Harper tops libraries index second year running
Public sector software provider Civica and the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) have released this year’s Civica Libraries Index, which looked at borrowing data across regional and metropolitan libraries...
ASA: government ‘failed to adequately respond’ to calls for PLR/ELR digital expansion
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) is calling on its membership to contact their local members as part of a campaign to have ebooks included in the PLR/ELR scheme, after...
New project to digitise, lend and sell out-of-print Australian titles
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) is working with the University of Melbourne and Australian public libraries on a pilot project ‘to breathe new life into important out-of-print Australian books...
Victorian high-school clarifies library ‘rebranded’ not abolished
A Victorian high-school has confirmed it has rebranded, not abolished, its school library, contrary to a highly publicised Age article that ‘misrepresented the reality of the situation’. Siena College principle...
SLNSW announces new children’s library
The State Library of NSW (SLNSW) is launching a fundraising appeal to help fund a new dedicated area for children and families to browse, sit down and read, reports the...
Empty shelves at new Helsinki library; 66,000 items borrowed since December opening
In Finland, Helsinki's new library Oodi has been so popular since opening late last year that shelves are sitting empty, particularly in the children's section, reports Finnish news outlet Yle....
New York Public Library initiates ‘Insta Novels’ on Instagram
The New York Public Library (NYPL) has established a program of public-domain literary classics produced as Instagram stories in order to test Instagram users’ interest in long-form reading, reports Publishing...
Louisiana mayor wants library’s Drag Queen Story Hour event cancelled
In the US state of Louisiana, mayor-president of Lafayette Joel Robideaux has said he wants a Drag Queen Story Hour event planned at the Lafayette Public Library cancelled, reports Louisiana...
‘Forbes’ pulls opinion piece arguing Amazon should replace libraries after public backlash
US business magazine Forbes has removed an opinion piece headlined ‘Amazon Should Replace Local Libraries to Save Taxpayers Money’ after backlash from American libraries and their communities, reports Quartz. The...
Tasmania’s LINCs to be called ‘libraries’ again
The Tasmanian government will begin rebranding the state’s 52 Learning and Information Centres (LINCs) starting mid-year, reports the Advocate. Tasmania’s libraries have been called LINCs since 2009 but the Liberal...
International library news
PRH consolidates library ebook terms Penguin Random House (PRH) has announced that all ebooks sold to libraries in the US and Canada from 2016 will be supplied under the Random...
Govt to consolidate back-office functions of NLA and other collecting organisations
The Federal Government has outlined its plans to consolidate the back-office functions of Canberra-based collecting organisations including the National Library of Australia (NLA) in the 2014-15 Budget. In a section...
ALIA releases report on international elending initiatives
The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) has released a report on public library elending initiatives around the word.The Elending Landscape Report 2014, which is available here, was commissioned by...
International Library News
Swedish startup to allow ‘real time’ e-lending negotiations between publishers and libraries In Sweden, new digital startup company Atingo is promising to ‘radically change’ library ebook lending by allowing publishers and libraries...
John Oxley Library awards winners announced
The State Library of Queensland has announced the winners of the 2013 John Oxley Library Award, John Oxley Library Community History Award and John Oxley Library Fellowship, collectively known as...
International Library News
Hachette US to supply full ebook catalogue to libraries In the US, Hachette has announced that it will make its full catalogue of ebooks available to libraries, reports Publishers Weekly....
ALA Midwinter Meeting: ebook lending, Dewey vs genre systems debated
The American Library Association held its Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, Washington, from 25-29 January. Patricia Genet, managing director of ALS Library Services, reports on some of the highlights: One of...
Queensland’s Laidley Library damaged by floods
The Laidley Library in Queensland’s Lockyer Valley has once again been damaged by flood waters, just six months after reopening in its newly renovated premises. The library, which is located...
Keynote speakers announced for ALIA conference
The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) has announced the keynote speakers for its Information Online conference, to be held in Brisbane from 12-15 February. The opening address will be...
Evaluation of National Year of Reading due in early 2013
An academic evaluation of the 2012 National Year of Reading carried out by Edith Cowan University in Western Australia will be released in March/April next year. Campaign organiser Sue McKerracher told...