Libraries are now high-traffic places, serving millions of people and helping them negotiate the 'e-everything' future, as our most widely-used cultural institutions.

That's according to Graham Black, the new president of the Australian Library and Information Association*, who is based in Rockhampton as Director of CQUniversity's Library network.

Graham Black - new ALIA president

Mr Black gave an address in his new capacity on Wednesday (May 26) - rattling off some amazing figures about libraries - as part of campus activities for Library and Information Week.  LINK HERE for CQUni Library facts and figures

"There are 9000 school libraries, 450 medical and health libraries and  400 corporate libraries," he said.

"There were 21 million loans in 2008 by university libraries and our 1500 public libraries have 12 million registered users who borrowed 178 million items. There were 7.7 million visits to State and national libraries in Australia and NZ."

"Libraries are pervasive. There are a lot of them and they are providing incredible value for our local communities."

Mr Black said of the many ALIA roles*, one of the most important in 2010 would be contributing to a Federal government inquiry into school libraries and teacher librarians, "which are fundamental to democracy and the welfare of our society".

"That's where we are teaching our children literacy, how to research and critically assess information," he said. "If we can give school children strong roots in using libraries and information they become better citizens."

Mr Black said the 'e-everything' challenge was upon us, as e-books and iphones became more popular. Libraries have an important role in making sure students and clients have access to the best information possible "and also the skills to critically assess that information".

The new ALIA president said one of the challenges and opportunities facing CQUniversity's Library was supporting and encouraging academic trends of open access to research output and open scholarship (ie open access to research data) within the University.

He completed his address by noting the 'greying' of the profession, meaning libraries needed to boost staff recruitment. Tongue in cheek, he suggested the slogan: 'Join the profession: it's interesting, clean and airconditioned'.

* ALIA is the peak body for library and information professionals and institutions. It has 5650 members and covers a workforce of about 25,000 people. It values a free flow of information, open access, connecting people to ideas, commitment to literacy and learning, respect for diversity and individuality and preservation of the human record. ALIA's roles include: accrediting institutions who train and educate librarians and library technicians; supporting education, research and professional development; hosting conferences, publishing; lobbying and advocating (eg. the broadband network inquiry); providing an independent voice for the sector and giving copyright and industrial relations advice to members. ALIA's program called 'rebuilding with books' helped families who lost the contents of their homes during theVictorian bush fires. Details at: www.alia.org.au/ .