On the Go: Mobile & Pop-Up Health Library Services (Online1-2 pm Wed 26 Nov)

by Rob Penfold | Oct 29, 2025 | Events

🐘 Event Description

In this session, we’re shining a spotlight on the creative and impactful ways hospital libraries are reaching out to their communities. You’ll hear from passionate professionals who are doing fantastic work through pop-up libraries and outreach services in their health settings. Each speaker will share their unique approach—how they’ve brought library services beyond traditional walls, connected with staff in new ways, and made health information more accessible and engaging.

Whether you’re looking for inspiration, practical ideas, or just curious about what’s possible, we hope you come along and learn from others and share your own successes with us all.

📢 Presenters

• Cherish Mcdonald – Hunter New England Local Health District
• Megan Giles & Sue Bethune – Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service
• Michelle Pitman – Grampians Health

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.

Megan is a librarian with a special interest in hospital librarianship, committed to partnering with clinicians, students and partner organisations to enable improved health outcomes through evidence-based practice, research and collaboration. Coupled with extensive experience as a psychologist (organisational) and health professional, she is passionate about creating a welcoming learning environment, enabling access to contemporary evidence, and leveraging ‘teachable moments’ to build capacity and confidence amongst library clients.

Sue is a passionate health sciences librarian who uses her extensive background in education to foster self-efficacy and independent learning in library clientele. This is achieved through recognition that all learning environments must be non-threatening, relaxed, and based on hands-on activities if new skills and ideas are to be embedded. Sue particularly enjoys the intricacies of specialised librarianship and has worked in law, music, health and university libraries.

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!

✅ ALIA Competencies

C2: Reference and Research Services
C6: Health Literacy and Teaching

🕐 When

Wednesday, 26 November 2025

 1:00-2:00 pm (VIC / NSW / TAS / ACT)

12:00-1:00 pm (QLD)

12:30-1:30 pm (SA)

11:30-12:30 pm (NT)

11:00-12:00 (WA)

3:00-4:00 pm (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
Non-Members – $25

✍ Register

Register | Additional information