City of Melville Council has been recognised at WA’s Library Board Awards for its upcoming research project which will see staff consulting with First Nations young people to enhance programming at Willagee Library.
Team Leader Libraries, Jennifer Bawden; Strategic Initiatives Lead, Emma Hewitt and First Nations Coordinator, Aimee Ryan received one of two $8,000 Kay Poustie Scholarships at the awards, which seek to enhance library services through evidence-based research and experiential learning, in-line with the Public Libraries Strategy 2022-2026.
“We’re very pleased that our staff have been recognised at the Library Board Awards for their upcoming research project, which will see our staff consulting First Nations young people to identify priority growth areas, programming needs and learning requirements at Willagee Library,” said City of Melville Mayor, Katy Mair.
“This research project will build upon existing relationships between the library and youth engagement staff, and the community, and I’m excited to see the positive outcomes that will come from this.”
The Mayor said the trio will lead the research project that will involve consultation with First Nations young people to identify priority growth areas, programming needs and learning requirements at Willagee Library, building upon existing relationships between the library and youth engagement staff and the community.
The learning from this project will aid other public libraries undertaking similar engagements, she said.
The project, entitled Listening to the voices of our community: Youth responsive planning for Willagee Library, is set to begin in early 2025.
The scholarship was one of several awards presented at the Library Awards, held at the State Library of Western Australia, which are an annual celebration of excellence in Western Australian libraries and help to promote innovation and collaboration within the library sector.
The Kay Poustie Scholarship is funded by the State Library of Western Australia, Public Libraries WA Inc., ALIAWest and the generous support of numerous private donors.
For more information, visit https://slwa.wa.gov.au/news/2024-library-board-awards.
