The Sharr Medal, and the Library Board of Western Australia Award for Excellence, was awarded on Thursday 26 May, 2011 at the State Library Theatre. A tremendous turn-out, catered with excellent canapés and wine selections by Julie Ham from the State Library. We thank Julie wholeheartedly for her support in organizing the venue and catering.
The major speaker was Mr. Geoff Strempel, Associate Director, Public Library Services at the State Library of South Australia. Geoff is responsible for providing leadership, support and services to South Australia’s 130+ public libraries and he delivered an inspiring presentation on the state of the art and future developments to come in South Australia. Geoff is also a former Sharr medalist.
It is with much pleasure that we congratulate our very own AliaWest Committee Secretary, Anna Hudson, on being the 2010 Sharr Medal recipient and we were very lucky to be graced with Anna’s presentation on the evening.
In Anna’s words, “The presentation discussed the future and current issue of the Digital Divide within the public library field. I wished to highlight the inequalities facing public libraries and humbly raise some initiatives that I felt lead towards the future such as business partnerships. I strongly feel that libraries need to connect to people and communities in order to better connect people to ideas through information to overcome the digital divide”.
The Library Board Award of Excellence was presented to Michelle Brennand on behalf of the City of Wanneroo for “The Books in a Bag” Project, which actively supports local book clubs through easy access to book club kits. The Award recognizes excellent achievement in the provision of library services. As well as commending City of Wanneroo Library Services as a leader in public libraries across WA, the Library Board presented the City with a cheque for $5000. The Award recognizes the extent of the project, the audience it reaches, innovation, evaluation, collaboration with different groups, education or training aspects and contribution to professional organizations. Details about the Library Board Award of Excellence is available on the State Library website.
The AliaWest Committee is also very proud to announce that Margaret Allen also awarded two Alia Silver Pins to two worthy Committee members, being Jill Benn & Tracie Pollin. The pin is awarded to ALIA members who have served for five terms or more on ALIA committees. The ALIA Silver Pin award comprises the pin itself and a letter of thanks from the ALIA executive director.