Published: 19 September, 2019
At a meeting at ALIA House on the day after the launch of Australian Reading Hour 2019 at Parliament House, Books Create Australia announced the launch of the new Books Create Australia website and unveiled two industry agreements which will benefit many across the nation.
The first is the Jolly Postman agreement, named after the 1986 book The Jolly Postman or Other People’s Letters by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. It enables libraries to photocopy the removable inserts of children’s activity picture books so lost items can be easily replaced.
The second is the storytime agreement which addresses the grey area of copyright law around whether libraries can host storytime events outside the library premises, without needing to seek permission from the copyright holder.
These agreements follow on from an earlier industry breakthrough about the use of images of book covers by libraries to promote programs and collections.
Other matters discussed included industry wide promotional initiatives and sustainability.
‘The launch of the Books Create Australia website and the announcement of these two industry copyright agreements shows how closely libraries, publishers, authors and booksellers. Together we can champion Australian books and writing. It’s a vital part of Australia being a reading nation,’ Robert Knight, ALIA President, said.