Published on Wednesday, 6 August 2025 at 11:48:21 AM
The Mount Barker Public Library has been awarded a 2025 Library Board of Western Australia Award for innovation, inclusivity and collaboration.
Hosted by the State Library of Western Australia during Library and Information Week, the 2025 Library Board of Western Australia Awards are an annual celebration of excellence in WA libraries.
Mount Barker Public Library received the Library Board Award for Innovation and Collaboration (Small Regional Libraries) for its Reading for Generations project at the awards ceremony on 31 July.
The judges praised the project as “a strong community initiative that was genuinely consultative, collaborative and inclusive, with a focus on engaging new and diverse library clients.”
Shire of Plantagenet Manager Community and Recreation Services Nicole Selesnew said those involved were proud of the three-year labour of love to publish four children’s storybooks which celebrate Plantagenet’s cultural inclusivity.
“This project was a true community partnership involving Indigenous elders and leaders from the Plantagenet Hazara and Menang Noongar communities generously sharing and recording stories that have been passed from generation to generation,” she said.
“Reading for Generations was initiated in 2022 to support children’s early literacy development through encouraging Hazara families to read with their children, and to build community pride and support for Noongar language development.”
“Launched in April 2025, the four storybooks are presented with dual languages so our Noongar and Hazara families can enjoy the gift of reading in English and their traditional language. They also include a reading in Menang Noongar or Hazaragi available to download so the stories can be listened to as well as held and enjoyed.”
“This has been a team effort and I would like to sincerely thank Jeanice Krakouer, Bella Kelly’s family and friends, Ali Sina Azimi, children’s author and illustrator Leanne White, Mount Barker Community College art teacher Jay Klinac, the Mount Barker Community College primary school students who illustrated the storybooks and Michelle Campbell and team from the State Library Better Beginnings program.”
“We are thrilled these stories will continue to be shared from generation to generation.”
The storybooks can be purchased in hard copy or digital here: https://tinyurl.com/3mf4d4a6
This project was supported by funding provided by the Shire of Plantagenet and the State Government of Western Australia, through the State Library’s Better Beginnings program.
Photo: Library Board of Western Australia Chairman Hon John Day AM, Shire of Plantagenet Executive Manager Corporate and Community Services Anthony Middleton, Shire of Plantagenet Manager Community and Recreation Services Nicole Selesnew, and State Library of Western Australia CEO and State Librarian Catherine Clark. Credit: The State Library of Western Australia
Back to All News