Aunty Lesley Williams Author Talk

How lucky we were to have Aunty Lesley Williams come and speak with Associate Professor Debbie Duthie (School of Public Health and Social Work) about her new book, “Marching With A Mission: Cherbourg’s Marching Girls.” Around 40 people attended the event in person with more online. Uncle Gregory (Cheg) Egert (QUT Elder-in-Residence) provided a warm Welcome to Country. The book, which is available in our collection, captures the period between 1947 and 1962 when young women and girls from Cherbourg (also previously known as the Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement and the Cherbourg Mission) participated regionally and nationally in competitive “Marching Girls” competitions. As Aboriginal teams, they were a rare presence in the thriving sport. Cherbourg has a rich and proud sporting history and this book adds to that story. This event was jointly organised by the Library and the Faculty of Health and many thanks to everyone who helped.

Murri School Visit

I had the pleasure of visiting the Murri School / The Aboriginal and Islander Independent Community School with Julie Cook (Director) and Alisha Britten (Manager), QUT Oodgeroo Unit, on 14th September. We met with Aunty Fran McDonald as well as their librarian, Aunty Gail. We were donating a number of books to the school library from QUT (which were funded by the Registrar as part of our ongoing partnership with the school) . This followed on from an earlier visit by children from grades 3 and 4 to Kelvin Grove, where they came to the library as part of their program.  In partnership with the Oodgeroo Unit we will continue to look for ways to work with the Murri School and their students and teachers. Thanks to staff at KG Library and Library Resource Services (especially Tom Mullins and Natalie Matthews) for helping procure these books.

CAUL Council Meeting

Along with Sarah, I attended the CAUL Council Meeting on 15 – 16 September, in Sydney. This was the first face-to-face meeting of the group since 2019 and the first meeting, to my knowledge, to include Deputies and Associate Directors.  The agenda was extensive and included:

• A panel discussion of societal changes and the impacts of the digital economy. QUT’s Professor Marek Kowalkiewicz  (Chair of Digital Economy) was one of the panel members, along with Marcella van Blaricum – Director, PwC Australia and Associate Prof Ofer Mintz – Business School, UTS
• A panel discussion on redressing relationships with historically marginalised groups in the broader context of research and higher education with panellists Danielle Cooper – Director, Libraries, Scholarly Communication & Museums, Ithaka S+R, Prof Eileen Baldry – Deputy Vice-Chancellor Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, UNSW, Prof Jennifer Barrett – Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous (Academic), University of Sydney
• A discussion on Australian and New Zealand approaches to Open Access and possible future directions.
• Group conversations around the future of resource sharing, student safety and wellbeing and belonging and the role of the library.
• Extensive time spent on strategic planning for 2023.

Before the meeting, Sarah and I also visited the libraries at UTS and UNSW Art and Design Library, and met face-to-face with colleagues from QULOC libraries. Below are photos of some of the highlights.

Queensland Literary Awards

I attended the 2022 Queensland Literary Awards at State Library of Queensland on 8th September. Professor Chelsea Watego (Professor of Indigenous Health, QUT) took out the Courier Mail People’s Choice Queensland Award for her book “Another Day in the Colony.” Other QUT winners and finalists included: Sarah el Sayed (nominated for Queensland Premier’s Award for a Work of State Significance) ; and Rebecca Cheers and Marilena Hewitt (joint-winner, Queensland Premier’s Young Publishers and Writers Award).

Some of the meetings I attended:

• QULOC Client Contact Points and Spaces Meeting (as group Mentor)
• Academic Division / DBS  Health Safety and Environment Committee (as Chair)
• QUT Disability Action Plan Meeting (as Library rep)
• eResearch Australasia Conference Planning Committee (as CAUL rep)
• ALIA representatives Nicole Barnes (Director Corporate Services) and Jacqui Lucas (Director Learning Services), in my role as  QULOC UL’s Group interim Convenor, along with Sarah Fredline and Sue Hutley (Bond).
• Natalie Ryan, Associate Director, Brand and Digital Communications, QUT
• Sonya Betros, Director, Governance, Legal and Performance, QUT
• Jane Phillips (Head of School Nursing), and others from the School of Nursing – along with Sally French and Sarah Howard
• Lauren Smith, Deputy Principal, Queensland Academy of Creative Industries (QACI) – with Michael Wallace
• Maya Carmi-Veal, HSE Partner
• Caroline Williams, University Librarian, UQ
• Anita Brown,  Associate Director, CQUiniversity