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Supporting Australian book creators

By Aaron Blabey

Issue 108, Term 1 2019

When I began writing books professionally in 2006, I had never heard of the Australian Lending Right Schemes. My publisher just handed me a form, which I blithely filled out and promptly forgot all about. Then, after a hair-raising period filled with newborn children, an elephantine mortgage, and

Imagining the future

By Lili Wilkinson

Issue 122, Term 3 2022

What is Imagining the future? Imagining the Future is the New Fiction strand of Future You, a major government initiative designed to get mid- to upper-primary children excited about working in STEM ( www.futureyouaustralia.com ), a topic explored in our interview with Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith

Supporting Australian book creators

By Nicole Richardson, James Moloney

Issue 98, Term 3 2016

According to an article published by The Conversation last year, the average Australian author receives an annual income of AUD$12,900 (Zwar, Throsby & Longden 2015). One-fifth of authors are able to call writing their full-time profession, but most rely on other paid work or their partner’s income

Supporting Australian book creators

By Nicole Richardson, Simmone Howell

Issue 96, Term 1 2016

We often celebrate libraries for providing free access to information, but rarely think about what this means for the authors, illustrators, editors, and publishers responsible for the books currently sitting on library shelves. If we are interested in reading a particular book, whether for leisu

Leigh Hobbs on school libraries and storytelling

By Leigh Hobbs

Issue 100, Term 1 2017

What role, if any, did school libraries play in developing your love of storytelling? When I was a child at school — in the pre-computer and internet early 1960s — the school library was my centre of exploration and discovery. I had friends of course and liked mucking around in the school yard, b

Daring to be different: celebrating diversity in literature

By Ruth Devine

Issue 105, Term 2 2018

My favourite memory growing up is of snuggling under the doona while my dad sat on the edge of the bed and read me a story. It was our cosy, nightly ritual. I would drift off to sleep with a head full of shipwrecks and pirates, fairytale castles and magical faraway trees. Often the stories were o

Morris Gleitzman on the uniquely contributive role of school libraries

By Morris Gleitzman

Issue 109, Term 2 2019

During my time as Australian Children’s Laureate, I have continued to visit many schools — something I have been doing for about 30 years. I speak to lots of school library staff, because of my long-held interest in the health of school libraries. Over the last 18 months, this has been particularly

Supporting Australian book creators

By Ruilin Shi

Issue 109, Term 2 2019

When I was at school, the library was one of my favourite places to visit. It was where I could pick up any book and go on fantastical adventures, or learn about the world beyond that of my home, my school, and my social circle. I had always marvelled at the fact that I could pick up any book in th

The writing (and revising) of The innovative school librarian

By Elizabeth Bentley

Issue 111, Term 4 2019

I was one of a group of school librarians, initially composed of students on the MAEd course at Canterbury Christ Church, tutored by Sharon Markless, and later joined by Sarah Pavey. We continued to meet regularly with Sharon to discuss research and other issues related to school librarianship. Sha

Author Spotlight: Vanessa Len

By Vanessa Len

Issue 119, Term 4 2021

Tell us a bit about your journey towards becoming a published writer. Only a Monster is a young adult novel about a monster girl whose summer is ruined when the cute guy at work turns out to be a monster slayer! It’s my first novel, and the journey to its publication has been exciting, surreal,

Two sides of children’s literature: gatekeeper and creator

By Karys McEwen

Issue 121, Term 2 2022

Drawing from the experiences  of young people  The idea for my middle-grade debut novel, All the little tricky things, published by Text Publishing in May this year, came from a conversation with two Year 7 students. I have been a high school librarian for over eight years and throughout that t

A way home: Emily Brewin’s heartfelt dive into youth and resilience

By Emily Brewin

Issue 129, Term 2 2024

Your new book, A way home, came out in April. Tell us a little about its story. A way home is told from the point of view of Grace, who is 16 years old and living under a bridge in Melbourne’s CBD. She’s experiencing homelessness and we discover that she’s there because she’s grown up with a

A thank you to libraries and ELR

By Mem Fox, Nicole Richardson

Issue 102, Term 3 2017

What role have libraries played in your life? I grew up in Zimbabwe, Africa, so libraries didn’t play a huge role in my early life. But at high school I spent a lot of time in the Bulawayo Library (our major city library) which was very well endowed at the time, and full of excellent non-fiction

Leigh Hobbs on the invaluable, irreplaceable school library

By Nicole Richardson

Issue 106, Term 3 2018

Earlier this year, author and illustrator Leigh Hobbs finished his time as Australia’s Children’s Laureate for 2016–17. The role is to promote the importance and transformational power of reading and creativity for young people. During Leigh’s two years as laureate, he passionately campaigned for

Book launches: connecting schools, students and local authors

By Jenna Hildebrand

Issue 109, Term 2 2019

Reading culture As school library staff, we strive every day to establish libraries and resource centres as places that support our students’ reading and information literacy. In our relentless quest to promote reading for pleasure, one major challenge is the structured class context.  We need

Celebrating 80 years of Puffin

By Dot Tonkin

Issue 114, Term 3 2020

At the start of World War II, as British children faced mass evacuations on an unprecedented scale, Allen Lane, the founder of Penguin, said, ‘The worst has happened, but evacuated children are going to need books more than ever. Let us get out half a dozen as soon as we can.’ And so one of the wor

Supporting Australian book creators

By Nova Weetman

Issue 119, Term 4 2021

I grew up in the outer eastern suburbs  of Melbourne along the Yarra River from Warrandyte, in a sleepy orchard town called Wonga Park. It wasn’t big enough for a permanent library. Instead, we relied on the weekly visit of a mobile library full of books. By the time I was ten, I was allowed to rid

Tales of friendship: Jack's Best Day Ever

By Gabrielle Bassett

Issue 126, Term 3 2023

Jack’s best day ever is a really heart-warming tale about neurodivergent friendship, with some gorgeous illustrations. Tell us a little bit about the story of the book and what made you want to write it.   I had always dreamed of writing a children’s book. However, lockdown was the catalys

Diverse titles are finding their homes in libraries

By Crystal Corocher

Issue 127, Term 4 2023

It wasn’t that long ago that a title like Giovanni may not have made it past the gatekeepers of publishing. Even two years ago, when it was signed, there was interest from publishers early, but one questioned whether it was too ‘niche’ to reach a broader audience. Yet Giovanni unearths a signif

Supporting Australian book creators

By Alison Lester

Issue 110, Term 3 2019

I love school libraries and it makes me feel sad and angry when I hear about schools closing their libraries. The library should be the engine room of every school, a place where students and teachers can go and be expertly steered to the information they need. And, this information might be digi