Catherine Clark – CEO & State Librarian, State Library of Western Australia
Treasure Stories, Inspire Possibilities, Strengthen Communities: the State Library of Western Australia
This introductory talk will describe the critical work of the State Library of Western Australia in the WA library ecosystem. Insights will be given to the partnerships and leadership that the State Library develops and implements to build and enable strong and connected communities across the vast geographic area that makes up our State.
Current and future strategic priorities will be outlined including:
- innovative responses to collecting, preserving and sharing the nation’s largest and most comprehensive repository of Western Australian materials
- the evolving 75 year partnership with local governments to ensure communities across the state have access to information, recreational reading and support for digital inclusion
- supporting WA’s strong and vibrant writing sector.
Louise Carson – Richard III Society and Curtin University
Ham and Cheese
Where did the modern book really come from? This paper offers an accessible and surprising history of the Western book by tracing it not to a single invention or genius, but to a chain of everyday materials and practices: cheese, sea snails, Christianity, underwear, and spectacles.
Rather than treating book history as a linear story of progress, this paper presents the book as the product of interconnected social, economic, and material conditions. By highlighting these unexpected connections, it invites a broader audience to rethink the book not as a neutral container of knowledge, but as a deeply human artefact shaped by daily life.
This paper draws on a popular historical narrative by the writer known as Incunabula.
Margot Kopsen & Bec Young – Town of Cambridge Library
Not just a library: How Integrated Planning and Place‑Based Practice Strengthen Communities.
Public libraries are increasingly required to demonstrate their value to stay relevant to changing community needs. The Town of Cambridge Library is differentiating itself through a deliberately integrated, Council-endorsed approach to community engagement, inclusion, and access. Our presentation will outline how a library-specific Strategic Plan, endorsed by Council, underpins this work, with clear goals to build community engagement, strengthen connections, and extend the accessibility and reach of collections and services. It will explore a key strategic decision to relocate the Town’s Community Development team (including Community Events, Senior Services, and the Disability Access and Inclusion Officer) into the Library building. Recognising public libraries as everyday community development spaces – where participation, belonging, equity, capacity building and social inclusion are actively fostered – has enabled this co-location to support embedded collaboration and more responsive, place-based service delivery, including the integration of the Senior Services desk within the library. This is further supported by regular cross-service leadership meetings, shared decision-making, coordinated planning, resource sharing, and collaborative program design. Drawing on practical examples, the presentation will highlight initiatives such as inclusive programming led by people with disability, bilingual story times in Portuguese and Mandarin, collaborative NAIDOC week programming, free major quarterly community events, and a Digital Social Club addressing the digital divide. It will also showcase collection-based innovations, including Active Mind Kits for people living with dementia, and a unique ball gown collection supporting equitable access for young people. Evolving towards a ‘community living room,’ the library’s accessible spaces reinforce its role as a connector, enabler, and trusted public place. Importantly, this collaboration not only strengths community development within the library but also extends the library’s reach into community events and initiatives across the Town. We would love to share with the GLAM community how integrated strategy and service delivery, co-location, and inclusive practice can position libraries as dynamic hubs that strengthen social connection, equity, and community wellbeing, and provide place-based, community development approaches to shifting community needs.
Claire Hanlon – Local History Specialist, City of Canning
We Built a Library Before We Had Books: Lessons from a Community-Led Biblioteca in Peru
What does a library look like when you start with no collection, no catalogue, and no formal systems, only a community that wants a space to learn, connect, and be seen?
Drawing on my experience working with a grassroots NGO in Peru, this presentation shares the story of how I coordinated the building a community library from the ground up alongside local residents. Without the structures often defining GLAMR practice, this project has challenged my assumptions about what I believe a library is, who it serves, and how knowledge is created and shared.
Through moments of uncertainty, collaboration, and unexpected success, this talk explores how it wasn’t policies or professional standards that became the foundation of the library, but rather cultural understanding, trust, participation, and local ownership. It is a reflection on what happens when communities lead, and institutions learn to listen.
Now working as a Local History Specialist at the City of Canning Libraries, I carry forward a renewed commitment to serving community needs and ensuring collections are not only preserved, but shaped, described, and activated in ways that reflect the people they belong to.
I will conclude the presentation by considering how community-led approaches can be applied to not just public library collections, but to the WA GLAMR sector overall.
In a time when the GLAMR sector is grappling with funding, inclusion, and impact, this story offers a hopeful and practical reminder of the value of us: that our work is strongest when it is shaped with, not just for, the communities we serve.
Rebecca Marchenkov & Jill MacDonald – City of Joondalup
From Lime Time to Prime Time: Modernising Our Library Brand
Public library brands have to do more than look good: they must be recognisable at a glance, work consistently across print and digital for our staff and community. Joondalup Libraries is one of two service sub-brands under the City of Joondalup. Our Libraries sub-brand was developed in 2006 to maintain a clear visual link to the City while giving Libraries a distinct identity. Lime green was in fashion at the time!
Eighteen years on—alongside initiatives such as the City’s 2024 website project—accessibility became a non-negotiable requirement, and our existing logo and typography were no longer fit for purpose across modern channels.
In this interactive, image-rich session, we share our end-to-end approach to renewing a public library sub-brand within a local government setting. Initial scoping conversations with the City’s Marketing team began in March 2024, followed by a fully developed brief in September 2024. Informed by a staff survey, customer feedback, and local research, the brief captured frank perceptions of the 2006 look (outdated; the lime-green feel was overwhelming; poor contrast and accessibility; serviceable but bland) and defined the attributes the refresh needed to communicate: welcoming, friendly, inclusive, clear, and respected.
We focus on the practicalities: how to plan and budget the work, set governance and decision points, and make best use of in-house capability. With the City’s Marketing team undertaking the design, we avoided external consultancy costs and moved more quickly from concept to application. We’ll show how we translated the brief into a simple, workable brand system—logo, colour palette aligned to the City’s updated digital colours, readable typography, branch sub-logos, and flexible graphic elements—supported by templates to streamline the creation and approval of program and event promotions. Rather than a “big bang” changeover, we are implementing the refresh in phases, supported by existing budget allocations and a business case to guide resourcing and rollout over three years. We’ll discuss sequencing across high-visibility and high-impact touchpoints (signage, printed materials and templates, digital assets, uniforms, and day-to-day promotion), plus the relationship-building and staff communication that keeps momentum going—along with the setbacks and wins that come with delivering brand work alongside business-as-usual. Participants will leave with a repeatable framework for scoping, resourcing, and rolling out a library rebrand without losing consistency.
Catherine Belcher – Director Collection Services, State Library of Western Australia
At-risk audiovisual collections: Digitising the sights and sounds of Western Australia
The State Library of Western Australia is digitising WA’s most at-risk, significant and unique audio-visual collections to ensure long-term preservation and enable online public access.
The scale of this multi-year project has required the State Library to ‘think big’ at every level; from the logistics of preparing collections and sending to an interstate contractor, creating or updating bibliographic records, researching the history of the collections, engaging with stakeholders and setting a new vision for discovery and access to newly digitised collections.
With a collection that spans more than 100 years, join us as we take you on a journey through the sights and sounds of Western Australia and hear how the State Library is transforming its AV collections as a result of this ambitious project.
Jade White – Information Proficiency/Records Consultant
PRIS in the Library
The applications of the incoming Privacy and Responsible Information Sharing Act 2024 in the library setting. How can we ensure our libraries are set up to meet the requirements of the act, support individual’s privacy rights and tailor our current processes to fit the new emerging context in an increasingly privacy aware world?
Amanda Smith, Nila Tanzil & Sascha Spilewski – Curtin University
The Come Back Crew: Building Curtin’s mature age student community
This presentation will cover a brief overview (the who, why, what, how and what next?)of one of Curtin University Library’s new initiatives aimed at supporting feelings of belonging and community for specific cohorts while connecting them to academic skills support. In this case, specifically Mature Age undergraduate and postgraduate by Coursework students:
We believe that providing organised and supported spaces for specific cohorts to connect with each other and have some input into will increase feelings of belonging and therefore foster a greater connection to, and support networks within, the university (McMillan & Chavis, 1986). According to the literature this will in turn encourage students to persist and potentially succeed at university (Pedler et al., 2022). Learning and teaching at university do not happen in a bubble – they happen within the context of the university community and building community is therefore important for learning success (Gillen‑O’Neel, 2019 & Timms et al., 2018). In addition, connecting students to the Library in a casual, group environment could mean that they are more likely to seek out Library academic skills support programs and services, and therefore we can contribute further to their learning and study success. Support from a 2025 ALIA/Federal Government community cohesion grant helped with catering and a gift voucher for a guest speaker (a Curtin mature age alumni) at our end of year event. This increased not only the relaxed and welcoming atmosphere within the Library for the attendees but also provided motivation and encouragement from a successful peer.
Our program could provide an example that other university Libraries could adopt. The significance of the Library undertaking these types of programs is that we are a central space which provides study and research skills support and resources for enabling all students to succeed in their studies. A central area like the Library running these programs means that students can connect across, as well as within, faculties, and that where their might be a small number of students from a specific cohort in each faculty, there are big numbers across the entire university, so we are more likely to get a reasonable attendance and therefore create more opportunity for student connection. We can also connect the students with the Library academic support programs and once we have built connection with them in a group environment, they may be more likely to attend other workshops.
References
Gillen‑O’Neel, C. (2019). Sense of belonging and student engagement: A daily study of first‑ and continuing‑generation college students. Research in Higher Education, 62(1), 45–71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-019-09570-y
McMillan, D.W. & Chavis, D.M. (1986). Sense of community: A definition and theory. Journal of Community Psychology, 14(1), 6-23. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/1520-6629%28198601%2914%3A1%3C6%3A%3AAID-JCOP2290140103%3E3.0.CO%3B2-I
Pedler, M.L., Willis, R., & Nieuwoudt, J.E. (2022). A sense of belonging at university: Student retention, motivation and enjoyment. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 46(3), 397-408. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0309877X.2021.1955844
Timms, C., Fishman, T., Godineau, A., Granger, J. & Sibanda, T. (2018). Psychological engagement of university students: Learning communities and family relationships. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 10(3), 243-255. DOI: 10.1108/JARHE-09-2017-0107
Our 2025 Come Back Crew end of year event was made possible with thanks to an ALIA/Federal Government community cohesion grant.
Shrianjani De Alwis Jayasuriya – Independent CPD Researcher & Facilitator, Maldives PDWLIS2026
Small Platforms, Global Impact: Future-Proofing the LIS Workforce through Capacity Building
Employees in the LIS profession today must possess multi-disciplinary skills: strong domain knowledge, professional competencies that include emerging digital literacies, and a blend of social and technological skills. Research findings (De Alwis Jayasuriya et al,2021;2022) reveal significant gaps in continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities available to employees in developing countries, as well as the urgent need for consistent LIS curriculum reviews.
Key question: How can developing countries be supported to build the “right” LIS workforce for the future?
My presentation will focus on my motivation to pursue capacity building through both research and CPD programming, illustrated by two case studies:
- The ALA IRRT Capacity Building Webinar Series: Building Blocks of Librarianship (2024 & 2026)
Curated and presented with funding from the ALA IRRT Mission Enhancement Grant, these webinars provided accessible CPD opportunities primarily for library employees in developing countries, while also benefiting colleagues in developed contexts.
The 2026 series was delivered with the IFLA WLIC2026 Korera National Committee, further extending its global reach.
- Capacity Building Support for Maldivian Librarians
Examining the status of the Maldivian LIS workforce during the 2019/2020 research study “Status of Capacity Building of Library Employees” and tracing its current developments and progress.
These case studies show how small initiatives can drive global impact, equipping librarians in developing countries with the skills to adapt, collaborate, and thrive in the future information landscape.
Fathimath Nashfa – Assistant Lecturer, The Maldives National University
Barriers to Pursuing Library and Information Science (LIS) Qualifications in the Maldives
Introduction
One issue that raises the question of sustainability and future development of Library and information science profession (LIS) in the Maldives is the low enrollment trend in LIS courses. Despite the increasing importance of information management, need for digital literacy, and knowledge services in the contemporary society, the Maldives continues to experience limited student interest in LIS fields, especially when compared to other academic disciplines. Hence, this study explores the barriers which influences the students’ decision to pursue LIS qualifications in the Maldives.
Objectives and Method
The study is guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and examines how attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control shapes the student’s enrolment intention. This study also draws on literature and regional studies on LIS education and the emerging local research within the Maldivian contexts.
Findings
The findings show that major barriers which affects enrolment such as the limited career advancement pathways, low awareness of LIS career opportunities, negative perceptions of the profession, financial concerns and weak institutional support. Additionally, structural challenges which are associated with the Maldives being a small island developing state, which includes geographical dispersion and restricted access to educational and professional resources further influences the participation in LIS education.
The study shows that these barriers are interconnected and also mutually reinforcing. Societal perceptions and limited visibility of modern Lis roles contribute to the negative attitudes towards the profession, while concerns regarding employability and financial returns reduces the student’s motivation to pursue LIS qualification. Moreover, insufficient policy attentions and the limited professional development opportunities further weaken the overall attractiveness and recognition of the LIS field.
Conclusion
To address the low enrolment in LIS, there is a requirement of a comprehensive and collaborative approach which involves higher education institutions, policy makers and professional associations. Hence the study recommends strengthening awareness and outreach initiatives, modernizing LIS curricula by aligning with digital and emerging information practices, enhancing career pathways and professional recognition and expanding access to flexible learning opportunities. This study provides a context-specific analysis of barriers to LIS education in the Maldives and therefore contributes to the limited literature on LIS development in small island states and offers practical insights into for strengthening the future of LIS workforce.
Keywords: Library and Information Science, Maldives, enrolment, higher education, Theory of Planned Behavior, LIS education, barriers to education.
Rachel Duncan – University Student
Adventures in imposture syndrome, unmasking, and rolling with the big nerds at ALIA National as an AuDHD undergrad LIS student
Attending ALIA National in Sydney this year was something I had never have thought truly possible when I applied for the First Time Delegate Bursary. As an undergraduate Bachelor of Information Studies and AuDHD, I often feel completely lost especially when I desperately want to fit in. This talk aims to cover my experiences from that perspective, offering an overview of the 3 day conference and highlighting how professional networking settings can be experienced by neurodivergent attendees.
Aminath Riyaz – Assistant Professor, The Maldives National University
What Travels When We Learn Across Borders? Insights from an Emerging LIS Profession
Continuing professional development (CPD) programmes frequently emphasises exposure, networking, and inspiration as core outcomes. However, there remains limited empirical examination of what these forms of exposure actually produce in practice, especially in Library & Information Science (LIS) landscape. This paper interrogates that assumption through a study of the Professional Development Workshop on Library and Information Services (PDWL), an international CPD initiative engaging Maldivian LIS professionals across Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
Positioned within a context where LIS is an emerging profession, marked by the graduation of the first locally trained cohort in 2024, this study examines how participants interpret and translate international exposure in the absence of well-established local professional structures. Drawing on a multi-level theoretical framework integrating Situated Learning (Lave & Wenger) and Transformative Learning (Mezirow), the study adopts a mixed-methods design, including focus group discussions with repeat participants (n=8), in-depth interviews (n=4), and a survey distributed to all participants (n=36).
Findings suggest while participants consistently reported inspiration and expanded awareness, direct application of observed practices was minimal. Instead, learning operated through reinterpretation; participants extracted ideas, values, and professional imaginaries, which were subsequently reshaped by local constraints. Notably, the most durable outcome was not practice transfer, but the formation of professional identity, which is shown to be amplified through repeated exposure. At the same time, participants developed an increasing awareness of the limits of transfer, moving from initial enthusiasm toward more critical, context-sensitive engagement.
The paper argues that the value of international CPD lies not in the transmission of practices, but in enabling participants to negotiate the gap between aspiration and feasibility. This reframes exposure not as a pathway to replication but as a catalyst for reflective professional positioning. For host institutions, including those within the Australian Library and Information Association network, the findings raise important questions about what is being communicated, and what is ultimately taken away, through international engagement.
By foregrounding the tension between inspiration and implementation, this study contributes a more critical and empirically grounded understanding of cross-border professional learning in LIS, particularly within an emerging professional ecosystem.
Keywords:
Continuing Professional Development (CPD); International Professional Learning; Knowledge mobilisation; Practice Transformation
Andrew Kelly – Digital preservation Manager, State Library of Western Australia
Pulling Yourself Up By Your Own Filmstrips: Leveraging large-scale digitisation projects to bootstrap digital preservation practices
In a perfect world, digitisation and digital preservation standards would be in place well before starting large-scale digitisation projects. That, however, is not always the case and these projects can test organisations, forcing them to quickly grow and adapt. From establishing standards and better understanding storage environments, to file verification tools and preferred file formats, mass digitisation projects can highlight gaps in organisational knowledge and practices. If managed well, the knowledge and resources developed during large-scale digitisation projects can flow through to born digital collecting and sustainable ongoing preservation practices. Large-scale digitisation projects can be seen as a unique opportunity to rapidly upskill staff and provide strong advocacy support for establishing good and ongoing digital preservation practices. This lightning talk reflects on how digitising large collections of AV material has allowed the State Library of Western Australia to implement new policies and practices, while rapidly increasing its digital preservation knowledge and maturity levels.
Vicki Edmunds – Manager, Community & Library. Blue Mountains, NSW
Blue Mountains Library 2U Project
In times of crisis, public libraries have always leaned in to provide support to their communities. With extreme weather events on the rise, Blue Mountains Libraries (NSW) responded to crises in their city to help the community on the ground, help them recover and prepare for the future with this example of disaster management infrastructure.
The Blue Mountains Bushfire Recovery Outreach – Library2U & Satellite WiFi Project
Library2U is an outreach service currently being established by the Blue Mountains Library for the bushfire-affected, remotely located communities of Megalong Valley and Mount Wilson. The project is funded by the Federal Government’s Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grants Program. Through Library2U, residents have ongoing access to the Blue Mountains Library collection through library lockers located at Mt Wilson and Megalong Valley community halls. Crucial communications upgrades are also be provided through the installation of satellite WiFi at the Mt Wilson and Megalong Valley community halls. This free, ongoing internet access supports the Library2U service, and provides an invaluable community resource. The installation of Satellite WiFi will directly support bushfire recovery and resilience efforts. Offering residents day-to-day internet connectivity and providing a communications safety net in emergencies, Satellite WiFi will also help make Megalong Valley and Mt Wilson community halls more suitable venues to assist in emergency management situations. The project also aimed to provide an equity of service to rate payers and support the development and connectedness of the unique communities of Mt Wilson and Megalong Valley.
This library service has responded to their community needs by listening to what is required and implementing ongoing emergency and recovery infrastructure.
Roslyn Beard & Alec Barron-Sullivan – City of Cockburn Libraries
Switched on Seniors in Public Libraries
This presentation will discuss Cockburn Libraries successful implementation of a weekly program on teaching mobile technology to seniors. This program fills the demand on teaching our older community members on how to safely use technology, while the tackling a shortfall on staff skills or resources to deliver an effective, ongoing program.
Switched on Seniors is designed to teach seniors how to use smart phones and tablets. It was created by Sheena Edwards in Rockingham, and has been running for 14 years, with consistently high attendance. In 2024 the State Library of WA endorsed the program, encouraging public libraries to take up the model themselves. Cockburn Libraries accepted the challenge in 2025, and we now have a popular weekly program with plans to expand.
Establishing a new program frequently requires collaboration. We will share this experience, which included working with Sheena and Switched on Seniors, the Cockburn Volunteer Resource Centre, community partnerships, and Cockburn Seniors Centre.
Recruiting and retaining volunteers is always difficult, and the Switched on Senior’s model requires about 10. I want to share my experience in recruiting and retaining volunteers to ensure success. The lesson learned, the process, and the model, are covered in the presentation.
Alice Woods & Gnangarra N/A- Education and Projects Officer, Wikimedia Australia
Wikimedia Australia: GLAM partnerships and opportunities
I would like to present about Wikimedia Australia and the partnerships and opportunities available to GLAM Institutions that may want to partner with us and what out comes you can expect.
I will discuss our former partnership with the National Gallery of Australia in relation to the Know My Name exhibition and its ongoing image collection projects with the State Library of Queensland and Alice Springs Public Library.
I would also like to discuss our ongoing partnership projects which are often situated alongside or within GLAM institutions including:
Also, by the time of this presentation we should have more information on the ICIP and IDSov guide which is currently in process with Terri Janke and Company.
Jonah Higham & Kate Stevens – Acquisitions, University of Western Australia
UWA Collected
UWA Collected (collected.uwa.edu.au) is the digital asset management service for the unique cultural, historical and research collections held across the University of Western Australia. Starting in late 2023 with significant development and expansion across 2024-2025, UWA Collected provides a centralised storage, preservation and discovery service for the University’s diverse range of collection owners and custodians. From marine flora specimens to significant Indigenous language publications; one-of-a-kind ethnomusicology research to archives of over a century of University history – UWA Collected brings these collections and more together to surface new connections and pathways for research, learning and teaching.
The UWA Collected team from within the UWA Library’s Collection & Access Services division would like to propose a presentation at the 2026 ALIAWest conference that explores how this service and discovery platform has fostered a sense of community by engaging user groups both within and external to the University and the GLAMR sector. We plan to use two case studies to illustrate how UWA Collected has invited and fostered collaborative knowledge sharing to describe, preserve and celebrate shared Western Australian heritage. The first case study will look at collections which bring together UWA history and the second will explore a project from the School of Sciences titled “Two Centuries of Chinese Heritage in Western Australia”.
The proposed presentation will cover the value of user contributions, how we endeavour to engage our user groups successfully, how the UWA Collected platform and service were developed to facilitate user contributions and how this supports and adds value to the University’s research and teaching goals.
Camille Peters – ALIAWest
Global GLAMR: A Who’s Who of Professional Associations in GLAMR
Do you know your ALIA from your AMaGA? ASLA from WASLA? Can you distinguish between ALIA, ALLA, ANDPA, ANZTLA, APLA, ASA, newCardigan, RIMPA and other Australian GLAMR associations? Do you know what ICA, IFLA, ICOM, ARMA, IAML, IALL and the rest of the alphabet soup stand for?
This presentation is a guide to GLAMR associations from big to small: international, national, state/regional, and parochial.
Divided into four parts, this presentation covers
- Australian GLAMR associations and how they fit together
- International associations: ICA, IFLA, ICOM, etc
- National associations
- Specialist subject areas: academic, public, school, health, law, music, theology, and even more obscure niche areas (the ‘I did not know there was a professional association just on that topic’ category)
Maps, diagrams, and handy reference lists will be provided.
The GLAMR sector is stronger when it works collectively and collaboratively. Knowing who’s who helps us make strategic choices about partnerships, find out who has already curated resources, and make connections that enhance the value of us.
Jamie Normington & Lindsay Edwards City of Joondalup Libraries
Yes, We Count That: How library data informs decisions and demonstrates value’
Data is a vital component in helping Libraries demonstrate the value of the services they provide, from allocating appropriate resources, informing operational decision-making and advocacy with people in leadership.
Over the last two years, City of Joondalup Libraries have embarked on a project to compile all available statistical data from its Library Management System (LMS), staff input, and customer feedback into one location in Power BI. This includes not only data from the present day, but also historical statistics and where possible, data sets from external sources, such as SLWA and Profile.ID.
The are several key benefits of having all this data available to library staff and management including:
- Data is presented in a timely manner
- Easy to integrate with other Power BI dashboards that the City uses
- City maintains control of data and can use it as it sees fit
- Available and easily accessible information for staff to use to help them with day-to-day operational decisions
- Provides evidence-based support for making major changes to library services
- Provides important data when seeking additional resources from the City and/or external organisations
This presentation will consist of an overview by Jamie Normington of the statistical data collected by City of Joondalup Libraries and how they are presented into Power BI and the different types of analysis that can be undertaken. Lindsay Edwards will then demonstrate how this data is used to demonstrate the value of public libraries to the community and to the City of Joondalup.
Dot Millar & Nicole Angwin – Library Support, Department of Education
Department Of Education Corporate Information Services: More GLAMRous Than You Think.
Galleries, libraries, archives, museums and records may look different on the surface, but we’re all driven by the same goal: connecting people with trustworthy information, preserving stories, and strengthening communities. This presentation explores how the Department of Education’s Corporate Information Services (CIS) branch brings that shared GLAMR mission to life.
This session will explore how CIS operates not as a stand-alone corporate service, but as part of a connected GLAMR ecosystem. We’ll share stories that demonstrate how the many services under the CIS umbrella interconnect with each other and the broader community.
CIS comprises Freedom of Information (FOI), school and central services records management and information governance, archives, and library services, all working together across disciplines to empower people through access to information. From sensitive FOI requests and school records access to archives, documents, publications and library collections, CIS supports educational professionals, students, families and the wider community to fill gaps in personal histories, access important documents, and move forward into the future.
The Education Library provides specialised collections and research support for Department staff, drawing on library and information science expertise to support evidence‑based decisions and practice.
Through School Library Support, CIS works closely with schools to strengthen practice. This includes professional learning and guidance that empowers school libraries as inclusive, responsive spaces that support literacy, wellbeing and student achievement. Ongoing collaboration with the Schools Cataloguing and Information Service (SCIS) and the Western Australian School Library Association (WASLA) further strengthens this work, ensuring learning and advocacy efforts are shared further among the wider school community.
Schools are powerful memory‑making places where friendships form, families connect, and stories begin. Over time, however, memories and connections can be lost. CIS reconnects people with their stories by integrating FOI, records management, archives and library services through close collaboration. This work is especially critical in supporting royal commissions and redress processes, where trust, institutional memory, and cross‑disciplinary teamwork really matter.
Through close partnerships with schools, our School Archival Service also builds future‑ready practice, empowering staff to create, describe and care for meaningful, discoverable records.
Strong relationships with professional organisations such as the Records and Information Management Practitioners Alliance (RIMPA), Australian Society of Archivists (ASA), Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), and the State Library of Western Australia ensures this work extends across the broader education and GLAMR communities.
We look forward to sharing our story of collaboration, building trust, and the collective impact of information professionals working together to preserve the past, support the present, and shape the future.
Jane Cowell – Jane Cowell Consulting
Practical Implementations of Artificial Intelligence in Public Libraries: Global Lessons from the IFLA WLIC 2026 Satellite Conference in Seoul
As artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes information access, reading engagement and digital participation, public libraries are emerging as critical civic institutions for both practical AI implementation and community AI literacy. This paper reports on the Practical Implementations of Artificial Intelligence in Public Libraries satellite conference hosted in Seoul, South Korea, by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions Public Libraries Section in partnership with the IFLA IT Section and IFLA AI SIG on August 14th, 2026
Drawing on keynote presentations, international case studies and panel discussions, the paper examines how libraries across multiple countries are operationalising AI in real-world public library environments. Examples include AI-powered reading advisory through the Libby platform presented by OverDrive founder Steve Potash, national-scale AI experimentation at the National Library of the Netherlands, AI-driven public library performance monitoring from Indonesia, and emerging AI literacy initiatives delivered through public libraries in Estonia and Australia.
The presentation will explore several key themes emerging from the satellite conference:
- practical AI implementation in public library services;
- AI-enhanced discovery and reader engagement;
- governance, ethics and institutional policy development;
- workforce capability and organisational readiness; and
- the growing role of public libraries as trusted providers of community AI literacy.
The paper will also consider the implications of these international developments for public library strategy, leadership and service design, particularly as libraries balance innovation with trust, equity and public value.
Attendees will gain insight into emerging global practices, implementation challenges and opportunities for adapting AI initiatives within their own public library contexts. The session will be particularly relevant for library leaders, digital services staff, policy makers and practitioners seeking practical and people-centred approaches to AI adoption in libraries.
Christine Harris – Family History Western Australia
People of Western Australia’s Ghost Towns
In a state larger than many countries, it is no surprise that extraordinary stories abound—stories of hardship and courage, of immense wealth and profound poverty, of cultural diversity and bonds forged through adversity. There are stories of nation-building, alongside those of environmental damage. All this history is etched into the land itself. Sometimes, the land is all that remains to mark the passing of the communities that once thrived there. What unites these stories is the people who lived them.
In an ambitious six-year initiative, FamilyHistoryWA (FHWA) has launched The People of Western Australia’s Ghost Towns project to ensure that these individuals and places are not forgotten. The project is scheduled for completion in June 2029, aligning with both the Bicentenary of European settlement in Western Australia and FHWA’s 50th anniversary.
Led by a dedicated team of volunteers – affectionately known as the “Ghosties”- the project is developing a comprehensive genealogical index of individuals who lived in or passed through ghost town communities. By documenting the histories of these places and their residents, the project aims to increase public awareness, support genealogical research, and foster community engagement. It has already generated strong interest, with many people eager to share information, photographs, and personal stories.
Information for the project is being drawn from a wide range of sources, including oral histories, museum collections, newspapers, books, government gazettes, official records, and personal letters and diaries. While many of these records exist across various free and commercial platforms, there is currently no single resource that brings together all available information about the early inhabitants of these communities.
This project seeks to create a richer, more human connection to these places. It will also explore Indigenous customs, beliefs, and values—many of which have historically been misunderstood or misrepresented. By highlighting the experiences of women, children, First Nations peoples, immigrants, and internees, the project offers a more inclusive and balanced understanding of the past. In doing so, it gives voice to communities whose stories have often been overlooked or marginalised.
So far, the project has identified 845 ghost communities, some of which are known by alternate names. Of these perhaps the mining towns are the best known. In the 1901 census the largest towns in Western Australia included the mining towns of Day Dawn, Kanowna, Mount Morgan and Nannine, all of which are ghost towns today. Following an initial pilot program that examined a cross-section of community types, the team has refined its processes and is now progressing into Phase 6.
The speaker, Christine Harris, is a retired Public Servant and currently serves as IT Manager since 2015 and Vice President since 2017 of FamilyHistoryWA. She has been researching her own family history since 1980. Chris has been involved in the Ghosts project since 2021 and these days her life seems to revolve around talking about Ghost Towns, writing about Ghost Towns and discovering Ghost Towns.
Angela Heymans & Gwyn Williams – Western Australian Military Digital Library
The Western Australian Military Digital Library – Saving Our Military Stories
The Western Australian Military Digital Library (WAMDL) serves as an important digital repository of military social history with a connection to Western Australia and an online archive sharing the stories of more than 1,900 men and women, ranging from the colonial era to recent conflicts.
The digital library’s free, public website contains thousands of digital images of primary records such as personal letters, diaries, memoirs and photos. And these are often in the first person, allowing us to hear their voices firsthand – their words, their stories.
As an independent, volunteer-led registered charity, WAMDL’s mission is to preserve as many of the stories of these men and women as we can and make them publicly available to future generations. The digital items and their stories come from a variety of sources including organisations, individuals and families. As a result, WAMDL encompasses a wide range of experiences including from the well-known front lines, the home front, and groups often overlooked in history books—such as the Volunteer Defence Corps, refugees serving in Works Companies, and women who worked on the land or in munitions factories
WAMDL acts as a collective community memory bank, a vital backup for fragile family records, and a platform for community members and organisations to share their collections globally.
Karen Dennison & Georgia-Mae O’Brien – Shire of Capel Library Coordinator, Shire of Capel
Building the Bridge: How One Library South West Became a Connected Regional Service
This session explores the One Library South West consortium as a working example of the value of collective effort in a regional setting. It focuses on how multiple local government libraries in the South West of Western Australia chose to operate as one service while remaining grounded in their individual communities.
The abstract outlines how the consortium moved beyond shared collections into shared systems, shared standards, and shared responsibility. It shows how this approach strengthened service consistency, improved access for residents, and supported staff working across distance and small teams. From this lived experience, a practical model for regional collaboration has emerged, captured in the BRIDGE framework—a staged approach that reflects how the consortium built its shared service over time: building the case, removing barriers, integrating systems, defining governance, growing capability, and ultimately enabling access.
The session also speaks openly about the challenges. It discusses differences in council priorities, funding pressures, governance complexity, and the early missteps that tested trust across the group. These challenges are framed as learning moments that shaped stronger agreements, clearer communication, and a more resilient partnership. The BRIDGE framework is grounded in these realities, highlighting not just what worked, but what needed to shift for the model to hold.
Participants will hear practical insights drawn from direct experience. The focus stays on people, relationships, and decision making, not theory. The BRIDGE framework provides a clear and transferable way for attendees to reflect on their own context, with discussion inviting consideration of how similar collective models can support sustainability, inclusion, and community connection across the wider GLAMR sector.
This presentation aligns with the conference theme by celebrating shared purpose and collective impact. It reinforces the idea that regional strength grows when institutions act together, learn together, and face change as a group, and offers a practical framework to support that journey.
SESSION PROPOSAL
Case study with facilitated discussion.
60 minutes.
Key focus areas
• Building a consortium across multiple local governments, grounded in a shared regional purpose
• Transitioning from shared collections to shared systems, digital access, and coordinated support
• Removing structural, policy, and cultural barriers to enable collaboration
• Governance, funding, and expectation challenges in a shared model
• Strengthening staff capability and connection across distance and small teams
• What failed early, what changed, and why trust and transparency underpin the model
What participants will gain
• A clear picture of how a regional library consortium operates in practice, mapped through the BRIDGE framework
• Practical insights into shared services and pooled capability
• Honest reflections on friction points and resolution strategies
• Ideas to adapt within other GLAMR or regional partnerships
Session outline
• Context. Why One Library South West exists
• What is shared. Systems, collections, staff capability
• Where it got hard. Budgets, priorities, pace of change
• What was learned. Adjustments that strengthened the collective
• Group discussion. Using the BRIDGE framework to reflect on local opportunities and constraints
Darby Bond Brown & Samantha Hughes – City of Vincent Library
Becoming the Lounge Room of the Community: Getting Started in Community-Led Librarianship
The concept of Community-Led Librarianship has been researched and discussed globally over the last two decades, with many libraries innovating new and creative ways to implement its core strategies. It represents a significant shift in how libraries provide services, programs and collections to their community; Away from staff-designed initiatives and toward empowering and supporting grassroots activation. This model captures a unique pathway for engaging with community members who may be disengaged, at-risk or socially isolated.
In 2008, the Working Together Project expertly broke down the process of community-led library development into eight steps, prompting Library and Information Servicesprofessionals to engage more deeply and personally with their community to provide programs, services and collections that truly serve the people they are intended for. Beginning with entering the community, forming authentic relationships, developing partnerships and finally, working alongside the relevant community members to co-design effective and sustainable deliverables.
Although, it is easier said than done, and impossible to define in one-size-fits-all instructions. Under the community-led structure, how each library engages with their community should look entirely different, to reflect the diversity of their users. At its core, no two community-led libraries will ever look the same. Creating a Community-Led Library service requires innovation and adaptive solutions personalised to each library’s unique populace.
In this workshop, participants will learn about the concept and hear case studies on some of Western Australian libraries’ creative Community-Led initiatives. Attendees will be encouraged to reflect on their unique communities and work though creative exercises and activities designed to prompt innovative ways of connecting with them. Rather than teaching or suggesting the correct ways to undergo each step, this workshop consists of activities which equip participants with the tools and the curiosity needed to develop a practical action plan to getting started in community-led practice.
This workshop breaks down each step of the process to its very core to create an accessible pathway to engaging with diverse communities. This includes group discussions examining community-led language and communication styles, identification of community champions and potential partnerships, and most importantly, team activities to build connection among LIS practitioners in attendance.
Participants will leave with a better understanding of what community-led libraries are and how the concept upholds libraries’ positions as essential community assets. Participants will also leave in possession of the session’s workbook including their personalised action plan and reflective activities they can conduct among their own staff to prompt further insights into their community. Finally, each participant will be invited to join a digital Community of Practice amongst other LIS professionals embarking on the exciting journey of Community-Led practice.
Presented by library professionals who have tried, failed and succeeded in each of the steps toward Community-Led practice, this workshop will celebrate how uniquely equipped libraries are to support, empower and inspire their communities.
Natalie Evans – Executive Director – AMaGA
Speaking with one voice : how to advocate to politicians, funders, and your community.
Collections workers across museums, galleries, archives, libraries and societies are essential to the “keeping ” of histories, voices, stories, possessions and icons of ‘being Western Australian ”. Within our bubble we know we are the memory-keepers for our local
communities, upholders of the Statewide narratives and integral contributors to the picture of National and global identity. Yet to work in the sector means constant realigning of priorities to fit funding, a lack of understanding of the “behind the scenes ” nature of our work and churning out ‘content ’ and events to vie for audience attention . Cultural workers are burning out under the mental and emotional burden of caring for the memory of our society in an economy where roads, rates and rubbish come before artefacts, archives and artworks.
AMaGA WA – in consultation with members and social-impact specialists – has produced an advocacy toolkit that is practical, achievable and has proven successes . Let me climb up on my soapbox and introduce you to “Every Story Counts ”, a powerful, practical resource that will help the collections sector articulate our significant story of value.
“Every Story Counts: an advocacy toolkit ” will be made freely available to all conference delegates to use and share.