Alice Springs Public Library

Coordinates: 23°42′05″S 133°53′01″E / 23.701515°S 133.88357°E / -23.701515; 133.88357

The Alice Springs Public Library is a free public library service in Australia. While the library provides traditional library services to the community of Alice Springs, it also supplies a unique distance service to the remote people of Central Australia. While officially named the Nevil Shute Memorial Library, the name is little used.[1]

Location

The physical library is on the corner of Leichhardt and Gregory Terraces, Alice Springs. However, remote users can also access the library collection via the Online Catalogue. This catalogue provides access to not only the Alice Springs library service, but also the collections of all public libraries in the Northern Territory.

Alice Springs Collection

The Alice Springs Collection is a collection of materials which relate to the historical, scientific and cultural heritage of Central Australia. This is a reference collection and items are not available for loan. They can be viewed in the Library during regular opening hours.

Alice Springs also has a branch of the Northern Territory Archives Office. The main office however is based almost 1500 km away in Darwin. This distance is a significant problem for researchers in Central Australia and is compounded as many records are held in the South Australian Archives in Adelaide.

Akaltye Antheme - Local Knowledge Collection

The Akaltye-Antheme (pronounced 'aculcha andum') collection, a collection of materials produced for and by the Aboriginal people of Central Australia, is an exciting part of the Alice Springs Collection.

Meaning 'giving knowledge' in Arrernte, Akaltye-Antheme is also referred to as the Local Knowledge Collection, offering visitors to the Library an insight into contemporary indigenous issues and culture.

This collection was recently awarded first prize in the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Library Stars competition. This acknowledged the unique nature of this collection, which contains material not held by any other library or archive service.

Whereas other Australian library services are attempting to provide library services to the Indigenous people of Australia, this collection is part of an effort by past librarians which has been so successful that up to 80% of those using the library at any given moment may be Aboriginal.

The library service has been described as the one place in Alice Springs which breaks down the divides between the Aboriginal and the Anglo Australian cultures.

References

  1. ↑ Australian Library and Information Association. "Library stars". Retrieved 18 June 2011.

External links

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