Today Shoalhaven Libraries blog, The Readers’ Haven, posted their AWW completion page. In it, they wrote:
Here at Nowra Library we displayed and promoted books written by Aussie women for most of 2012, with great success. Loans and circulation of these books increased noticeably throughout the year and it was great to see a wide range of borrowers walk out the door with newly discovered Australian reads.
How many libraries could boost circulation of books by Australian women with such a simple promotion?
After seeing The Readers’ Haven’s post, I challenged some libraries on Twitter to visit the new AWW list of reviews . The City of Boroondara Library responded with a link to their Facebook page where they posted the link to the new AWW site and asked their followers to pick their favourite reads from the AWW lists.
That’s fantastic. They’re willing to do their bit. But, as of the time of writing this blog post, nobody has commented on their link.
The kind social media contact at Boroondara Library also posted an array of book covers of recent releases by authors Paddy O’Reilly, Emily Maguire, Mary-Rose MacColl, Bronwyn Parry, Lisa Walker, Hannah Richell, Deborah O’Brien and Jo Spurrier. The library is obviously keen to promote books by Australian women. And if they’re keen, maybe other libraries would be too – if they knew about the challenge and the list of reviews?
The problem is, how do we get the word out about this fantastic new resource – 1300+ reviews of books by Australian women – and help overcome the problem of gender bias in Australia’s literary review pages?
The answer? Crowdsourcing. Together, we can show the libraries that there’s a whole, vibrant online community of reviewers and readers (and users of Facebook) who are passionate about supporting home-grown writers.
So here’s the call: AWW participants and writers on Facebook, could you please visit City of Boroondara Library’s Facebook page and tell them some of your favourite AWW reads for 2012. Show them we enjoy local writers and appreciate librarians who support and promote them. And while you’re there, how about sharing the new link with one or more of the many libraries on Facebook?
The following list gives the Facebook links to libraries around Australia gleaned from AWW’s Aussie Libraries Facebook page. (I knew this information would come in handy one day.) If someone has posted the link on the library page before you, please make a comment – or “Like” their page, if they’re local to you. You can post either a link to the AWW Blog summary of genres page, or to one of the pages on the new Weebly site e.g. 2012 releases or Children’s fiction page. If you do take leave a link, let others know by mentioning it in the comments below. Between us, we should be able to spread the word.
- Adelaide City Council Libraries
- Adelaide Hills Library Service
- ALIA Information Online Group
- ALIA New Graduates Group
- ALIA Sydney
- ALIA Sustainable Libraries Group
- Australian Library and Information Association
- Australian School Library Association
- Blackwood Library
- Burnside Library
- Camden Council Library Services
- Campbelltown Public Library
- Casey-Cardina Library Corporation
- Cockburn Public Libraries
- Coffs Harbour Libraries
- Esperance Public Library
- Geelong Regional Libraries
- Geraldton Regional Library
- Gladstone Libraries
- Greater Taree City Libraries
- Late Night Library Sydney
- LibMark
- Mitcham Library Service
- Monash Public Library Service
- Morton Bay Region Libraries
- Mosman Library
- Mount Barker Community Library
- Mount Gambia Library
- MRC Library
- Online Book club at Mandurah Libraries
- Pinnaroo School Community Library (post Children’s link)
- Playford Library
- Salisbury Library Service
- Sutherland Shire Library
- Tea Tree Gully Library
- TIGS Library (secondary and primary school – post Children’s link)
- Unley Libraries
- Victor Harbor Library
- West Gippsland Regional Library Corporation
- Yarra Plenty Regional Library Service
If you know of any more libraries on Facebook, please leave the links in the comments below.
Devoted Eclectic 
Keziah Hill
/ November 29, 2012This is the FB account for Blue Mountains City Council but it’s mostly library stuff.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blue-Mountains-City-Council/175066762601689?ref=ts&fref=ts
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Elizabeth Lhuede
/ November 30, 2012Thanks, Keziah. Have you left an AWW link there?
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Keziah Hill
/ November 30, 2012Yep.
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annabelsmith
/ November 29, 2012Hi Elizabeth. I’ve commented on the Boorondara Library page and also posted a link on the Stirling Libraries page https://www.facebook.com/stirlinglibraries Hope you get some other responses
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Elizabeth Lhuede
/ November 30, 2012Thanks, Annabel, that’s great. It’s exactly what I was hoping people might do. It’s all very well for me to go round hassling libraries (and booksellers), but one voice is easy to dismiss. If they see more readers commenting and taking an interest in books by Australian women, they’ll know there’s a lot of us out here.
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Jennifer McLaren
/ November 29, 2012I hope this can help: My local library, Ku-Ring-Gai, has a facebook page (‘Ku-Ring-Gai Library’), but when I copy/paste the link, it takes you to the council facebook page. But if you search for Ku-Ring-Gai, you’ll find their facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/krglibrary?fref=ts
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Elizabeth Lhuede
/ November 30, 2012Thanks, Jennifer. It’d be great if you could post an AWW link there.
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Timothy
/ November 30, 2012Well, some of the reviews in AWW are from Gold Coast Library Service https://www.facebook.com/#!/GCLibraries?fref=ts via out blog at http://gcbooks.wordpress.com/
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Elizabeth Lhuede
/ November 30, 2012Yes, of course. You’ve been a great contributor to the Classics. Thanks, Timothy. Any chance you could help spread the word about the new list of reviews to the other libraries listed above?
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Timothy
/ December 5, 2012We can’t do that, but we can do this: http://gcbooks.wordpress.com/2012/12/05/our-2013-reading-challenge/.
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Heidi Stabb (@heidi_reads)
/ November 30, 2012Wodonga Library’s FB is here: http://www.facebook.com/wodongalibrary. I haven’t done anything AWW related yet (although I think it got a mention early this year at the Stella Prize IWD gathering), but I might manage that in the new year.
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Elizabeth Lhuede
/ November 30, 2012Thanks for the link, Heidi. It would be great to make a feature of books by Australian women in the lead up to the Stella Prize announcement in April. Also, it would be fascinating to know whether such initiatives boost circulation.
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Elise K. Ackers
/ November 30, 2012I left a link and a prompt to join the 2013 challenge on the City of Melbourne Library Service, Knox Library and State Library of Victoria Facebook pages.
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Elizabeth Lhuede
/ December 1, 2012That’s fantastic, thanks, Elise. Will you be signing on to participating in next year’s challenge?
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Anonymous
/ December 13, 2012I’ll be signing up, absolutely.
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Anonymous
/ December 30, 2012I’m doing my bit of crowd sourcing on twitter, as many libraries and library professionals are on it. The AWW database is valuable source for ready Readers Advisory for borrowers and Librarians alike! thanks.
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