The School Library Association of Queensland is a state-wide professional association. It provides opportunities for its members to:

• promote positive learning outcomes for students,
• work collaboratively with other educational professionals in many educational settings,
• act as curriculum leaders and information specialists,
• connect students and learning through literature, information literacy, resource-based learning and technology,
• share innovative pedagogical ideas.

Support for Australia

On behalf of the European Network for School Libraries and Information Literacy [ENSIL] Helen Boelens has sent the following message to our nation.

Dear ENSIL friends and colleagues,

The worst bushfires in history are raging through south-eastern Australia. Also, in northern Queensland, hurricanes and storms have caused terrible flooding. Via Twitter, Flickr and Facebook and also via the Australian List-Serv for Australian school librarians, reports have been coming in of missing colelagues, and of schools and their libraries burnt to the ground or severly damaged.

Even though Australia is such a large country, the school librarians are part of a close-knit community. Many of them have inspired us all during their presentations at international conferences and through their research and publications.

By copy of this E-mail to the secretariat of the Australian School Library Association (ASLA), the School Library Association of Victoria (SLAV) and the School Library Association of Queensland (SLAQ), I want to convey to their membership of these organisations the concern and sympathy of their European colleagues who are part of the ENSIL group. I shall also ask them to keep ENSIL up to date on any relief efforts which are being organised for school libraries.