📝 Event Description
Join us for an engaging lunchtime session exploring the vital role health libraries play in safeguarding organisational history.
Discover practical strategies for building and caring for historical collections, and learn how to access National Library of Australia Community Heritage Grants to support preservation and digitisation projects.
Whether you’re starting a collection or planning a heritage initiative, this session will provide actionable tips and inspiration to keep your health service’s story alive.
🗣️ Presenters
Pat Stott – Eastern Health
Michelle Pitman – Grampians Health
Tania Barry – Northern Health
Cherish Mcdonald – Hunter New England Local Health District
Pat graduated as a Library Technician and worked extensively in primary schools. Joined Eastern Health in about 2008 as a Technician. Completed a Librarian Degree in 2017 with an interest in archives. Gained a Masters Degree in Data Management. Loves learning new stuff, loves discarding and weeding stuff, doesn’t want to specialise, and has a paint and art supply addiction.
Michelle qualified as a late-in-life librarian from Curtin University in 2019 and has worked at the Horsham campus of Grampians Health since November that year. This role has her straddling the vicissitudes of being, simultaneously, a “solo” librarian, while also being part of the library team at the Ballarat campus. She’s however, very grateful for this support or it would get very challenging very quickly! Her professional interests are library marketing, health history and generative artificial intelligence in health and scholarly communications. Her personal interests are her cat ‘Lola’, sourdough bread making, reading Sci-Fi & epic fantasy novels and watching endless YouTube chateau renovation channels!
Tania is an experienced information and knowledge professional with over 20 years’ experience across academic, local government and health sectors. Her work focuses on strategic leadership, workforce development and building high-performing teams that deliver inclusive, community-focused services. In her current role at Northern Health, she leads library and information literacy services, ensuring staff, students and community members can access and apply evidence-based information to support health outcomes.
Cherish a wearer of multiple hats, she can wax an eyebrow (was a beauty therapist in a past life) while doing a literature review (poorly, area of PD) and whip up a smart-looking CANVA graphic to market library services. Cherish is passionate about equity of access to health information and library services, a good espresso, the collection and maintenance of organisational history, and library marketing. She recently completed a Master of Library & Information Science at CSU, and is on the organising committee for the Hospital Librarians COP. Most importantly, she has an honorary PhD in snack collection for her two chaotic children and French bulldogs, in the words of Em Rusciano, a “maximalist power queen” and very tired.
✅ ALIA HLA Competencies
CA3: Resources
View HLA Competencies
🕐 When
Tuesday, 28 April 2026
1-2pm (Vic/NSW/TAS/ACT/QLD);
12:30-1:30pm (SA/NT);
11am-12pm (WA);
3-4pm (NZ)
🗺️ Where
Online webinar Zoom – a link will be sent the day prior.
This event will be recorded and sent to attendees following the event.
💵 Cost
ALIA Members – Free (One of 14 reasons to consider HLA Membership)
Non-Members – $30
✍️ Register
Register / Additional Information
🧗♀️ Professional Development
One CPD hour towards Health Professional Development Scheme