Meet our Literacy and Learning project managers 

NSLA’s Literacy and Learning project is gearing up for a busy year in 2012, having recently released an ambitious project mandate. Luckily, the group has two highly experienced project managers at the helm: Anne Rennie, Manager, Participation and Learning at the State Library of WA, and Andrew Hiskens, Manager, Learning Services at the State Library of Victoria.

Tell us about your professional background.
Anne: I started out as what was then known as an ‘interpretation officer’ at a contemporary visual arts gallery, a job that focussed on making art accessible to a wider audience through the delivery of education programs to school groups and programs for the general public. After several roles in events management and arts marketing, I took up the position of manager of Outreach at the State Library of WA. The change to the job title reflects the library’s commitment to engaging clients and to promoting its role in literacy and learning.
Andrew: My background is in museums, initially in a very hands-on way working on exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Over time, my specialisation has morphed into programming more generally. I came to the State Library of Victoria as the library’s inaugural Public Programs manager and became the Learning Services manager when the division was established, about five years ago. I think having a [non-library] background is quite helpful – it makes you ask questions, rather than thinking down straight professional lines.

How can libraries make a difference to literacy and learning?
Anne: Libraries have always provided a space for literacy and learning opportunities to occur, but now is a good time to articulate their role in this sphere and to capitalise on the benefits they can bring to both individuals and the community.
Andrew: Libraries are already embedded in communities across the country. The advantage of this – and of the fact that they’re not formal learning organisations – is that you can do learning by stealth!
Libraries have always been about learning by providing access to ‘stuff’: books, online information, staff expertise and knowledge. People using libraries take that ‘stuff’ and use it to create something of value, whether that’s reading for enjoyment, a high school essay, or their family history. People always need a bit of help getting started with that, that’s what the Literacy and Learning project is all about.

What do you hope the project will achieve?
Anne: When I’m feeling at my most optimistic, I hope that the Literacy and Learning project group can contribute to turning around the statistic that 46 per cent of Australians don’t have adequate literacy skills to meet the most basic demands of everyday life and work. At my most pessimistic, I hope that the group will achieve the work outlined in the time set!
Andrew: I think that the group has a capacity, working together and sharing our knowledge, to achieve things that are far more than the sum of their parts. My optimistic view is that we’ll find models and ways of doing things that other libraries can replicate or change to suit their communities and, because they are embedded in their communities, I think they’ll have a much higher chance of success than mandated learning through formal educational organisations.