Libraries and immigrants

The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), the Australian Public Library Alliance (APLA) and National and State Libraries Australia (NSLA) submission in response to the 2020 Senate inquiry into the issues facing diaspora communities in Australia.

This response provides a summary of libraries' services for multicultural communities.

This submission from the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), highlights the success of public libraries, as government entities on the frontline of service delivery for diaspora communities. While public libraries are very much involved in this field, they are rarely recognised for this work.

When people arrive in Australia, whether through choice or for reasons of hardship, as migrants, international students, refugees or humanitarian entrants, they seek to make a place for themselves and their families in their new communities. They have to set up home, find employment, become familiar with cultural norms that are second nature to Australians but alien to new arrivals, and often their first language is not English.