Masterclass: Booked Up

Librarians, this one’s for you! Dive into a full-day masterclass focused on innovative programming that fosters creative communities. We examine the role of librarians as community guides, with sessions on curation, event production, marketing and more. Learn how to boost engagement both on and offline – from chairing a session to building a library’s brand on social media.

Presented in partnership with the Melbourne UNESCO City of Literature Office

10am Keynote: For the Love of Libraries

Libraries are an essential part of our literary industry and communities, and they provide value to the people that frequent them in real and material ways. This impassioned beginning to the day covers the importance of libraries to our communities, ‘literary’ and otherwise.

With Stuart Kells

10.30am Curation and Facilitation

The best programming comes from a deep knowledge of the community you serve. How can libraries best tap into the community of artists, locals and collectives around them? In this session we’ll discuss creative approaches to curation, the art of collaboration and engagement and how to program balanced and diverse sessions, as well as covering some practical tips for public speaking, chairing and facilitation.

With Lisa Dempster, Samira Farah and Hiroki Kobayashi 

11.30am Break

11.45am Remaking Libraries

Libraries can be sites for the democratisation of access to knowledge, but they can also perpetuate systems and structures of knowledge that are exclusionary or elitist. Hear from the founders of alternative approaches to library building: the Community Reading Room, Incendium Radical Library and Đất Nước travelling library.

With Anne-lise Ah-fat, Torika Bolatagici and Kylie Tran

12.45-1.30pm Lunch

1.30pm Workshop: Event Production

In this workshop you’ll create a plan for an entire event from start to finish, covering just about everything from initial concepts, financing, programming, branding, marketing and networking, to running the beast itself.

With Bron Belcher

2.30pm Social Media and Marketing 101

You’ve done the hard-yards and come up with brilliant event and programming ideas that you know your community will love – but how do you get the word out? A crash course in writing snappy copy and utilising social media to make sure you get bums on seats.

With Davey Simmons

3.00-3.15pm Break

3.15pm I Made It at the Library

Four makers in different forms reflect on their experiences using libraries for creative practice and discuss the ways in which libraries can best assist with creative research and facilitate the production of new work.

With Chiara Gabrielli, Ben Kolaitis, Katayoun Javan

4.30pm New Ideas

Head downstairs for a happy hour drink at The Moat to reflect on what you’ve learnt throughout the day, meet your fellow librarians and brainstorm some new ideas to apply at your library.

Join the newCardigan crew for an afternoon of professional socialising, reflections on the GLAMR sector and some thoughts on what that means from representatives from the Gallery, Archive, Museum and Records fields … all with a beer in a beaker!

Hosted by newCardigan