The President of ALIA writes about expectations for the Public Libraries Summit, and provides an account of what took place on the day of the meeting, and what has taken place since. In funding terms, the most likely areas of productive engagement with the federal government are considered to be: children, early learning and a literate Australia;…

Uses the context of Odysseus' wanderings as a metaphor for the library profession returning to fundamental customer-centric issues. Presents recent information on library use, technology in libraries, the quantifiable value of library services, and participation in professional activities. (Author/LRW)

Areas in library and information science which need to be addressed by the Library Association of Australia are explored in three articles. The need for information skills education within the school community, the formulation of a national information policy, and financial management of the association are discussed. (CLB)

Drawing on recent experience and observation in New South Wales, this paper describes issues facing authorities, planners and librarians who are working on public library building projects. The author emphasises the need for all involved to focus not just on traditional good design principles, but also on user needs, consulting the community,…

The "Victorian Free Library Service Board Act" of 1946 was the culmination of a long campaign to replace the mechanics' institute model of library provision with free libraries funded by state and local government. Given that library reform required legislation by the state government, this paper is mainly concerned with the political…

This submission represents the views of a newly formed organisation known as Public Libraries Australia. Formed to aggregate the political, service and infrastructure capacity of Australia's 1510 (ABS June 2000) public libraries, Public Libraries Australia will support and represent public libraries on a national basis. Networked across Australia…