Australian Reading Hour Event Waterfront Library

Australian Reading Hour Event Waterfront Library

The team recently hosted a successful public panel at Waterfront Library, to share research and industry insights about keeping teenagers reading in an age of distractions. The event was aligned with the Australian Reading Hour, a national celebration of Australians’ love of reading hosted by the Australian Publishers Association. It was aimed primarily at parents and those who share books with teens.

Presenting on behalf of the Cultural Pathways ARC Linkage Team were Associate Professor Leonie Rutherford and Research Fellow Dr Bronwyn Reddan. Danielle Binks, YA author and literary agent, and Christine Oughred, from the Children’s Book Council Shadow Judging Project. The panel gave their perspectives on adolescents’ engagement with literature, insights about reading preferences, and tips about what to do, and not to do, to encourage reading.

Waterfront Library Public Event Area

Waterfront Library Public Event Area

The event which was held on Monday 27 April was a new partnership with Deakin Library as the first of the library’s public events program. The panel was recorded on video and will be available via the Teen Reading website and YouTube Channel once edited.

National Education Summit

National Education Summit

Leonie, Bronwyn and Katya were pleased to present interim findings from the schools survey at the National Education Summit in Melbourne in June 2022. Based on over 3000 survey responses, this presentation included information on how often and how much time teenagers spend reading for pleasure and what they think about reading for pleasure as well as the major challenges to teens reading more.

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Australian Library and Information National Conference – Canberra

Australian Library and Information National Conference – Canberra

Team Members presenting at the ALIA National Conference 2022

Professor Katya Johanson and Leonie Rutherford at the ALIA National Conference 2022

Professor Katya Johanson and Associate Professor Leonie Rutherford presented at the Australian Library and Information Association Conference in Canberra on 19 October 2022. The conference theme – diversity was examined in various contexts throughout the conference program. Our presentation focused on publisher  understanding of how well their industry served diverse readers, and teacher and teacher-librarian views of the range of reading material provided for young people.

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