Election of the Board of Directors

ALIA Board of Directors

Candidates for ALIA Board of Directors

candidates:Margaret Allen, Graham Black, Damian Lodge, Richard Sayers , Kate Watson

Margaret Allen

BA (Lib Stud) AALIA

Present position

CEO and State Librarian at the State Library of Western Australia

Previous positions

Associate Director, State Library of South Australia and a variety of roles in both public and special libraries. Margaret spent some 15 years working with a Library management systems vendor in all aspects of the business including support, development, marketing and consulting roles in Australia and overseas.

Professional activities

Member of the CLICK06 Conference Organising Committee and Chair of the Social Committee

Statement of professional concerns

Professional and generational change is creating new demands and expectations of our Association. The leadership and advocacy role of the Association must be underpinned by sound governance of our affairs. The Association exists to represent the interests and concerns of the profession and my experience in both the public and private sectors at a senior leadership level, will on behalf of members, guide both the strategic and essential governance frameworks under which the Association can most appropriately represent the interests of the profession.

Margaret.allen@slwa.wa.gov.au.nospam (please remove '.nospam' from address)

Graham Black

BA, GradDipLib, MBA

Present position

Director, Division of Library Services , Central Queensland University

Previous positions

Deputy University Librarian (1998-2003), Associate Librarian-Technical Services (1991-98), Central Queensland University

Professional activities

Fellow, Frye Leadership Institute 2002
ALIA Member for approximately 25 years
ALIA Central Queensland Regional Group - President (1991-1995, 2001),
ALIA Central Queensland Regional Group - Vice-President (2000)
ALIA Queensland Branch - Vice-President (1992)
ALIA Queensland Branch Council (1992-1995)
Supporter Central Queensland New Librarians Group
Chair 2006 and 2008 International Lifelong learning Conferences
Presenter at ALIA 2006 New Librarian's Symposium
Mentor 2007 AURORA Institute
Key interests: leadership, regional recruitment, information access, library management, buildings

Statement of professional concerns

As a member who lives in regional Australia I am concerned about how the profession and its association maintain a presence in non-metropolitan Australia. The relevancy of ALIA to members and potential members in regional Australia is important for the individual and ALIA alike. The recruitment of professional staff to regional Australia is a very difficult task, and a failure to recruit appropriately has the potential to impact on the quality of services delivered and future employment opportunities for librarians. Recruitment to the profession and workforce planning are two key issues ALIA and employers need to address together.

g.black@cqu.edu.au.nospam (please remove '.nospam' from address)

Damian Lodge

BBus (Info & Lib Mgt), AssDipAppSci (Lib Tech), MAppSci (Lib & Info Mgt), MBA, AALIA

Present position

Lecturer and Associate Director of the Centre for Information Studies at Charles Sturt University.

Previous positions

Manager, Client & Information Services at Wagga Campus Library of Charles Sturt University. Damian worked in libraries in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania. He started his library career in the early 90's as a library technician at the Launceston Public Library.

Professional activities

Damian is currently an active member of ALIA contributing in a number of ways, one of which is as the Convenor of the Riverina (country NSW) ALIA group since 2005. Damian regularly presents and publishes papers locally and internationally at both library and non library events on research related to library management and technology.

Statement of professional concerns

I have a strong interest in assisting ALIA to build stronger external relationships with those outside the profession, such as government and local councils, to market and promote the value of our profession. We need to look outside our own environment and get the message across to all that the library & information profession is a fantastic and valuable profession to be involved with.

Education and training is a key area for the profession. ALIA members and educators must work closely to identify the future needs of our profession. Education must be reviewed for the continued success of the profession.

dlodge@csu.edu.au.nospam (please remove '.nospam' from address)

Richard Sayers

BA Hons, GradDipLibSc, MAppScLib & Info Mgt, Cert IV TAA, AFALIA, AIMM, MAITD

Present position

Training Manager at CAVAL since April 2005.

Previous positions

Richard worked as a librarian and library manager in government agencies, universities and TAFE for 15 years.

Professional activities

Richard became an Associate of ALIA in 1991, CP in 2001, and Associate Fellow in 2004. He has made significant contributions to the Association through a range of committee and advisory positions; most recently as the Association's representative on the National Site Licence Reference Group. Richard qualified in librarianship in 1990 (QUT) and has a Masters degree in library and information management (Charles Sturt) and Honours degree in political science (Queensland, James Cook). He is a qualified workplace trainer and group facilitator and long-standing Member of the Australian Institute of Management (AIMM). In 1995, Richard was a proud graduate of the first Aurora Leadership Institute. In addition to journal articles and conference papers, Richard is the author of "Principles of Awareness-Raising for Information Literacy: A Case Study'; published by UNESCO in 2006.

Statement of professional concerns

My vision for our Association and profession includes ensuring the long-term financial viability and future growth potential of ALIA as a member organisation; developing new services and partnerships that deliver greater return on investment to members; providing more accessible professional development and training opportunities, particularly to members in regional areas of Australia; strong advocacy to all levels of government, particularly State and Territory, and the wider Australian community; and, a genuine commitment to workforce planning, particularly re-engagement with the middle and late career information professionals needed to mentor and develop the next generation of leaders within our profession.

richards@caval.edu.au.nospam (please remove '.nospam' from address)

Kate Watson

BA, GradDipLib, AALIA

Present position

RUBRIC Coordinator (Regional Universities Building Research Infrastructure Collaboratively)
University of the Sunshine Coast

Previous positions

Electronic Services Librarian (2004-2006), Central Queensland University; Systems and Collections Development Librarian (2003-2004), Cataloguing Librarian, Rockhampton City Council Libraries; Information Librarian (2002-2003), Somerville House; Reference Librarian (2001), Library Assistant, Queensland University of Technology.

Professional activities

Speaker at Information Online Conference (2007), Speaker at Educause Australasia Conference (2007), Recipient of the ALIA Ray Choate Research Scholarship (2006), National Chair for ALIA New Generation Policy and Advisory Group (NGPAG) (2005), Group Coordinator (Central Queensland) for ALIA New Graduates Group (NGG) (2005), Speaker at ALIA Biennial Conference (2004), Coordinator for inCite 'Energise>>Enthuse>>Inspire' column (2003-2006), Elist administrator of ALIA New Grad elist (2003-2004), Speaker at ALIA New Librarians Symposium (NLS) (2003), Member of ALIA New Generation Policy And Advisory Group (NGPAG) (2002-2005), Secretary for ALIA New Graduates Group (NGG) (2002-2004).

Statement of professional concerns

I believe the Association could provide enhanced support for regional libraries and librarianship, with a focus on connectivity, and staff recruitment.

While the Association has provided support for new graduates and students over the past 5 years, I believe this can be strengthened with a new focus on integration of these new graduates into existing association frameworks.

I would also like to see the Association foster stronger support for Australian LIS research, with an outward focus on publication, impact and open access.

Finally, in 2007 and 2008 I would like to see the Association harness the benefits of Library 2.0 technologies for information delivery to its members.

KWatson@usc.edu.au.nospam (please remove '.nospam' from address)