ALIA Rural and Regional NAC Teleconference

On July 16th I participated in the ALIA Rural and Regional NAC Teleconference. It was great to be able to dial into an ALIA meeting rather than having to trek up and down that highway (which I just can't face these days).

The meeting focused on the future of Professional Development and it was great to have a discussion with those that are in similar situations. ie. NOT in capital cities. I mean PD can be really expensive as is, not to mention the costs of travel, accommodation etc. Anyway, Jan who chaired the teleconference asked who was in the PD Scheme etc. and those who were got a prize. A week later in the mail I received one of those cool memory sticks that are bracelets. It was worth dialling in just for that!!

Anyway, it was nice to "meet" Jan as she is ALIA VP and she lives in a regional area so she knew where we were coming from. It will be interesting to see what comes of the discussions around the country.

NAC Teleconference

As you have previously read, I attended the Ballarat NAC and I was chosen as the representative for the National NAC Teleconference. So on the night of Tuesday October 30th, I dialled into the ALIA Teleconference from the comfort of my own home. We each had two minutes to comment on the top two issues raised at our meeting, and then later to comment on the most important issues ALIA needs to focus on in 2008. I was a bit sceptical at first thinking ‘I wonder if this will work’, but it did! It was really great. The best thing was that I was about 5th in line to talk and I followed other regional areas such as the Riverina, Alice Springs, Rockhampton and Townsville. The great thing was that I wasn’t made to feel so isolated by living in Ballarat. I saw lots of other places struggling just like Ballarat due to their distance from a capital city. It actually gave me a great deal of comfort knowing I wasn’t alone and that others were in the same position as me. I am hoping to get in touch with other regional areas to gain an idea of what library events work for them and to see how many people they usually get turning up to events to gain an idea of what to expect in Ballarat. I do think that ALIA needs to focus on Regional areas more and get out there and be proactive! But all it all it was really good!

Conference: Monday - Library Technician NAC Meeting

(Kim and I)

So after the tour of the City Library we headed back up to RMIT (who are always so wonderful at giving us rooms) for the ALIA NAC Library Technician Meeting. It was chaired by Damian Lodge who did an excellent job of keeping us on track and focused. It was very different to the Ballarat NAC and more of what I expected. And my conference buddy Kim had shown up by this time so all was good!

Anyway, there was a pretty good turn out with members from QLD, NSW and VIC present (sorry if I forgot anyone else!) It was a good chance to vent some issues and to discuss some possibilities! Also, to look at things from an LT point of view. We were asked of our main concerns and mine was to members in regional, rural or remote centres - in particlular lack of ALIA services.

By the time we finished we wandered back along the city streets, grabbed some dinner and some munchies and checked into our hotel at about 10pm - exhausted! But, ready to enjoy the week!

Ballarat NAC

Last Wednesday night Ballarat held one of ALIA's regional NAC's. It was out at the University of Ballarat, Mt Helen campus. The UB library put on some really yummy food (thanks guys!). The most encouraging thing was that there were 14 representatives present. OK - only three weren't employed by the University, but still, it was a great start. There was me from health, and two from schools and the rest UB. One however, was a TAFE teacher (UB teach library technicians) so I think she can be counted separately too as she isn't in the library. Derek Whitehead was the chair, with the lovely Margie Anderson as minute taker.

Having never been to one before I must admit it wasn't what I expected. Anyway, we got to discuss lots of issues. In particular the skills required of the profession and the image of the profession. We also discussed a local library group in Ballarat. A dinner has been organised for November 1st so hopefully we will be able to kick start something from there. It will be really interesting to read Margie minutes as I didn't necessary get the idea of where all our discussions are headed. We also skipped other parts do to lack of time. Anyway, I will be interested to see where these discussions head, but most importantly, the turnout was a great start to reforming a local group.