Traveling Librarian visits Sydney and Brisbane, Australia

I attended the Fifth International Indigenous Librarians’ Forum: Culture, Knowledge and Future in Brisbane, Australia, June 4th-7th, 2007. The conference brought together the aboriginal people of Australia, the first Nations people of Canada, and the indigenous people of New Zealand and the United States. Presentations were devoted to four topics - culture, knowledge, sharing, and future. We were immersed into the aboriginal culture by visiting nearby Stradbroke Island to visit the Quandamooka tribal community for sharing of local foods, cultural dances, and artwork. We also visited the Dunwich Community Library, very small but used by many!

The conference was hosted by the State Library of Queensland and the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Library & Information Resource Network, Inc. (ATSILIRN). The state library is located on the South Bank of Brisbane, recently opened November 2006. Its modern architecture was designed by Donovan Hill and Peddle Thorp. The collection contains over 3.5 million items!

Consisting of five floors, the first floor, called the I-Zone housed public computers and some aboriginal art. The second, third, and fourth floors housed the music collection, periodicals, new books, periodicals, microfilm and reference. The fifth floor was administrative offices. I especially enjoyed the exhibit room used for displays and author readings looking out over the river.

Visit the State Library of Queensland Website: http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/