AIATSIS Library staff in May 2014.
Announced as part of the Library and Information Week 2014 celebrations, the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) has been named Australia’s Favourite Government Library by the Australian public.
The Australia’s Favourite Library campaign, run by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), kicked off in early February, with one overall winner and 15 other winners based on sector and states announced Monday.
Among the winners, the AIATSIS library was named Australia’s Favourite Government Library.
AIATSIS Principal, Russell Taylor said the news was both thrilling and fitting as AIATSIS celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
“I am pleased to see the innovative work of our library staff acknowledged in this way in what is a special year for us. Over the last 50 years our library has collected an extensive range of material, a good deal of which is held nowhere else in the world,” Mr Taylor said.
“We hold information on almost every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander group and language in Australia, with more than 130,000 print research collection items, over 3,000 rare books and 12,000 manuscript titles all pertaining to Australia’s first peoples.
“Indigenous Australians form the overwhelming majority of people accessing our photographs, film and audio material for purposes as diverse as language maintenance, native title claims and family history research.
“We are a world-renowned premier research, collecting and publishing organization. This award is a clear indication that the Australian public places great value on our library and its’ services.”
The Australia’s Favourite Library campaign garnered 547 nominations for 203 libraries and library services nationwide, and over 220,000 votes cast via phone, email, text messages or online.
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