My last blog, Midyear wrap-up: Groups and regional engagement, was a celebration of the energy and activity of our ALIA Groups from January - June. It led many people to ask ‘what’s coming up?’, so below are some highlights of what to expect in the second half of 2024.
July
In July, the Students & New Graduates Group will be wrapping up their #GLAMRmatch 2024 program as well as hosting networking drinks with Charles Sturt University in Sydney on the 24th of July (rsvp here).
ALIA Rare Books and Special Collections are having an in-person catch up for drinks during Melbourne Rare Book Week. This will be at The Moat, at the State Library of Victoria from 5pm. Contact the ALIA Rare Group’s Events Liaison for more information.
ALIA Adult Literacy Group are about to launch a fabulous new initiative – a Getting Started Kit – that will support libraries to use research-based strategies to get adult literacy services and programs underway.
ALIA Multicultural are working on a project to have an online ‘Languages other than English’ (LOTE) suppliers list. The target audience for this list is library professionals responsible for building LOTE collections. A second project for this group is a list of translated Australian literature to LOTE languages that anyone can access. This project is underway with mostly resources translated in Chinese. The group is working on covering as many languages other than English as possible.
August
ALIA Groups are a hive of activity during Library and Information Week. The South Australian Library & Information Awards (SALIAs) nominations open. TropicALIA are hosting two networking events - a breakfast at CG Emporium in Townsville, and a dinner at Canto Kitchen and Bar, Townsville. Contact the Group’s Co-Convenor and join their Facebook group for more information.
Also in #LIW2024 is the ALIA QLD annual trivia night 2024 – On Your Bookmarks (so pick your team and get out your favourite sports gear); the ALIA SA tour of Tiwu Kumangka - Blackwood Library; ALIA West’s F A Sharr Award presentation; and ALIA Schools half-day ‘Advocacy + School Libraries = Influence’ seminar in Kew, VIC for primary and secondary teacher librarians and others involved in or supporting learning and teaching programs within a school library context.
In the lead-up to the CBCA Children’s Book Week, ALIA VIC have planned a delightful afternoon of Book Week Crafts on a Budget. This practical workshop, on Sunday 11th of August, will send you home with three craft options that can be used in any type of library with any level of budget.
On Saturday the 17th of August, ALIA West will be hosting a Library Carpentry workshop at Curtin University; and the month will wrap-up with the mighty ALIA HLA Conference 2024: ‘Wicked Problems, Innovative Solutions’ which runs from the 29th – 30th of August.
ALIA Schools will be helping ALIA support Australian School Library Day on Wednesday 21st of August; and ALIA Multicultural have sent the final draft of the ALIA Principles for Multicultural Collections and Services for ratification by the ALIA Board. Once this document has been launched, the group will commence work on the more detailed ALIA Guidelines for Multicultural Collections and Services document.
After meeting up at the ALIA National Conference in May, ALIA Rainbow is being revived and is holding the inaugural meeting of the new group this month.
September
ALIA Disability have a lunchtime webinar planned for the 18th of September, with a representative from Dementia Australia as a guest speaker. More details to come.
ALIA Schools are commencing work on two new working group projects this month: providing school sector specific action examples for the new ALIA Code of Ethics for the LIS Workforce and also a revision of the Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) Illustrations of Practice for Teacher Librarians.
ALIA Graphic Novels and Comics will be putting out a call for people to be judges for the ALIA Graphic Notable Australian Graphic Novels list later this year – watch this space!
October
Three ALIA Groups are running events adjacent to the IFLA Information Futures Summit. On the 3rd of October there is the ALIA LARK Symposium 2024: Research for a knowledge profession – you can register now. On the 4th of October the ALIA Students & New Graduates Group (SNGG) are collaborating with the IFLA New Professionals SIG (NPSIG), and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) for the Mentoring mysteries: Unlocking your potential as a future mentor or mentee event.
Finally, save this date for the annual ALIA QLD Mini Conference ‘Working Together’. Registrations for this Mini Conference will open soon - the call for presentations is open now! The Queensland Library Achiever of the Year Award will be presented at the Mini Conference, get your nominations in before the 30th of August.
ALIA Disability are planning a webinar for Mental Health Week (which runs from 7th - 14th of October); and if you’re in the Melbourne area, keep the afternoon of 20th of October free for an ALIA VIC panel event at the PMI Victorian History Library, registrations to open soon.
November
The Australian Evidence-Based Practice Librarians’ Institute (AEBPLI) will be running an event from the 18th – 22nd of November in Brisbane. Registrations are open now.
November will definitely be a month of celebration and socialisation. The South Australian Library & Information Awards (SALIAs) Ceremony will be the evening of 15th November in the Hetzel Lecture Theatre at the State Library of South Australia.
The ALIA Island Group is planning events in Hobart and Launceston; ALIA NSW will be hosting drinks at the State Library of NSW ‘Library Bar’ for the second year; ALIA South Coast will organise end of year drinks; and the annual ALIA West Quiz Night will take place.
The wonderful ALIA Graphic crew will be hosting a webinar about comics events in public libraries, planning is underway. They’re also planning their attendance at the Perth Comics Art Festival where they will be presenting and hosting a table.
December
If the sun is shining this year, the annual End of Year GLAMR Picnic will be held in Melbourne’s Carton Gardens. This event is brought to you by ALIA VIC, newCardigan, RIMPA, AMaGA and ASA VIC and is a fabulous way to celebrate the year’s achievements and talk everything galleries, libraries, archives, museums and records. A date will be announced soon.
ALIA Graphic is collaborating with the Comic Arts Awards of Australia and some of its members will be on the judging panel. More news on this soon!
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This is only a glimpse of the vibrant, diverse and fun activities ALIA’s Regional and Special Interest Groups have coming up. Discover more about ALIA Groups via the Groups and Communities section of our website and follow your favourite ALIA Groups on social media.
Emily Wilson AALIA (DCP)
Regional Engagement Manager