The State Library of Western Australia is delighted to announce that its family literacy program, Better Beginnings, last night won the Western Australian State Award in the Toyota Community Partnership category of the Australian Business Arts Foundation Awards (AbaF). The Better Beginnings program will now go forward as a finalist in this category for the national award. In addition, Better Beginnings has been nominated as a finalist in the Australia Council for Arts Young People Award category at the national level (there are no state finals for this category). This is a new category for 2007.

The winners of these two categories will be announced in Sydney on 25 October, 2007.

Better Beginnings aims to spread the simple message that the act of sharing books and stories with even the smallest babies and very young children has a positive impact on literacy development. It’s also a further opportunity for libraries to contribute in yet another positive way to the communities which they serve.

The $1.8 million Better Beginnings program, targeting children from birth to three years, was first launched state wide in June 2005. Since then more than 60% of WA’s local governments have joined the scheme, and over 45,000 parent reading kits containing baby books have been provided to parents of newborns through libraries and community health centres. Ongoing expansion of Better Beginnings includes targeted strategies for “hard to reach” and special needs communities, including Indigenous and remote communities.

Better Beginnings won the 2006 Premier’s Award for Excellence in Public Sector Management in the Better Services (large organisation) category.

State Librarian and CEO Margaret Allen commented, “It was wonderful to be at Government House Ballroom to receive the award with our partners from Rio Tinto and the Better Beginnings team. Many people across the State Library have contributed to making Better Beginnings the outstanding success that it is. We could not have achieved this without the support of Rio Tinto, our local government partners and public libraries in Western Australia”

The State Library of Western Australia would like to thank and acknowledge our partners in Better Beginnings without whom the project would not be the success it is today:

• Local Government and the 232 public libraries throughout Western Australia
• Community Health Nurses
• Rio Tinto WA Future Fund
• And the Western Australian Government for their support of the project

For further information, contact Better Beginnings coordinator Nola Allen
Tel. (08) 9427 3130 Email nola.allen@slwa.wa.gov.au