February news

Published:

New year, new look!

Happy new year to you all! We hope you had a great break, and look forward to working with you all in 2025.

Welcome to the first news item for 2025. This regular feature has replaced the PLS enews. Every month, there will be a quick roundup of all the upcoming training and professional development opportunities, webinars, events and more.     

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Online author talk with author Michael Brissenden

The indyreads Summer Book Club wraps up with a free online author talk on Thursday 13 February. 

Michael Brissenden, the author of the Summer Book Club novel Smoke, will be in conversation with Dr Rachel Franks on Thursday 13 February 2025 from 6.30-7.30pm.

Dr Franks is the Coordinator of Scholarship at the State Library of NSW and author of An Uncommon Hangman (2022).

Libraries can livestream the talk, or promote it to their communities to enjoy from the comfort of their homes. Viewers will have the opportunity to ask Michael questions via chat at the end of the event. 

New online training module: Gale databases 

A new mini module Introduction to Gale Statewide Databases has been added to the PL Portal, our online training platform for NSW public library staff.

This module provides an overview of the Gale databases provided free to every NSW public library service.

Training opportunity: Learn with Novelist

We're offering public library staff the opportunity to build their readers' advisory skills and knowledge about delivering inclusive library services and collections through online training provided by Learn with Novelist.

The training is aimed at staff who work in customer service, readers’ advisory and/or collection development. It can be used as an introduction to readers’ advisory and inclusive library services and collections for new library staff or as refresher training for more experienced staff.

The online training will be provided by Learn with Novelist. A Novelist subscription is not required to participate.

Libraries are invited to complete an expression of interest for up to two people per council to participate in the training. Completing an expression of interest does not guarantee your participation in the training. Please submit expressions of interest by Friday 21 February.

Webinars from Gale

Damien from Gale is running a series of webinars on Tuesdays in February from 9–9.30 am:

  • 4 February - Lost in translation: Exploring the magic of literary worlds
  • 11 February - Choosing your next masterpiece for Book Club!
  • 18 February - Explore science, history, art, popular culture and innovation with the Smithsonian Online Collections
  • 25 February - Gale in Context resources for young learners

In each of the webinars, Damien will demonstrate Gale databases and show how they can be used to assist a range of people, from students to lifelong learners.

Public library partnerships

We are looking for examples of public libraries partnering with organisations and individuals in delivering events, promotions and other library services. Your examples may be used in an upcoming course on the PL Portal and as case studies on the PLS website.  

Please help us by completing a survey on partnerships your library has been involved with over the past 12 months, using the form below. Please complete the form by Friday 21 February.

Shine the light on law this Seniors Festival

The NSW Seniors Festival is being held from 3–16 March. The theme is Time to Shine!

The Seniors Festival is a great time to let the seniors in your community know about the legal information and help available to them. Although people can need help with legal issues at any age, there are some issues of particular importance to older people.

Drug Fact Bingo for the Seniors Festival

Drug Fact Bingo encourages discussion of alcohol and other drugs in a fun and relaxed environment, and can be added to your library’s NSW Seniors Festival program.

Drug Fact Bingo is available on Drug Info’s seniors promotion page, along with a range of other ideas and resources for promoting Drug Info during the Festival.

Stop. Check. Protect.

The National Anti-Scam Centre is running the Stop. Check. Protect. scams awareness campaign until 22 March 2025.

With over 234,000 reported scams and over $290 million in reported losses in 2024, it’s always a good time to let your community know how to be scam aware.

ScamWatch has provided a selection of assets you can use on your social media channels, including animations, social media posts, an online quiz, a post about the Little Book of Scams, and resources for First Nations people and in other languages. When posting, use the hashtag #StopCheckProtect. If you prefer, follow Find Legal Answers on Facebook and like and share our posts.

Local studies survey

The local studies survey is held every five years. It identifies local studies collections, services and programs across NSW public libraries as well as investigating current practices in providing access, digitisation, collecting in a variety of formats and preservation of local studies material.

The survey identifies trends and needs in NSW public libraries. For example, the 2020 local studies survey identified a need for training, and led to over 70 public library staff participating in online small group training.

The survey will be emailed directly to councils shortly. Regional libraries are able to respond on behalf of the councils in their region. Please contact Ellen Forsyth if you have any questions.

New State Library exhibition - Pix: The magazine that changed everything

PIX — Australia’s first pictorial news weekly — hit newsstands around the country in January 1938.

With its eye-catching lipstick-red logo, PIX delivered a new style of journalism, using photographs to tell daring stories of modern life. Always intended to shock, entertain and inform, PIX stayed popular with its readers for over 30 years.

This exhibition explores the PIX story — through the people and pictures that made the magazine — for the first time.