Page 771 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 5 April 2022
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Sound Archive, for example, hold oral recordings and videos of traditional stories, historical accounts and language. This includes an 1899 recording of Fanny Cochrane Smith, the only recording of a Tasmanian Aboriginal language native speaker in existence.
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies is continuing to add to its library of Indigenous languages dictionaries, stories and histories. Much of this material can be found more and more easily through both ACT and other public libraries. For example, a Ngunnawal language handbook is available through Libraries ACT, as is Footprints on our Land, by Ngunnawal elder Aunty Agnes, and a book about traditional Ngunnawal plant use.
Library services have also been adapted to enable more varied and nuanced ways of engaging with the library. Gone are the days of a librarian hushing everyone to maintain silence while the library users sit quietly, studiously reading line after line from a pile of books. Now we have all sorts of resources, programs and activities. There are English conversation classes, story time for younger kids, story dogs who help slightly older kids with their reading confidence, or apprenticeship and employment assistance.
In more recent times, with the advent of the internet and personal computers, the resources that libraries can provide have not only expanded in scope but reduced the need for physical floor space and allowed access to libraries from schools and homes. The successful provision of eResources under Libraries ACT’s collection demonstrates this government’s commitment to maintaining support for our libraries in an enduring, future-minded manner. Currently, eResources include free access for the community to a range of things such as encyclopaedias, language learning resources, coding material for kids, personal and professional development, and much more.
The ACT government is currently undertaking a community co-design process on the future of libraries through the Imagine 2030 project, recognising that the role of libraries in our community and society is continually evolving. My motion today calls on the ACT government, as part of this project, to consider ways library services can improve digital equity and equality in the ACT. We have already seen the ACT government begin work on this issue. The government has already shown its commitment to digital access and inclusion via the distribution of Chromebooks to all ACT public high school students and through the Technology Upgrade Fund Grants Program.
The role of the library in providing onsite internet access has been integral to the inclusion and connectivity of thousands of Australians for decades. However, as I note in my motion, investing in public library connections and infrastructure is necessary to maintain this community service. Solely providing a site for internet access may not be enough to maintain this level of community service anymore. Most libraries can only be open for so many hours of the day for access to their physical premises. If you do not have the internet at home, you subsequently do not have access to any of the library’s resources.
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