Canberra, 22 March: In the aftermath of the devastating floods the ALIA Board has released the following statement.
Over the past few weeks ALIA has been reaching out to members in affected areas and providing up-to-date information on how we can all support those communities impacted by the floods.
ALIA is a founder member of Blue Shield Australia, a network of committees of dedicated individuals across the world that is: ‘committed to the protection of the world’s cultural property and is concerned with the protection of cultural and natural heritage, tangible and intangible, in the event of armed conflict, natural- or human-made disaster’.
Blue Shield Australia has announced clear recommendations that the most effective way to help, in the early stages following a disaster, is to make financial donations only. As a member of BSA, ALIA endorses these recommendations and encourages our Members and members of the public to support in this way.
ALIA President Viki Edmunds said, ‘We know many Australians are keen to help, however experience tells us that physical donations of books and other materials often end up in storage for a long period of time.
‘In these early stages of damage assessment and recovery, financial donations will help libraries and other institutions to rebuild their collections in accordance with their individual needs.’
ALIA will continue to monitor the situation and will reshare all relevant flood support updates on social media and on our website.
Blue Shield provides the following ways to donate and support.