Membership "grace period"

Please refer to the reminders sent on the renewal of membership for 2010. LIASA has extended the “grace period” for members who have not yet renewed, but this grace period will expire on 31 March 2010. We kindly again remind you to renew by 31 March 2010 or you will be removed from the current paid-up member list and you will lose out on all the LIASA membership benefits. Non-renewed members’ names will be removed from the distribution lists of the LIASA-in-Touch and Listserv. Please also be reminded that you have to be a current paid-up member to qualify for discounted rates for conference, training courses and workshops.

Individual and Institutional membership forms can be obtained from these links, Branch Executive Committee members, Representative Council members, the National Office and on the website (www.liasa.org.za).

We value your continued membership and want to encourage you to renew in time and remain part of the LIASA family.

Kindest regards.

Rachel More

Promotional Items for SA Library Week

AS part of SA Library Week 2010, LIASA developed additional promotional materials which included t-shirts, bookmarks, badges and pens. Unfortunately there was a problem with the courier and the items were delivered too late to be delivered before Library Week. The items are now available for distribution but this will be done to LIASA: WC members for now with further distribution following if there are still items left. If you are interested in receiving these promotional items please let us know so that we can make arrangements to have them delivered. Please take note of the contact people listed below and the need to provide your t-shirt sizes to your contact person.

1. UCT staff are requested to forward their names to Ingrid Thomson at ingrid.thomson@uct.ac.za;

2. CPUT staff are requested to forward their names to Estelle Kriger at KrigerE@cput.ac.za;

3. Stellenbosch staff are requested to forward their names to Marie Roux at mr@sun.ac.za;

4. Public library staff are requested to forward their names to Lulama Langeni at lulama.langeni@capetown.gov.za; Bronwen Abrahams at bmabraham@pgwc.gov.za; or, Nazeem Hardy at nazeemhardy@gmail.com;

5. All LIASA: WC members not covered in the above-mentioned groups are requested to forward their names to Lulama Langeni or Nazeem Hardy.

Regards,

Nazeem Hardy
(Chair – LIASA: WC)

Library Marketing & Research Officer
Department: Library & Information Services
Directorate: Community Services

Tel: 021 400 3933
Fax: 021 400 4076
Cell: 084 888 8408
Email: naziem.hardy@capetown.gov.za

Website: www.capetown.gov.za

LIASA: WC Endorses the Equal Education Campaign during SA Library Week

“Further, in regard to community libraries, EE would like to point out that it is not good enough for the DoE to offload its responsibilities onto the Department of Arts & Culture and municipalities who provide public libraries. For the majority of children in South Africa, these public libraries provide their only access to books. There are no books in most homes, and children, from the age of 7 – when they are supposed to learn to read – are expected to travel large, often unsafe distances to access reading material in public libraries. Further, anyone entering a township public library on a weekday afternoon during the school term will find the place crammed full, with young people queuing for hours to access books, computers and photocopy machines. This can render the public library unusable for the adult public, and also makes it difficult for young people to use it as a quiet place for homework and exam preparations. Lastly, public librarians, who do a sterling job, are not trained in terms of the school curriculum.” (Equal Education Press Release, 17 December 2009)

LIASA has chosen as “Reading Changes Lives” as the theme for SA Library Week, 20 -27 March 2010. In observing South African Library Week in the Western Cape, and in support of this theme, LIASA Western Cape supports Equal Education's campaign for school libraries "1 school 1 library 1 librarian" .

No matter which library sector we work in, we see the direct effects of very few schools having school libraries. The public libraries are the only alternative and are very often overwhelmed. In the academic sector, we see students battling because they have little or no information literacy skills.

This support for the EE campaign has also been taken up at a national level with SLYSLIG supporting the Equal Education campaign and has called for members in Gauteng to join the March for School Libraries on 26th March.

JOIN THE WESTERN CAPE MARCH ON SUNDAY

In the Western Cape, the March for School Libraries takes place on Sunday 21 March from 11.30 am from Thibault Square. We encourage LIASA members, their colleagues, families and friends to join the march.


SIGN THE PETITION

If you haven't signed the Petition, then we encourage you to do it online.

BOOK DONATION

At our End-of-Year Recruitment Breakfast, held in December 2009, we collected books that would be donated to an identified project. We have decided hand over this collection to the Equal Education book drive as another measure of support of the campaign.


Posted on behalf Nazeem Hardy, Chair LIASA Western Cape