ALIA we need an active membership and I want to acknowledge every person who volunteers their time to a committee, program or section, writes a conference paper or supports national ALIA events.

In my library we are committed to a co-design approach with our community, ensuring its strategic planning, activities and collections are meaningful and relevant. I look forward to taking this co-design approach with all ALIA members to ensure our industry remains a welcoming, valued and relevant industry supporting your careers and the work you do.

If you have been following some of the public library news around Australia, you might have noticed negative commentary from certain elements of the community regarding LGBTQIA+ collection items and library activities that celebrate gender diversity. ALIA Rainbow Members were represented at this year’s Mardi Gras and you can read about their float on page 18. The courage library staff across all aspects of our industry are showing in the face of this kind of community backlash is amazing to see, and I commend each of you for the important work you do in championing inclusion and tolerance. The ALIA team and some key volunteers are working hard to build some resources to support this work and help those who face challenges to collection items, rainbow activities or rainbow displays. Please reach out and support each other if you see a library being targeted in this way, as receiving emails and social media posts of support really does combat the weight and stress of the negative comments and complaints. Please remember that you can reach out to the ALIA team for support in professional and legislative matters if you are facing these types of challenges.

Enough of our challenges. Curiosity is the bedrock for all library staff’s journeys in the workforce as we explore new technology that can make our jobs easier. Here at Yarra Plenty Regional Library we are exploring ChatGPT in writing media releases, blog posts and social media posts. My team says it is not perfect yet but, as we train it in the tone of the writing, it is improving. Is it saving us time? Not yet – but it is fun to try. ChatGPT is clearly something libraries need to experiment with to determine how we will be using it in the future or risk being left behind. The case studies included in this edition demonstrate ways ChatGPT can be used in the library context, so check them out. Have you experimented with this technology? Don’t forget to blog about it and share your experience with us all.

Jane Cowell AALIA (DCP) ALIA President

Curiosity is the bedrock for every librarian’s journey in the workforce as we explore new technology that can make our jobs easier.

At ALIA, we are fascinated by the stories of our colleagues in the sector: where they’ve come from, how they got to where they are and the professional journeys they wish to embark upon in the future. ‘Library stories’ is a regular column in INCITE that allows us to share these fascinating and varied accounts with our readers. For this edition, we chat with librarians Michelle Coxsen and Rory Caddis about their pathways into and through library and information science.

Library stories

Michelle Coxsen

Over the past 10 years, Michelle Coxsen AALIA (CP) has moved from being a library technician to a librarian to a teacher and back again. In this edition of ‘Library stories’, Michelle breaks down the five key things that helped her transition between roles and how she was able to look after herself when her career took her down different paths.

Find a mentor

I can’t emphasise enough how important mentors can be in your career. They have helped me set goals, be reasonable and think clearly. I have found library professionals to be immensely generous with their time and advice. For my transition into teaching, I joined the ALIA Mentoring Scheme and was matched with the perfect mentor. She helped me navigate my new career and helped me to be reasonable with my goals and expectations.

How do you get a mentor? Research leaders that work in libraries where you would like to eventually work. Send your potential mentor an email introducing yourself and briefly outlining what you are working on and what you want to do. Ask them to be your mentor. It has been that simple for me. Also, as mentioned, ALIA offers the chance for you to be matched up with a mentor. More information about the ALIA Mentoring Scheme can be found here.

Set goals

The reason I wanted to teach was because I admired one of my teachers and wanted to become a teacher like her. She was working as a librarian at a university and teaching was her part time job. I made it a goal of one day following in her footsteps. I got the university job as a librarian and, four years later, started teaching library studies. When I found out I got my teaching position, I emailed her. She agreed to meet with me to give me her advice. This showed me the importance of having clear, attainable goals and, again, having mentors.

Patience

It took me two years to become a library technician, nine years to become a librarian, and twenty years to become a teacher. Everything takes time and sometimes enthusiasm can make it hard to be patient, as you want your goals to be fulfilled ASAP. Patience helps you to focus on what you need to learn and appreciate what you have now. Being grateful for what you have can help you to be patient. I practise gratitude daily by using an app. Being grateful slips nicely into mindfulness. It helps you to think in the moment by acknowledging the present and being grateful for it.

Talk it out

When I don’t talk about my problems or goals, they become bigger and harder to manage. Talking to my mentors and/or a counsellor has been invaluable over the years, and I appreciate their perspective. Having someone say ‘I understand’ or ‘maybe scale back some of your goals, you have a lot on your plate’ is immensely helpful. Find someone you can trust to talk to and/or write down your feelings and goals.

Look after yourself

Not everything works out and that is fine. Despite meticulously planning, goals may not come to fruition. What you do have control over is looking after yourself. Make yourself a priority. What can you do every day or every week that you love to help you to unwind and refocus? Can you spend time with your loved ones? Can you get a massage or go for a walk? You don’t need to spend a lot of money. Curling up with a good book you borrowed from your library can be your bliss. Working in libraries has been mine.

Michelle Coxsen

AALIA (CP)

Right Michelle Coxsen

Photo: Supplied

Secrets of TAFE libraries: uncovered

Rory Caddis

Rory Caddis shares with INCITE his journey into TAFE libraries and how he’s making a difference in the lives of students.

My journey into the world of TAFE libraries began after falling in love with sharing knowledge during my time working in galleries. This passion led me to complete a Master of Digital Information Management from the University of Technology Sydney. Graduating amidst the peak of the pandemic, I secured a position at a TAFE in Western Sydney after having two job offers rescinded. My classmates and mentors, mostly employed in university libraries, saw my TAFE job as a temporary setback. However, little did I know that my TAFE library experience would provide me with unparalleled professional growth and opportunities. I eventually took on an exciting role at The Gordon, Victoria’s largest regional TAFE.

Joining The Gordon was like entering a liaison librarian boot camp. TAFE libraries, being small, cover an extensive range of duties and demand quick adaptation. I found myself responsible for copyright compliance, managing collections and teaching research and referencing. The challenge of integrating libraries into practical teaching programs for trades like floristry, plumbing or bricklaying only added to the excitement.

One unique aspect of working in TAFE libraries is the diverse community of professionals – from tradies and allied health

practitioners to interior designers and artists. Building meaningful relationships with students, particularly those who have disengaged from traditional education, has been the most rewarding aspect of my vocational education career. Witnessing students who had never held a library card come to see the library as a quiet, safe and welcoming space has been incredibly fulfilling.

Within three months, I was offered an acting position coordinating both the library and learning support teams. This management opportunity was a rare find compared to my friends in university libraries. TAFE libraries’ flat hierarchy enables everyone to be involved in decision-making, and changes can be made quickly. In my first month at The Gordon, I created a new Queer Space and initiated the renovation of a disused section for a student gallery space.

So, to any new librarians or those seeking fresh challenges, do not overlook the potential that TAFE libraries hold. Embrace the opportunities they can offer and unlock the hidden world that awaits.

Rory Caddis Liaison librarian (learning and teaching), The Gordon

Building meaningful relationships with students, particularly those who have disengaged from traditional education, has been the most rewarding aspect of my vocational education career.

Right Rory Caddis

Photo: Supplied

For this edition’s Continuing Professional Development Spotlight, we caught up with Michelle Collins, Beaumaris Branch Librarian in Bayside, Victoria. Michelle tells us about her experience of and highlights from the ALIA CPD scheme, how she has integrated what she’s learned into her workplace, and her training with Rachael Robertson’s Extreme Leadership Academy.

Collins

Can you tell us a little bit about your current role and how the CPD scheme has intersected with your work in this role or previous roles?

Currently I lead the team at the Beaumaris Library in Bayside, Victoria. I love the team, the library and the community; both the team and the community are really creative and sustainability focused. The CPD scheme has helped me to grow into my role. When I started tracking my professional development, I was a team leader and children’s librarian at St Kilda Library, so I was able to record training such as Geek Girl Academy – a social enterprise dedicated to achieving gender equality in the technology industry – as well as develop my story-time technique. More recently, my professional training, reading and networking has been more focused on supporting the team.

A real gift of the program was that it gave me the confidence to reach out to other industry professionals and to seek out mentors, peers and friends to gain genuine insight into the shared joys and challenges we were facing. Peer-to-peer support continues to be an absolute game changer in giving me a sense of belonging in the library network.

I understand that you’ve recently attained Distinguished Certified Professional status. Congratulations! Can you tell us about some of your favourite elements, including highlights from your professional reading?

A definite highlight was being part of the ALIA Mentorship program where I’d have regular catch-ups with Ali Kemp, who looks after Warrnambool Library. The mentorship spanned the early lockdowns here in Melbourne and it was an absolute godsend to be able to put my everyday challenges and what I was thinking about in my career

in the context of her experience. Ali’s emphasis on kindness being core to good leadership has made a lasting impact on how I stay true to my own values as I lead my team.

Professional reading really contributed to my CPD journey. My manager, Kristy, put me onto Robert K Greenleaf’s writing and his theory around the value of ‘Servant Leadership’. This continues to resonate with me. More recently, I read and loved an article in the Harvard Business Review about how important it is that team members genuinely find joy and have some autonomy in aspects of their role. Professional reading really challenges me to stretch in how I can build up the team. Supporting a happy, inspired team translates into positive, meaningful interactions with the community.

In your view, why is professional development important for the library workforce?

I’m really motivated to learn about what is going on across the sector locally, nationally and globally, in order to bring the best possible service to the people we interact with here in Beaumaris. I’m also inspired by excellent training, it keeps me excited about my role.

David Lankes’ emphasis on having a hyperlocal response to our community’s needs rather than trying to adopt every interesting project that other libraries are doing, for example, really resonated with me and has kept me grounded in what our local community values and needs — sustainability and creativity.

In a similar vein, being exposed to the phenomenal work being done in LocHal in Tilburg, the Netherlands, really helped me to focus on what the community needs now as opposed to what we’ve traditionally provided for them. At Beaumaris Library, that

translated into valuing a large communal table where different members of the community could work independently, but together. It helped me to advocate for lots of extra power points to facilitate the increasing number of people coming in with laptops. And, by listening to how the local Dutch communities had requested access to small community libraries even when they weren’t staffed, helped me to get onboard with a similar concept here in Bayside at Hampton Library.

You’ve just completed training with the Extreme Leadership Academy. Can you tell us about this experience ?

The Bayside Library leadership team were privileged to complete Rachael Robertson’s Extreme Leadership Academy course. Rachael led an Antarctic expedition a few years back and brings the lessons she learned into an everyday team-leading context. Our leadership team met regularly to unpack what we were learning and how we could apply it to our work.

One concept that really stretched me was getting the balance right between data and stories when advocating for change. It’s not enough to anecdotally say ‘we’re getting a lot of people through the door now who are really just up for a chat’ – we need to be saying, ‘in the last month the library team recorded 134 social inclusion conversations whilst assisting the community in the library’ (we’ve started collecting stats specifically on personal conversations). Then, when we’re advocating for hosting a Chatty Café in the library or thinking about how we can respond to the growing need for social connection, we’ve got numbers to back it.

Another highlight of the training was examining how different generations of staff have different expectations about how to show up at work (metaphorically and literally). Some need a sound work–life balance, some grew up with digital literacy, and some signed up for a role 30 years ago whereas others feel free to stay for a few years and then move on. Our team consists of individuals from multiple generations and it makes sense to be aware that each may expect something different from their workplace.

Above Michelle Collins Photos: Supplied

time’ — Gough Whitlam, his government and libraries in Australia

Why is 2023 the perfect time to talk about Gough Whitlam, his government and libraries? It is because a little over 50 years ago, in December 1972, Whitlam’s controversial reformist government was elected. Significantly Whitlam’s government was responsible for an expansion of postsecondary education in Australia and the abolition of university fees. The expansion of post-secondary education and abolition of fees was to have direct implications for the professionalisation of librarianship in Australia and education for the library and information science (LIS) professions.

When the Whitlam government came to power, the future of Australian public libraries looked particularly grim, suffering from long-term neglect by state and municipal governments. In most states, public library reach had hardly moved

From the archive

By Mary Carroll

from the dismal conditions recorded in Munn and Pitts’ landmark 1935 report Australian libraries: A survey of conditions and suggestions for their improvement. In his opening address at the 1975 Library Association of Australia’s biennial conference, Whitlam stated that his government was ‘acutely aware of the neglect from which library services throughout Australia had suffered at the hands of state and municipal authorities’ and was intent on taking action. Whitlam was to champion federal funding of public library infrastructure and, in November 1975, he established a Committee of Inquiry into Public Libraries headed by Allan Horton, Librarian of the University of New South Wales.

The timing of this Commission could not have been worse, with the findings published in February 1976 – just three months after

‘It’s

Right Gough Whitlam. Northern Territory Government Photographer Collection, PH0091/0070.

Photo: Library & Archives NT (1975).

Right Gough Whitlam with children in a classroom on a visit to the village school at Hoa Long while visiting the Australian Task Force.

Photo: Australian War Memorial (1966).

the controversial dismissal of Whitlam’s Labor government. However, it can be argued that despite its timing, Horton’s report Public Libraries in Australia (1976) and its delightfully quirky companion Libraries are great mate! ‘But they could be greater’ (1976) set the future agenda for the Australian library profession. The reports championed the library as a place for recreation, information and lifelong learning. It asked us to consider what a public library should be and who it should serve, and highlighted the need for adequate funding. The report looked closely at the ‘under-served’ advocating for ‘special groups’ including those with a disability, culturally diverse communities, the institutionalised, economically or geographically disadvantaged and Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander’ peoples. Horton and his committee demanded that the profession ‘begin a quiet revolution’ led by suitably educated and qualified LIS professionals.

Despite the dismissal of his government, Whitlam was to remain committed in his support for libraries and other cultural institutions, reflecting his belief in their value as essential to an equitable, democratic society. He remained a strong advocate for the sector and actively engaged with the LIS profession throughout his career. In 1985, he (somewhat ironically) delivered the Dulcie Stretton lecture to mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of the 1935 Munn-Pitt report, and he was to later publish his speech in the Australian Library Journal. For his efforts and service to libraries in Australia, the Hon. Gough Whitlam AC was conferred with ALIA’s Redmond Barry Award in 1994. This award is given to a non-LIS professional in recognition of their outstanding contribution to library and information services in Australia.

Whitlam was to champion federal funding of public library infrastructure and, in November 1975, he established a Committee of Inquiry into Public Libraries headed by Allan Horton, Librarian of the University of New South Wales.

Mary Carroll, AALIA School of Information and Communication Studies, Charles Sturt University; ALIA Board Director

Re-introducing the New Generation Advisory Committee (NGAC)

By Olivia Larobina; Emilia Bell; Alex Dupriez; Lydia Grant; Kate Davis

During the recent ALIA Committees and Groups Review, the New Generation Advisory Committee (NGAC) was reaffirmed as one of the five Advisory Committees that will continue to advise the ALIA Board. The Committee’s role is to help strengthen the participation of students, recently graduated, and early career library and information professionals within the sector, through active contributions and discussions with ALIA.

NGAC provides advice to the ALIA Board of Directors on the challenges that impact the new generation of professionals. We do this via regular meetings attended by the ALIA director appointed as Board liaison, reporting for select ALIA Board meetings and an end-of-year round-up of activities for ALIA’s annual report. This advice is informed by ongoing engagement with students, graduates and early career professionals.

NGAC is made up of both new and early career graduate ALIA Members who all work across a range of sectors within the library and information profession. Each member volunteers their time to ensure that students and other new and early career graduates are involved in shaping the future of ALIA and the library and information sector. NGAC will continue to

work closely with the ALIA Students and New Graduates Group (SNGG) as we share the goal of uplifting student, new graduate and early career voices within the library and information profession.

Recent topics raised in NGAC have been:

• Writing and submitting job applications

• Barriers to employment

• Involvement in the Professional Pathways Initiative

• Ongoing engagement with matters aligning with ALIA’s Strategic Plan, which includes advocating for equitable and inclusive policies based on student and new professional needs and priorities, as well as fostering a sense of belonging and support.

Photo: Unsplash

If you are interested in joining NGAC, or you have ideas or issues you’d like us to raise or explore, please email aliangac@gmail.com

PROFESSOR RANGI MĀTĀMUA (TŪHOE)

Te kuneroa The future

PROF. ANDREW PETTEGREE & DR ARTHUR DER WEDUWEN (UK)

He kete matatau, he kete matatini Libraries and literacies

DR HANA O’REGAN (NGĀI TAHU)

Ō mātau reo, ō mātau kōrero Our voices, our stories

LESLIE WEIR (CANADA)

Te kuneroa The future

DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR GENEVIEVE BELL (AUS)

He puna kōrero horopū Information today

DR BETH WAHLER (US)

Kia whai wāhi

te hapori kia whanake Community engagement and transformation

https://lianza.org.nz/lianza-conference/lianza-2023-conference/

MICHAEL EDSON (US)

Te kuneroa

The future

Advocacy round-up

It has been a busy few months for advocacy in the sector with some significant wins and hard work on ongoing campaigns. Thank you to everyone who has been campaigning with us, from writing letters to contributing to submissions. Together we are strong! For anyone who’s still catching up, we’ve rounded up some highlights.

Advocacy wins

A major win for everyone in the sector was the announcement in March that the Federal Government has promised $33m over the next four years to fund Trove, with $9.2m ongoing and indexed funding from July 2027. The announcement came as an enormous relief to not only the library and information sector but the wider library community who use and recognise the value of this essential infrastructure. The Federal Government also addressed the ongoing funding shortfalls for National Cultural Institutions, with $535.3m in funding shared across institutions including the National Library of Australia.

Increased LOTE films in public libraries is a step closer with the Federal Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland, announcing a proposed change to include exemptions from classification for foreign language films distributed by public libraries and routine exhibitions hosted by cultural institutions.

Statements

ALIA Board Statement on the upcoming Referendum on the Voice to Parliament

The statement highlights the sector’s commitment to access to information, democracy and truth-telling and encourages all Australians to make an informed vote in the Referendum by seeking out information and resources. ALIA has created its own set of Memberonly resources to support library and information services and staff to manage risk during the referendum, and will be distributing further resources to support libraries’ roles as trusted sources of information.

Joint Statement on

School

Library

Inclusion

in the National School Reform Agreement (NSRA)

ALIA, as a member of the Australian Coalition for School Libraries, published a statement calling for clear and achievable action to arrest the decline in literacy and numeracy rates. The statement was sent through to the Federal Minister for Education, Minister Jason Clare.

Joint Statement from the ALIA and the Australian Public Library Alliance (APLA) in support of free access to information in Australian libraries

In response to the uptick in people challenging books in libraries, we released a joint statement with APLA in support of free access to information in Australian libraries.

Libraries defend equity of access to information to support a thriving democracy and to cater for all members of the library community. We are continuing to monitor any actions around book challenges, and are working on developing resources for the sector that will be made available shortly. If you are interested in talking more about this, contact education@alia.org.au

ALIA Statement: Respect for Public Library Staff

In light of recent incidences of deliberate aggression, violence and other anti-social behaviour from some members of the community, the ALIA Board released a statement recognising the value of public library staff, the work they do and offering resources to support the sector. ALIA is monitoring the current situation carefully, and is working on further sector resources.

Libraries defend equity of access to information to support a thriving democracy and to cater for all members of the library community.

Reports

NSLA and ALIA-APLA release Australian public libraries statistical report 2021-2022

The Australian Public Libraries Statistical Report is an annual project that identifies and measures the usage and activities of Australia’s public library services. This year’s report demonstrated Australians’ continued love affair with the public library, with almost 150 million books, ebooks, audiobooks and other resources borrowed across 2021-2022.

Recent submissions

Inquiry into the Australian Government’s National Cultural Policy Revive Highlights the critical role of libraries in supporting Australia’s cultural and arts sectors.

Submission to the Copyright Enforcement Review Argues for essential library copyright reforms in the context of copyright protection for authors and other creators, along with other sector submissions from ALACC, NSLA and CAUL.

Submission to Australian Universities Accord Discussion Paper Stresses the importance of library services to equity, learning and research, and urges action to support open research and support for LIS students.

ALIA-NSLA submission to the inquiry into the influence of international digital platforms, March 2023

Makes recommendations including increased measures to protect libraries, artists and consumers, increased transparency from digital platforms, and the development of a National Strategy for Media Literacy. ALIA also contributed to the submission from the Australian Media Literacy Alliance.

Please contact education@alia.org.au if you would like to discuss any of our advocacy efforts, we are always happy to hear from you.

‘Shhh!’

ALIA librarians at Mardi Gras

By Corinna Pierce, Convenor, ALIA Rainbow

For the 2023 Sydney WorldPride Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, library staff from around the country came together to parade and dance.

Supported by sponsorship from ALIA, Waverley Library Manager Corinna Pierce organised the float and led 60 queer staff and allies from all kinds of libraries and from all around the country in the parade.

Meeting other librarians, collaborating and sharing ideas, skills and resources was enjoyable for everyone, and the group received an enthusiastic reception from the public during the parade.

The theme of the float was ‘Shhh’, playing on an obvious library stereotype. To a remix of Björk’s song ‘It’s oh so quiet’, the group shushed the crowd during the quiet parts of the song before breaking out into a fabulously choreographed dance routine. The crowd participation was passionate and energetic. They joined in with the shushing with great hilarity and then, as the song exploded into dance party, excited roars arose from the crowd – every single time!

As the headline event for WorldPride 2023, the parade was watched by several hundred thousand people on the streets and millions on the television. It’s a fabulous way to get across our message that libraries are safe spaces that welcome everyone. The theme of WorldPride 2023 was ‘Gather, Dream, Amplify’, and we hoped to let everyone watching know that libraries are places where people can gather, dream and have their voices not ‘shushed’ but amplified.

Here is a quote from one of the participants: ‘I was out last night when a young chap came up and recognised me from the parade and said he loved ‘The Librarians’ float. He said he cried as we walked past and said when he was a child in rural NSW his local library was his only safe space … he now holds a doctorate in neuroscience.’ Libraries really do change lives.

Watch the video here.

Corinna Pierce Manager, Waverley Library corinna.pierce@waverley.nsw.gov.au

ALIA staff and allies at Mardi Gras.

Photos: Supplied

Impact is the word!

By Kaley Schelks

Last year, I was lucky enough to be awarded ALIA’s inaugural Charlotte Henry Study Grant. I’m a relatively new librarian and I’ve almost completed my Master of Information Management through the University of South Australia. I’ve transitioned from previous careers and becoming a librarian has been the most satisfying career move I’ve ever made. I’m so proud to call myself a librarian! Early on I knew that public libraries were my passion. About six years ago, I was also lucky enough to land a fantastic job in the programming team with Ipswich Libraries, where I completed the research for my thesis. I have since accepted a new position with Queensland Memory at State Library of Queensland.

The study grant was life-changing. I was able to upgrade my outdated laptop to a brand-new workstation (laptop, monitor, hub and printer), which has enabled me to focus on the task at hand rather than dealing with stressful, unreliable technology. I also used the money to assist with costs associated with research for my thesis, and I still have money left over that I’m planning to put towards attending professional development and conferences.

I am happy to say that I received a high distinction for my thesis, ‘Quantifying the

value of programming in public libraries: An examination of benefits, ROI, and research methods’. I am very proud to have completed research in this complex and highly understudied area. Currently, there is very little research on the impacts or value of public library programming. Rich findings came from my research, including positive benefits from new skills and knowledge, plus increased enjoyment, and wellbeing outcomes. I also found that library programs offer definite opportunities for deep and long-term impact, including life-changing improved health outcomes. I hope that this research will have clear and lasting benefits for public libraries, their patrons and communities.

Research is most useful if the findings can be applied to solutions for real-world problems. Funding in public libraries can be a contentious issue. However, in the recent post-COVID years, the need to justify how public money is spent is more important

than ever. Soon, I will be meeting with the executive management team of the Libraries and Customer Service Department of Ipswich City Council. This council has shown that they value public libraries with the innovative initiatives they’ve implemented over the last decade, such as investment in four new libraries, including the awardwinning Ipswich Children’s Library. Even though library programming is a key service of most libraries, it can sometimes be an afterthought or footnote in the reporting process. I will present my findings and the demonstrated positive – in some cases, lifechanging – impacts that library programming has made for Ipswich individuals, their community and the libraries.

I am hoping that this study will directly benefit the programming team (and, by default, benefit the community) with continued funding and staff allocations. Using both quantitative and qualitative research data, I’m aiming to give the decision-makers a better understanding of the difference public library programs are making every day in people’s lives. I would like to acknowledge the assistance and thank the management, staff and patrons of Ipswich Libraries for helping me to complete my thesis research.

The hope is that this research will make impacts beyond myself and Ipswich. I plan to develop my thesis further to be published and, perhaps, with a bit more luck, present the findings at a conference. It seems that measuring and advocating for the impacts of libraries is the topic of the moment. It was discussed during the recent online National and State Libraries Australasia strategic plan panel discussion, and it was the topic of a two-day symposium, Future Libraries: Better Communities, at State Library of Queensland. Over the two days, findings from research on two key library programming areas, digital inclusion and children’s literacy were presented, and stakeholders were able to contribute to a 10-year road map for public libraries. The presentations confirmed and validated my research conclusions, although my study examined a wider range of library program categories and each of their impacts and value.

I’m extremely grateful to ALIA and the benefactors of the late Charlotte Henry for this opportunity. I feel this study grant is such a positive way to honour the memory of Charlotte, her passion for public libraries and the impact they make within their communities. I’ve worked really hard to be this lucky and I hope that my work will have lasting impact on the library world.

Head to our Awards page to learn more about the Charlotte Henry Grant and explore other available grants and awards including the Twila Ann Janssen Herr Research Award for Disability Services, Redmond Barry Award and the ALIA Des Tellis Australian Geoscience Information Association Grant.

Kaley Schelks Collection Engagement Officer, Queensland Memory, State Library of Queensland kaleysch@gmail.com

Above State Library of Queensland.

Photo: Flickr/ Wotjek Gurac

Left Kaley Schelks.

Photo: Facebook

Never forget what it’s like to be a teenager:

A conversation with Holden Sheppard

With the New Librarians’ Symposium fast approaching (29 July 2023), we caught up with keynote speaker Holden Sheppard, author of The Brink – a coming-of-age story about a group of teenagers on Schoolies who find themselves confronting life-changing tragedy head-on. The novel is also a powerful exploration of masculinity, sexuality, mental health, drug and alcohol use, relationships and sex. Holden spoke to us about being a coming-of-age writer, the complexities of adolescent identity, the role of libraries in his life and work, and what attendees can expect from his keynote speech.

By Liz Bradtke

Thanks for talking to us Holden! Firstly, I wanted to ask what attracts you to the genre of young adult fiction and what it allows you to do creatively that other genres might not?

I’ve always been drawn to reading and writing coming-of-age stories. There is something empowering about the self-actualisation of those late teenage years. When I was that age, I was really finding my own self after having performed a bit of a perfectionistic persona most of my life, so in my psyche, those rebellious years are associated with freedom and being a bit of a punk. And lots of readers can relate – from teenagers through to adults.

But I don’t know if I have ever fully seen myself as a proper fit-inside-thebox YA author, to be honest, and that

category doesn’t give me much creative freedom at all. My work is just depicting the reality of the older teenage years – which means sex, alcohol, partying, swearing, sexuality, all of it – and even though both books are clearly pitched at readers 15 and up, some moralistic kind of gatekeepers see that as too boundarypushing and have often tried to get in the way of my books reaching teenage audiences (eg refusing to stock my books in bookshops, trying to get my books removed from libraries, telling teachers not to buy them, etc).

YA as a category has been restrictive for me, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to say it’s largely because of the unabashedly homosexual content of my novels. Thankfully, the vast majority of readers, teachers, librarians and booksellers are overwhelmingly supportive of books like this. So, I think of myself as a writer of coming-of-age stories rather than YA specifically. Especially as so many of us actually come of age in our twenties and thirties, these days.

Whilst reading your latest book The Brink, I was very compelled by the inclusion of the dead-body plot device and the idea of remoteness that is so effectively evoked by the beach setting. How do these particular elements help you to tease out the complexities of identity, self-image, social pressure and the often painful process of coming of age?

A few years back, I was driving back home to Perth from a weekend in Geraldton, and my old Commodore conked out on the Indian Ocean Drive, smack bang between Lancelin and Cervantes. There’s absolutely nothing in either direction for 40km, no phone signal, no help available in an emergency, just remote bushland stretching all along the coast. I remember thinking that would be an epic setting for a locked-room style thriller or mystery.

Above right Holden Sheppard.

Photo: Supplied

So I crafted Brink Island as a fictional representation of some of the off-grid shack settlements on the coast in that area. I figured dumping a bunch of troubled, misfit teenagers in a place like that – and taking away their phones and their ability to escape and then throwing a dead body into the mix – would ratchet up the stakes and be a catalyst for a very rapid coming of age. And I think it worked: the immediate drama of the sudden death on the island stokes a monumental transformation in the three main characters of anxious Leonardo, perfect Kaiya and boof-headed Mason. And it makes everything on the island go

from The White Lotus to Lord of the Flies in the space of a day, which was fun to write.

The Brink demonstrates your ability to inhabit the adolescent mind and voice. Could you talk a little bit about how you achieve this?

I do remember being in Year 12 and being extremely frustrated with how adults seemed to see me, and teenagers generally, compared to how it actually felt to be that age and to be riddled with angst and confusion and crap mental health. At 17, I wrote a message to myself in my notebook to ‘never, ever forget what it really feels like to be a teenager’.

So maybe that angry memo to my future self worked? I never have forgotten it, and I guess I find it easy to channel into that teenage voice. To some extent, I still feel that angst. It’s bubbling under the surface. Beyond that, I don’t know what to tell you, other than I definitely don’t try to research too much to try to sound like the current generation of teenagers. I don’t think I could write in current 2020s teen slang without coming across like a try-hard. I’d be like a middle-aged teacher trying to be cool to relate to the kids. Hard pass. I can’t manufacture that. I do research tonnes of facts to make sure I get things factually and geographically accurate

– I always have – but I don’t construct a made-up teenage voice. I try to lean into the universalities of the adolescent experience – the constants that never change, unlike slang or fashion or culture. It’s a gut-driven, more organic process, and that’s what seems to work for me.

As INCITE is the flagship magazine for the library sector, I would be remiss if I didn’t ask – what role have libraries played in your life and work?

I have loved libraries since I was a little kid. I was an avid reader from a very young age and I loved the library at my primary school, and especially the much bigger Geraldton Regional Library in the middle of town. It was a two-storey library with a mezzanine and a kind of curved staircase and what felt like thousands of shelves of books. I’d never seen anything like it when I was a kid. I spent hours in that library and my mother would take me and my little sister there pretty often to loan books out. Once I was at high school, I loved sitting in there after school and just reading books without even hiring them out – tonnes of fiction but also non-fiction about astronomy or Ancient Rome or urban planning or war or puberty. Libraries are places of wonder and freedom and I still love them for the free, unfettered and untimed space they give to curious

introverts like myself. You’re allowed to just sit in a library and be fascinated by knowledge and stories, and nobody stops you or asks you to pay for anything. How brilliant is that? Maybe the coolest institution in our civilisation.

You are a keynote speaker at the upcoming ALIA New Librarians’ Symposium. Can you give us a little teaser of what attendees will be hearing from you?

I’m keen to lean into the cultural moment we find ourselves in. There seems to be an odd resurgence of censorship and puritanism in the literary space. Free expression and being a writer seem to be under threat in multiple ways. We have far-right people pushing for book

bans on LGBT+ content and more or less opposing anything by marginalised authors. We have commercial publishers sanitising old classics for maximum profit. We have a Goodreads culture that wants to demand any book deemed even mildly problematic by the least-generous reader gets either its ‘bad parts’ edited out or the book pulped altogether. It’s a weird time to be an author. So, I’m going to explore all this from a place of curiosity, through the prism of my books and my works – which have been caught up in some of these current flashpoints. It will be very honest and, hopefully, thought-provoking. Buckle up!

Finally, I understand you are working on a new project. Is there anything you can – or would like – to tell us about it, or any future directions your work might take?

I’ve begun 2023 with a brand-new start on my third novel and I’m feeling pretty excited about it. It’s my first book that will be pitched at adults instead of YA. It’s a raw, confessional novel about a gym junkie with anger issues whose past trauma finally catches up with him and tears his life apart just as he hits his thirties. I’ll shut my mouth before I say too much more, but I am confident that readers of my first two books will like it and I’m hoping it will find new readers too.

Holden’s latest novel, The Brink, is published by Text Publishing and is available at bookstores and online

Holden is a keynote speaker at the New Librarians’ Symposium which will take place online on 29 July. Registrations are still open. Link to information and registrations here

At 17, I wrote a message to myself in my notebook to ‘never, ever forget what it really feels like to be a teenager’. So maybe that angry memo to my future self worked? I never have forgotten it, and I guess I find it easy to channel into that teenage voice.

Conversations about and with ChatGPT: Two case studies

The recent advent of the generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT has led to increased interest in the ethical, practical and technological impacts of AI on the way we live and work. ALIA’s seminar on AI and libraries in February this year attracted over 500 registered attendees, all of them keen to learn more about the possible implications of this technology on academic integrity and information literacy. In this feature article, we present two case studies of what it’s like to chat with the chatbot – one from Dr Nicole Johnston (on behalf of the ALIA Research Advisory Committee) and one from Anand Kochunny, a career reference librarian. These two case studies explore how this technology may impact the library, higher education and business sectors, and the potential dangers and benefits of its integration into the community.

Implications of generative AI on information literacy and referencing

Dr Nicole Johnston

In November 2022, a free version of a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI called ChatGPT was released, which has been trained to provide conversational, automatically generated responses from internet sources. In his 2023 article on the implications of generative AI for journalism, John Pavlik states that GPT stands for ‘generative pre-trained transformer’ and is a form of natural language processing that can generate new content.

Andrew Cox, Stephen Pinfield and Sophie Rutter, in their 2019 article on

the impact of AI on academic libraries, note that one of the biggest impacts AI is anticipated to have on libraries is on search and discovery of resources, which also brings up implications of privacy, copyright and bias. They argue that librarians are well placed to help users to develop critical information literacy skills needed to understand the privacy and legal implications of AI.

Brady Lund and Ting Wang in a 2023 article on the impacts of ChatGPT, note that ChatGPT itself acknowledges the implications AI has for natural language processing in libraries, including improving the accuracy and effectiveness of search systems and assisting with automated reference queries, while also acknowledging concerns around the privacy of the information it has been trained on and the possibilities of bias.

In discussions in higher education around the implications of AI, some limitations that researchers have already discovered about ChatGPT relate

to information literacy, ethical use, misinformation and referencing. In a recent article in The Guardian ‘AI makes plagiarism harder to detect, argue academics – in paper written by chatbot’ on detecting plagiarism in AI, Anna Fazackerley points out that, currently, ChatGPT does not understand academic referencing. In the article the authors of a recently published article about academic integrity and AI produced using ChatGPT, point out that one way they used to trick the reviewers was to add references to the content produced from ChatGPT.

There are also concerns around the currency of information, as ChatGPT’s training data currently only goes up to 2021. Jürgen Rudolph, Samson Tan and Shannon Tan point out in their 2023 article on ChatGPT and assessments that search engines such as Google search for current information. Another 2023 article by Michael Liebrenz, Roman Schleifer, Anna Buadze, Dinesh Bhugra and Alexander Smith on ethical challenges for medical publishing

points out that ChapGPT could be harmful if it produces inaccurate information. There needs to be ethical considerations around copyright, attribution, plagiarism and authorship, they say.

In order to test the limitations of ChatGPT as a research tool, I asked ChatGPT to write an essay on the opportunities and challenges of open access for a Master of Library Science student. ChatGPT responded to my additional prompts and added new and further information, such as references and citations.

ChatGPT wrote an essay outlining several opportunities and challenges of open access. It produced 10 references, all prior to 2017. ChatGPT accessed open access articles, books and institutional repositories to write the essay with all of the real articles in the reference list being open access articles, either direct from the journal or through an institutional repository. Of the 10 references provided, seven were found to be real. Citations provide a short, one-sentence overview of the article and appear to be mainly sourced from the abstract of the papers. With the references that were accurate, there were some inaccuracies with year, issue, publisher and location.

ChatGPT appears aware of its own limitations and, if advised that a reference or information is fake or inaccurate, provides advice around verifying information. Below is the response provided when asked why some references are fake.

‘As an AI language model, I do not intentionally provide fake references. However, I generate my responses using complex algorithms that scan a vast amount of text data available on the internet. This means that there may be

instances where I inadvertently produce fake or inaccurate references.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that not all information on the internet is accurate or reliable. Some sources may contain intentionally misleading information or inaccuracies, while others may be outdated or no longer valid.

It’s important to verify information from multiple sources and use critical thinking skills to evaluate the credibility and accuracy of sources before relying on them.’ (ChatGPT)

ChatGPT also asked to let it know when a reference is incorrect. The following is an example of a fake reference that I told ChapGPT was fake:

Suber, P. (2015). Open access and academic freedom. Educause Review, 50(6), 10-11.

Suber (2015) argues that open access promotes academic freedom by enabling greater access to research outputs.

‘You are correct that the reference I provided, Suber, P. (2015). Open access and academic freedom. Educause Review, 50(6), 10-11, is fake. Upon further investigation, I could not find any evidence that this article was published in Educause Review or any other academic journal’.

With new and emerging AI in the works, and Microsoft soon to include an AI powered system called Copilot in Microsoft 365, it’s important that library staff are AI literate and are well positioned to provide their users with the information literacy skills needed to critically evaluate and verify the information produced through AI, as well as educating users on the ethical and legal implications of utilising these tools.

Dr Nicole Johnston

Member of the ALIA Research Advisory Committee, ALIA Director and Associate University Librarian, ECU n.johnston@ecu.edu.au

Hello, tomorrow! AI brings you the future today

Anand Kochunny

As a recent migrant to Australia from New Zealand, I wanted to know if Kiwis in Australia were eligible for the free COVID-19 bivalent vaccine (the fifth dose). So, I visited the SA Health website, managed by the Government of South Australia, and encountered Zoe, its chatbot. I asked Zoe, ‘Can a Kiwi get a free vaccine?’.

Zoe rephrased my question as ‘How can I book a COVID-19 vaccine?’ and replied: ‘Vaccination is available at participating GPs and pharmacies across South Australia. You can find a clinic near you by checking the Vaccine Clinic Finder.’

When I asked ChatGPT-3.5 the same question, it provided a 107-word reply beginning with: ‘Yes, a Kiwi (citizen or permanent resident of New Zealand) who is currently living in Australia can get a free COVID-19 vaccine under Australia’s national vaccination program.’

Comparing Zoe with ChatGPT is possibly like comparing a small car to a luxury sports model, for GPT-3.5 operates on 175 billion parameters. To be fair, Zoe was built by Clevertar and SA Health in just six days in early 2020. And, like most chatbots, Zoe can only respond on the basis of the information it has been fed.

For the benefit of the uninitiated – as I was, until recently – ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence chatbot that has been developed by a San Francisco-based firm called OpenAI and launched on 30 November 2022. GPT stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer. According to an

article in The Guardian, ChatGPT is the fastest-growing consumer app, reaching 100 million users within two months of being launched.

There’s a reason for this unprecedented popularity. According to the Wikipedia page for ChatGPT, it can ‘write and debug computer programs; compose music, teleplays, fairy tales, and student essays; answer test questions (sometimes, depending on the test, at a level above the average human test-taker); write poetry and song lyrics; emulate a Linux system; simulate an entire chat room; play games like tic-tac-toe; and simulate an ATM’ simply via a text prompt from the user. OpenAI has released GPT-4 on 14 March 2023, and its capabilities are mindboggling, as this columnist has described. GPT-4 can respond to prompts from text and images.

Encouraged by ChatGPT’s response, I asked it to write an article for a library journal on chatbots and AI. It took ChatGPT-3.5 eight attempts (with different versions on each attempt) before successfully completing a 658-word article. The article was dry, impersonal, objective and lacked insight. But it was coherent, structured, contextual and reasoned. On that basis, I’m sure that GPT-4’s attempt would be an improvement.

Microsoft, which has backed OpenAI to the tune of billions of dollars, has already incorporated GPT technology into Bing, its search engine, and Edge, its browser — as well as into Windows 11 and Office 365 The future is here, and this breed of AI is

powered by large language models (LLMs).

That said, LLMs aren’t perfect yet. Bard, Google’s answer to ChatGPT, flubbed its debut spectacularly and wiped off $100 billion from the market value of Google’s shares in February 2023. While this story made the headlines, media has been less excited about errors made by Microsoft’s AI-powered Bing. Such errors are caused by the tendency of LLMs to sometimes ‘hallucinate’, and this can lead to a loss in confidence in the technology. Both OpenAI and Google are aware of the limitations of their LLMs and are working to improve their products.

What has the impact of ChatGPT been in the workplace? Business is moving cautiously to adopt ChatGPT. Some professional services firms in Australia appear to be making use of it while companies like JPMorgan Chase have barred their employees from using ChatGPT. Microsoft has deliberately used the word ‘Copilot’ in branding its use of this AI technology to emphasise that AI will assist rather than replace workers. However, it is inevitable that as this technology improves, some existing categories of jobs will yield to new categories of jobs.

And what of the education sector? The response from the Group of Eight Australian universities has been to ban the use of ChatGPT for fear that students will use it to cheat. Their consternation is understandable, for even a cursory look at GPT-4’s test scores reveals its impressive

capabilities. Meanwhile, a student at Princeton University has created a tool to detect the use of AI-generated text, and Turnitin (registration required) intends to release an AI-detection tool with a claimed 97 percent accuracy rate in April 2023. There have been voices from within academia that have called for university authorities to allow students to use ChatGPT (see ChatGPT a a teaching tool, not a cheating tool and ChatGPT and the future of university ); indeed, some departments at the University of Sydney have already done so this year. To return to my story: I had originally posed the question to Zoe, the chatbot, in February 2023, before the bivalent vaccines had arrived in Australia. When Zoe couldn’t help, I had sought human assistance, and I had spoken to a member of staff at Australia’s Easy Vaccines Access (EVA) service. The person I’d spoken to wasn’t absolutely certain if I qualified for a free vaccine and wanted to refer to the rules. Then she had a flash of inspiration and asked me if I had a Medicare card. When I told her that I did, she replied to say that the Medicare card was all I needed to get my free vaccine. And so, I got my fifth dose in March 2023. This experience tells me that we human beings still have an edge over AI, thanks to our intuition. As long as human beings are able to control the risks of using generative AI, we should be able to use it effectively.

Anand Kochunny, AALIA anand.kochunny@gmail.com

AI Fluency and libraries: opportunities, capabilities and challenges

Over the past year, artificial intelligence has hit a tipping point. AI tools aren’t just an experiment, they’re transforming industries and workplaces whether we choose to use them or not. Which means that you should choose to use them. As leaders in information management and information literacy, libraries play a key role in promoting effective use of these tools. In this session, Professor Kai Riemer and Dr Pat Norman, from Sydney Executive Plus at the University of Sydney, will discuss why AI fluency is the most critical skill for the next decade, and challenge you to think about what AI means in your context.

This is the first in a planned series of ALIA webinars exploring developments in AI and their impact on libraries.

Presented by Kai Riemer Professor of Information Technology and Organisation and Head of the Business Information Systems Discipline at the University of Sydney Business School, and Dr Pat Norman Senior Research Officer, Sydney Executive Plus at the University of Sydney Business School.

28 June 2023

12:00pm – 1:00pm

AEST, Zoom

ALIA Members: Free Non-members: $30

WEBINAR SERIES

The ALIA Career Starter Kit: Preparing and applying for the library job you want

Zoom

ALIA Members: Free Non-members: $30 per webinar or $100 for 4

This is an introductory series of 4 webinars, that together provide a thorough guide for job seekers. Aimed at students, new graduates, or those who feel they aren’t progressing in their current job, it will assist participants to find their place in the complex world of libraries, to understand the current and emerging needs of this world, and to position themselves in a competitive and dynamic job market.

• Webinar 1: Job roles and job descriptions: demystifying the complex world of library work – 16 May 2023

• Webinar 2: Identifying opportunities –4 July 2023

• Webinar 3: The written application –5 September 2023

• Webinar 4: The interview – 8 November 2023

Train me to Train you

1 – 28 August 2023, Zoom

ALIA Members: $365 | Non-members: $510

Cataloguing for beginners

22 August – 18 September 2023, Zoom

ALIA Members: $365 | Non-members: $510

Classification: Library of Congress subject headings

17 October – 6 November 2023, Zoom

ALIA Members: $325 | Non-members: $445

Digital Trends – what’s happening now

7 – 27 November 2023, Zoom

ALIA Members: $325 | Non-members: $445

This course provides an introduction to training methods focusing on developing self-confidence presenting to others, communication skills, planning a training session (the logical sequence and timing of tasks, and developing resources), delivering a training session, and evaluation of training sessions.

The library catalogue is a list of resources to which a library can provide access and is an important finding tool for users. This beginner’s course will help you:

• identify the types of information in a catalogue record

• understand how a catalogue record is created

• understand how to use this knowledge to increase your searching success in bibliographic databases

Subject headings are controlled lists of terms or phrases used to describe the subject content of items in library catalogues and databases in a consistent way.

Digital trends today are tomorrow’s reality. What we thought was a theory or notion is part of our day to day. Think of the 3D printer now used in many libraries. Regardless of the size or type of information service digital trends have had an impact and caused change.

Photo:Pixabay

Parliamentary privilege in a NSW election year … no, not that kind!

It’s been a busy time at the New South Wales Parliamentary Library. If you have ever wondered what happens behind the walls at Macquarie Street, here’s a snapshot of what two new librarians at Parliament had the privilege of working on this election year.

By Amanda Hovey, Flax Soetjandra

The NSW Parliamentary Library is not open to the public, yet we serve the people of the state by providing library services to enable Parliament. Established in 1840, it is one of the oldest continuously running libraries in Australia. Classified as a ‘special library’, we house a bespoke collection that reflects key subject areas relating to the Parliament of NSW. In addition to our rare, valuable and historic items, we capture contemporary news articles, media releases and government publications and store them for generations to come in our digital archive. Our service mission is, ‘For every question, an answer you can trust,’ and we take our responsibility as stewards of this mighty collection with earnest.

As the 57th Parliament ends, we prepare to move forward from a unique set of challenges. These included a library review, resulting in a restructure and renovation of the physical space, all while pivoting the library service around the pandemic. But with COVID-19 behind us, it’s time to ‘Shake it off’! This year will mark the 58th Parliament of NSW. With this comes a new Government, a new Premier, a new Speaker and a new President and many recently elected MPs and MLCs. We needed to get ready to welcome them all.

The start of the new Parliament served as the perfect deadline to get new library initiatives up and running. After all, who doesn’t love a good deadline? We used this opportunity to undertake collections management, improve cultural sensitivity, tidy our catalogue records, commence a new engagement strategy for our regional

and remote clients and implement new library systems.

Our existing intranet site was outdated and not fit for purpose, nor did it reflect our welcoming and energised presence. Consequently, the library pages were moved to LibGuides, with a clean, vibrant and new visual identity. Library users are now met with an engaging site, offering a new A–Z database and journals list, which features improved navigation and searchability. Power BI was mastered and harnessed to create a self-serve resource for finding information about Members of NSW Parliament and the electorates they serve.

Staff attended two training sessions to assist with refreshing the library’s new online presence. These were the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Canva skills workshop, run by the Monash Health librarians, and Telling a Compelling Story with Data. Our new skills enabled us to design infographics, reports and data visualisation graphics for both the library and the research service publications.

Our new library event space, which doubles as a reading room, was tested. We chose to present an information session to staff on disaster bins. The presentation included a controlled hands-on activity for attendees to deal with water ingress. We visited and consulted our learned neighbors at NSW State Library to ensure our disaster bin knowledge and equipment was on par (shout out to the State Library!). This presentation tested the technology and trialed the space as a seated event forum. Post-event we surveyed attendees for feedback, enabling us to develop datainformed workflows for future events.

As ‘new’ librarians at the NSW Parliamentary Library, we have been motivated by an election year. We participated in implementing and testing refreshed services and resources for the highly respected NSW Parliamentary Library, while also honouring its history and importance. Our parliamentary privilege is working at the NSW Parliamentary Library, where we play a part in facilitating democracy.

MORE INFORMATION

The NSW Parliamentary librarian, Deborah Bennet, is organising the Australian Parliamentary Library Association Conference later this year.

Amanda Hovey

Digital Services Librarian

NSW Parliamentary Library

amanda.hovey@parliament.nsw.gov.au

Flax

Soetjandra (right) Client Services Librarian

NSW Parliamentary Library

flax.soetjandra@parliament.nsw.gov.au

(left)

Building excellence: Global and Indigenous trends in library design

By Philip Kent, AALIA, Margie Kirkness, AALIA

In March 2023, an international seminar was held in Sydney to coincide with the half-yearly meeting of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Library Buildings and Equipment Section (LBES). The event opened with Craig Madden from the Metropolitan Land Council welcoming delegates to the sacred land of the Gadi people. Marian Morgan-Bindon, IFLA LBES Chair, set the scene for the Building Excellence seminar welcoming speakers from Germany, China, Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia to enlighten 100 delegates about international trends and case studies from inspirational library projects.

The morning keynote, Annie Hensley, principal at FJMT Studio, challenged the audience to contemplate the concept of commodification, particularly as applied to some larger library buildings and including the rise of ‘starchitects’ and signature projects. This was contrasted with the concept of hyper-local, exemplified in a range of projects, where strong grounding and connections to local community and Indigenous cultures has ensured the success of the library building as a community space.

Providing further insight into international trends, Dorothea Sommer’s German examples included redevelopments

of heritage buildings, as well as an impressive variety of new projects, large and small. Foster Zhang highlighted significant investments and large-scale developments in China, demonstrated by architect Chris Hardie’s presentation on the dramatic 115,000m2 Shanghai Library East project.

The afternoon session focused on projects inspired by Indigenous design principles in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia. The afternoon keynote, Indigenous Knowledge Keeper Shannon Foster, provided an authentic and powerful introduction to connecting with Country, challenging colonial spatial practices to achieve workable solutions that respect Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples and cultures. This theme was carried forward by Kim Taunga, president of the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA) through whānau (family) centric library and community hubs in Auckland. Māia Abraham’s presentation on the Tūranga cultural narrative provided insight into the landmark project that arose from the devastation of the Christchurch earthquake.

Janette Burke outlined how the university connected with the local Indigenous community in northern Tasmania with thoughtful outcomes and connections with the local environment. Janet Fletcher, IFLA

Below Tūranga, Christchurch, NZ.

Photo: Supplied

LBES secretary, delivered an insightful summary of key themes from the day. The seminar was generously sponsored by seven companies and the State Library of New South Wales. It was the climax of a busy program over four days to introduce our international visitors to leading public and university library developments in Sydney, Wollongong and Shellharbour. LBES Committee members were delighted to see some of Australia’s award-winning public libraries in person, including Green Square Library and Marrickville Library, which were shortlisted in the IFLA/Systematic Public Library of the Year Awards in 2019 and 2021, and Shellharbour’s City Library, which won the ALIA Australian Library Design Award for public libraries in 2019. University projects profiled during the study tours included Sydney, Wollongong and UTS, which won the academic section of the ALIA Australian Library Design Awards in 2021.

IFLA LBES members, speakers and sponsors bade farewell on the roof of the State Library of New South Wales, delighted to coincide with fireworks on Sydney Harbour. The seminar was recorded and will be available from the IFLA LBES YouTube channel shortly.

Philip Kent, AALIA University Librarian, The University of Sydney, philip.kent@sydney.edu.au

Margie Kirkness, AALIA Manager Libraries and Museum, Shellharbour City Council, margie.kirkness@shellharbour.nsw.gov.au

Above Shellharbour city library.

Photo: Supplied

Monsoons, floods, cyclones and other emergencies are part of life in many parts of the country. If not managed effectively, these events can cause severe damage to library collections and communities. In this feature article, we hear from Dr Heather Brown – Librarian, Education and Sector Standards at ALIA – about safeguarding heritage collections from disasters and the resources ALIA has developed to aid in prevention and preparation. This is followed by case studies from the Northern Territory and Queensland outlining what libraries in these regions do to prepare for an impending emergency, and the lessons learned in the aftermath.

Safeguarding heritage collections from disasters

By Dr Heather Brown, AALIA (CP)

Over many years, disasters have damaged and even totally destroyed many of Australia’s significant library and heritage collections. These physical and digital collections contain unique knowledge, and they tell the stories of our communities. Yet the risks to these collections are escalating due to the threats posed by climate change and extreme weather. Additionally, the increasing levels of cyber attacks mean that our unique collections are becoming increasingly vulnerable.

The role of disaster management in caring for collections is becoming even more critical. When a disaster strikes, all library functions and collections can be wiped out in an instant. Yet, effective disaster management can help to reduce disruption, damage and loss. It also helps to rebuild the resilience of organisations and communities following a disaster event.

ALIA has developed free disaster management resources that focus on the prevention and preparation stages, while

providing links to other useful resources on response and recovery. The resources cover both physical and digital collections and can be tailored to suit individual needs. The ‘Guide’ sets the scene, the ‘Disaster Plan Template’ provides a framework for libraries to develop their own disaster plan, and the disaster ‘Scenarios’ are useful for training purposes.

Against a global landscape of increasing threats to our cultural heritage, UNESCO’s Regional Bureau for Education in Asia and the Pacific is developing a new toolkit. Its purpose is to support trainers in the region to deliver much-needed disaster management training to the staff of archives, libraries and cultural heritage organisations. ALIA’s disaster management resources are one of the key practical resources that will underpin the toolkit. It is great to see the benefits of ALIA’s resources connecting with the wider region to help safeguard cultural heritage internationally.

Dr Heather Brown, Librarian, Education and Sector Standards, ALIA © UNESCO / C. Arnold

Above UNESCO Asia Pacific. Disaster training toolkit – experts meeting, Bangkok, February 2023.

Photo:Supplied

Be prepared: Perspectives from the Northern Territory

In the tropical top end of the Northern Territory, between November and April, we have our wet season. Monsoonal rains revive the environment and make the landscape lush and green after months of cloudless skies and dry weather. Along with the rain, the wet season also brings with it the potential for fierce tropical storms and cyclones.

Preparation begins well before a cyclone appears on the radar. In the lead up to each wet season, the library service, along with all areas of council, makes preparations. This includes ensuring all staff are aware of our procedures and plans, staff contact details are correct and up to date, work areas are tidied to remove potential projectiles and cyclone-response equipment is checked and in working order. Underpinning the disaster preparation work is an Emergency Management Plan, Business Continuity Action Plan and a Cyclone Hazard Inspection Checklist. Reviewed and updated

annually, these plans state the roles and responsibilities for each team and key personnel, as well as providing a clear course of action in the lead up to and aftermath of a cyclone or other disaster.

The library service is considered an important part of disaster recovery. In the Emergency Management Plan, the library building is identified as a community support centre where members of the community can seek refuge, have access to power and internet, and to get disaster recovery updates. The library is prioritised in recovery operations to quickly provide a safe space to the community. Leveraging the customer service skills of the library team, staff are also trained to assist with staffing the call centre for the Emergency Operations Centre where they will gather information and respond to community requests for assistance.

Aimee Hay, Library Services Manager, Community and Culture, City of Palmertson

Photo: Phillip Flores/Unsplash

Public libraries as ‘places of refuge’

Public libraries are, by definition, a place of refuge. A community haven where you can lose yourself in a book, an activity or a conversation, and escape from the world. But when extreme weather is forecast, Moreton Bay Regional Council’s libraries take that concept to the next level and open their doors as ‘places of refuge’ for those affected by natural disasters.

In October 2021, Moreton Bay Region Libraries began working in partnership with the council’s disaster management team, preparing to activate our 10 branch libraries as ‘places of refuge’. Library team members were provided with comprehensive and ongoing training, and appropriate signage and resources were sourced. An administration kit was developed, which contained operating procedures, templates and fact sheets. This

planning was designed to support library team members to feel confident in understanding their role, should Moreton Bay Region Libraries be stood up as part the council’s disaster management response.

In February 2022, the first test of this planning occurred. Devasting wet weather lashed the Moreton Bay community, with phenomenal storms and flooding. The Library Services branch libraries were held up as an alternative safe haven for the community to shelter while evacuation centres were organised. Over the course of four catastrophic days, our 10 libraries provided safe and dry venues, sharing resources and technology as well as food, drinks, towels and blankets. Library team members provided vital support in the form of a friendly face, an empathetic ear, and the knowledge and skills to link displaced people to vital services. Our libraries enabled stranded community members to contact family, friends, neighbours and emergency services to plan their next steps.

This initiative established libraries as community carers that provide enhanced service delivery at a critical time. It has demonstrated the role of public libraries as trusted community pillars with a can-do attitude. Community response and support for this initiative was overwhelming.

Council’s website and Facebook page were full of positive responses reflecting the value the community placed on this service. The community loved the kindness and community spirit demonstrated by libraries being open as ‘places of refuge’, welcoming everyone in a time of great need. Much was learned operationally during the February 2022 weather event, but the biggest takeaway was the value the community placed on this service and the ability of our team to rise to the challenge.

Lisa Bateman, AALIA Library Services Manager, Moreton Bay Regional Council

Libraries open as ‘places of refuge’, provide invaluable community support in times of disaster.

Photo: Lisa Bateman

Disaster lessons from regional Queensland

With annual monsoonal events, major flood disasters and four cyclones over 17 years of living in regional and tropical Queensland, you become well-versed in preparation and planning for whatever Mother Nature throws your way. There have been many lessons learned along the way that help with futureplanning, supporting teams, management of collections and service delivery for the community during disasters.

Key things I’ve learned along the way:

• Preparation is key! Experiencing a cyclone or large-scale flooding event can be overwhelming, and the protection of life takes priority over anything else.

• Positive partnerships with Council’s emergency management team provide great opportunities to connect with and support the community by providing library staff to assist in disaster recovery processes. Consider development of a community outreach trailer with resources and technology that can be taken to evacuation centres to support community members in the recovery process.

• Whilst we are always keen to provide safe and welcoming spaces for our community, our focus is on ensuring library staff and their families remain safe during any weather event. It is essential to have a well-documented and up to date staff communication tree that also includes details of how many people staff members need to care for, including children, parents,

extended family, neighbours and pets. Do they reside in areas that may be at risk? Do you have strategies to support their wellbeing if they are unable to return home both during the event and afterwards? Are there medical conditions that need to be supported? Does the team have the ability to step away from their personal space to assist with disaster support and recovery?

• Access to devices and internet – depending on the scale of the disaster, many homes will be without power, which limits the ability to recharge devices and connect to the internet or services. The ability to provide access to power, internet, computers and scanning/ copying equipment as soon as possible can provide a lifeline to vulnerable members of the community during a disaster, particularly where insurance claims may be required. Many customers will need to be supported through these processes.

• Providing support for families in evacuation centres through the delivery of children’s programs and resources to help keep them engaged while parents or guardians deal with the important stuff is greatly appreciated.

• Maintaining regular collection management practices can be beneficial, particularly when dealing with library collections in humid areas. Mould growth

can occur quickly in locations with little to no air-conditioning and may result in significant loss to the collection.

• Maintain an up to date disaster kit in each branch that can be accessed before and after an event – this should include tarps, cleaning equipment and other materials.

• Be patient and flexible with ‘rules’ around collection replacement following a disaster – be proactive and ready for customers who may come in to the library from a disaster impacted-area. Do you have the ability to write-off items for these customers in a quick and positive way to help reduce stress in their lives?

• Most importantly, be kind to yourself, your team and others. People accessing library services may be at breaking point and, as a result, may not present their best selves. A kind word and the support of the library team can reap great results for everyone during the recovery process.

Nicole Hunt, AALIA Team Manager,

Libraries and Community Hubs / Acting Director Galleries, Community, Environment and Lifestyle, Townsville City Libraries

Photo: Lisa Bateman

LOTE collections in public libraries: A testament to Australia’s multicultural policy and practice

By Tin Nguyen

Australia, as a developed country with a thriving and successful multicultural policy, has come a long way since its formal White Australia Policy (Immigration Restriction Act 1901). The White Australia Policy was formally abolished in the 1980s through the initial migration of Vietnamese refugees as part of the political and humanitarian fallout of the Vietnam War, which opened up Australia from European-based immigration to broader immigration, not strictly based on race and ethnic lines. Ever since, Australia has continued its commitment to multiculturalism, which has changed the landscape of Australian society for the better. There are currently over 300 languages spoken throughout Australia (SBS, 2018) with 67 percent of residents born overseas (ABS, 2017).

A library’s role

One place where the success and value of multiculturalism in everyday Australia can be seen is in the public library. Many of our public libraries hold language collections other than English (LOTE). The decision to start a language collection is usually based on the number of people speaking that language within a municipality,

sourced from ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) census data and internal local government council sources. LOTE collections are of great value to ethnic communities as they enable them to stay engaged with the literature of their home country. While most migrants have chosen Australia as their next destination home based on its culture and societal norms, it is essential for these migrants to retain their identity and practise their own culture –and they can do this through accessing seminal and contemporary literature through the public library.

LOTE collections can also act as a bridge for first and second-generation migrant families, particularly for migrant families with children who grow up in Australia. Access to the language collections allows parents to ensure that language, culture and heritage are passed on to the next generation. There has been a general trend of secondgeneration children losing the ability to speak their parent’s languages, and this is a loss to their cultural identity, as much of it is based on a foundation of language literacy. As long as public libraries continue to provide language collections, these

second-generation migrant families are able to revisit their culture through their local library, which may spark further selfexploration and identity-making later on.

Some collections have been extended to include children’s books, as well as bilingual children’s story-time programming by native speakers of those languages. Apart from private language providers, it is rare for Australian public services to provide these multicultural services beyond the once-off Harmony Week and Lunar New Year celebratory programs. The regular provision of these programs in native languages ensures the robustness of bilingualism within Australia, which is healthy for a thriving and prosperous society that values differences in cultures, rather than monoculture as evident in certain well-known authoritarian states around the globe.

It is not only ethnic communities who benefit. LOTE collections allow Australians immediate exposure to worlds outside the Anglosphere. This is highly important in breaking the norm of monolingualism in this country, which does a disservice to Australia’s international standing as an exemplar of multiculturalism.

Top 5 language collections

The top five largest language collections in Victorian public libraries compose 69 percent of the total LOTE collections.

Another 10 languages have a total of 94,586 collection items (22 percent of the total LOTE collection).

These include Arabic, French, Russian, Sinhalese, Hindi, Japanese, Turkish, Polish, German and Croatian.

Source: Public Libraries Victoria, 2020

Moreover, the public library is one of the only few places in Australian society where you can easily access non-English literature and audiovisual materials, with the alternative being religious establishments (special libraries from temples, mosques and churches) and SBS online and retail outlets. Other libraries, such as academic and special libraries that hold nonEnglish material, are usually limited to an exclusive class of people (such as students and researchers) and are not for public access. Furthermore, these institutions tend to hold language collections based on geopolitical and geoeconomic interests, which is why you are more likely to find Chinese, Japanese and European languages rather than Vietnamese or Urdu, for example. Seeing languages other than English in a public library allows Australians to appreciate other cultures as having their own inherent history and literature.

The world stage

Another dimension to LOTE collections is their importance to Australia’s geopolitical and geoeconomic place in the Asian century. Australia has always grappled with its national identity and place in the

world as a previous colonial outpost of the British Empire, located in the far southeast corner of the globe, surrounded by countries unlike itself in regard to culture and traditions (eg the Indonesian archipelago and Papua New Guinea as our closest neighbours). This has proven problematic in Australia’s identity as mostly a monolingual, English-speaking state in the multiethnic, multireligious and multilingual Indo-Pacific. It is through the presence of language collections other than English that pulls Australia within its regional context and part of the Indo-Pacific, and Australia is better for it. Among the larger language collections in Victoria, the top five are: chinese, Italian, Vietnamese, Greek and Spanish.

It will be ever more important to have an increasingly bilingual and multilingual Australia, with the dominance of Asian migrants having command of multiple languages. Just as multicultural Australia grows and morphs itself based on the known and unknown immigration changes, so too will public library language collections.

Chinese

150,508 items

Italian

50,523 items

Vietnamese

39,939 items

Greek

35,926 items

Spanish

24,412 items

References

ABS, 2017. Census reveals a fast changing, culturally diverse nation. www.abs. gov.au/ausstats/abs@. nsf/lookup/media%20 release3 Anderson, Z. (2013).

Reading ‘multiculturalism’: A historiography of policy and ideal in Australia. History Compass, 11(11), 905–917.

Public Libraries Victoria, 2020. Public Libraries Victoria LOTE Collections at 30 June 2020. www. plv.org.au/wp-content/ uploads/2020/10/9.-201920-PLV-LOTE-CollectionsSummary-Report-002.pdf

SBS, 2018. Settlement Guide: Benefits of bilingualism. www.sbs. com.au/language/ english/en/article/ settlement-guidebenefits-of-bilingualism/ hr1t1jbzx

Tin Nguyen, tinpham.nguyen@unimelb.edu.au

Fostering a love for research in print-rich environments

By Dr Demelza Hall, Ruairi Murphy

Getting students excited about research can often feel like asking a patient to be excited about bitter medicine. But if we begin with the premise that developing a passion for research includes not only the content but also the medium through which it is delivered, new and unexpected ways to inspire students can present themselves.

One such surprising insight occurred during the ongoing collaboration between Guilford Young College (GYC), a senior secondary college in southern Tasmania, and the University of Tasmania (UTAS). This collaboration is designed to enrich the experience of GYC students undertaking their independent research projects by allowing them access to UTAS’s library spaces and resources.

After initial concerns about the value of the collaboration due to GYC students’ limited access to UTAS’s electronic resources, it quickly became apparent that a visit to the library’s print collections would more than compensate. Against the ubiquity of screen-based learning, the library shelves and its printed books appeared to offer the students a fresh experience, one both physically immersive and tactile.

One student expressed delight at becoming ‘lost among the books’, while another student enthused that they had ‘never been to a huge library like this’.

Their liveliness and energy were evident when wandering among the shelves and, in particular, when handling the books, in whose palpable weight and visible place among many provided a floodlight view of the breadth of information available. This is in contrast to the often ethereal, roaming spotlight of online research. In keeping with the findings of Berg, Hoffman and Dawson in their 2011 article, ‘Not on the same page’, students appeared to experience a firmer ‘sense of place’ by virtue of the ‘tangible characteristics of print books’.

A group of philosophy students studying Friedrich Nietzsche reported being motivated by coming face to face with a vast collection of texts by and about the philosopher, while a group of English literature students, inspired by the space, expressed their intention to form a study group that would meet in the library independently. While most students reported that they preferred to use e-resources when researching, they still tended to regard print books as possessing more reverence and authority, qualities that arguably carry a better chance of imbuing the research process with meaning.

GYC classroom teachers observed a similar engagement in their students with the print collections. English teacher Christina Martini reported that ‘many students were bitten by the “research

bug” and experienced the academic excitement of finding great resources with which to develop their ideas’. Anita Manners, English faculty head at GYC, said of the campus visit more broadly that ‘for them to be able to picture the environment, move through the spaces and see the other students has a positive impact on the sense of their future identity’. Psychology teacher Michelle Harris labelled the visit an ‘immersive experience’ that enabled students to ‘visualise themselves in that space in the future.’

Print-rich environments have long been recommended for enhancing children’s literacy and improving their overall wellbeing. No contention is being made that that same exposure and interactive experience are similarly beneficial to older students, nor that engagement necessarily equals learning. But as an exercise purely in generating excitement for the oftendry practice of researching, the print collections carry the latent potential to provide the spark that ignites a passion.

Dr Demelza Hall Academic Resource Centre Leader Guilford Young College dhall@gyc.tas.edu.au

Ruairi Murphy Learning and Research Librarian University of Tasmania ruairi.murphy@utas.edu.au

Above GYC students browsing the shelves at the Morris Miller Library. Photo: Demelza Hall

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Get on board with the new wave of Australian graphic novels

Photo: Supplied

By Iurgi Urrutia

Something’s happening. Something exciting. It started as a rumble and it’s now a wave. Graphic novels in the US have been selling like hot cakes, with extraordinary sale increases reported in the last three years. And they’re leading the publishing charge; for example, Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man: Mothering Heights was the biggest-selling book of any and all categories in the US in 2021, selling 1.2 million copies. In France, the best-selling book in 2022 was A World Without End by Christophe Blain and Jean-Marc Jancovici, a graphic novel that explores the energy and climate challenges of today with humour and intelligence. And, as I write, it’s been reported that the biggest selling book in the US last week was Spy x Family by Tatsuya Endo, a young adult manga series.

Here in Australia, we are riding that same wave. Sales data of graphic novels in Australian bookstores is harder to come by. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, no specialised magazine or website tracks and publishes this information. But there are a few things that we know.

We know that graphic novels are among the most borrowed collections in any given library. Librarians will often talk about how junior graphic novels are flying off the shelves. Manga is also incredibly popular, with many libraries – particularly school libraries – struggling to keep up with manga loans. A well-curated adult graphic novel collection has been reported by many librarians to bring new patrons to the library.

We must cater for a diverse range of needs and readers at our libraries and, being Australian libraries (whether academic, public or school) we must ensure that we have a wide variety of titles by Australian creators.

The good news is we’re in a growing wave of Australian graphic novels. We have established voices releasing new graphic novels as well as some amazing new voices

breaking into the scene. Best of all, there is a wide-ranging variety of creators, titles and themes. Many Australian creators have seen their graphic novels published internationally, and some have also received awards and recognition from the likes of the Young Adult Library Services Association’s Great Novels for Teens, the American Library Association’s Stonewall Book Award and even the Eisner Awards.

Australia has its own awards dedicated to comics and graphic novels, the Comic Arts Awards of Australia, which have been gaining momentum over the last decade. In 2019, they handed out the Platinum Awards for Contribution to Australian Comics to Karen Dwarte, the Inner West Sydney Libraries Collections Coordinator and founder of Comic Con-versation – a series of events in multiple libraries across Sydney celebrating local comics. And, for the last two years, the awards have invited a librarian to be part of the judging panel through ALIA Graphic Novels and Comics.

It’s also very encouraging to see that graphic novels are becoming more and more visible in traditional book awards such as the Stella Prize, Premier’s Literary Awards and the CBCA Awards. And, of course, our very own contribution: the yearly ALIA Graphic Notable Australian Graphic Novels long list and shortlists, compiling the best Australian graphic novels for junior, young adult and adult readers, which have also been very well received.

We’re thrilled to see the quality and quantity of graphic novels by Australian creators rising. For example, look at the success of Ariel Slamet Ries, Campbell Whyte, Chris Gooch, Lee Lai and Remy Lai. They’re all new creators who have been internationally published and have received international recognition. We can’t wait to see their next graphic novels.

Eventually Everything Connects, by Sarah

Dog Man: Mothering Heights, by Dav Pilkey.

Spy x Family series, by Tatsuya Endo

World without end, by Christophe Blain

Firth

Allen & Unwin has, for a number of years, been the leading avenue for Australian creators to publish graphic novels. It continues to champion new voices with Sarah Firth’s debut graphic novel, Eventually Everything Connects, set to be published in October this year.

We’re seeing other publishers who haven’t traditionally focused on Australian creators start to publish local graphic novels. Penguin Australia and Scribe made it to our latest ALIA Graphic Notables shortlist for the first time and they’re announcing more graphic novels on the horizon.

There are also new publishers announcing graphic novels by Australian creators, both locally and internationally. Hachette Australia, for example, has signed Briar Rolfe to publish Get Your Story Straight and prestigious Canadian publisher Drawn & Quarterly has signed Melbourne-based Rachel Ang for a two-book deal.

Of course, we can’t forget the work of independent publishers such as Gestalt, Comics2Movies and TL Creative, who have been publishing excellent graphic novels using Kickstarter as a starting point for funding and are, increasingly, making their graphic novels available through specialised library suppliers.

In the library sector, ALIA Graphic Novels and Comics has been active for three years now, a special interest group that aims to raise the profile of graphic novels in libraries. We advocate for them as a distinct, exciting and rich storytelling medium that is not just for children or reluctant readers, but also for sophisticated, literary, advanced readers and everything in-between.

Graphic novels are thriving and there’s a graphic novel for everyone. We celebrate their diversity of voices, the unique mix of literacies required to create and read them, and the power of their storytelling.

We encourage all libraries and librarians to check out our ‘Notables’ short and long lists and to follow our blog to stay informed. And, if you believe in this amazing medium, love graphic novels and would like to get involved with our group, reach out! Many hands make light work and many voices make for a better, more representative and stronger interest group.

Let’s see what 2023 has in store, but seeing the graphic novels that have already been published in the first three months –and what’s coming later this year – we couldn’t be more thrilled. We hope others get on board.

Iurgi Urrutia, Convenor, ALIA Graphic Novels and Comics, iurgi.urrutia@gmail.com

The ALIA Graphic Notable Australian Graphic Novels lists are announced every March on our blog. aliagraphic.blogspot.com

The Comic Arts Awards of Australia 2023 will be announced in Adelaide in September. comicartsaust.com.au

Photo: Supplied

... graphic novels are among the most borrowed collections in any given library

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