Education

State Library and Archives Trust Annual Report
I am pleased to submit the 28 th annual report of the State Library and Archives Trust (SLAT). The Trust is required by the Libraries Act 1984
to administer any property acquired by the Trust through gift, bequest or device for the advancement of library and/or archives knowledge
in Tasmania. The Trust awards grants and, on occasions, travelling scholarships aimed at assisting the professional development of librarians,
archivists, and library and archives workers.
Conferences
and seminars
Tasmanian librarians, archivists and library workers
have attended, with the support from the Sir John
Morris Memorial Trust Fund, a number of professional
development conferences and workshops in 2012–13
including, among others:
• ALIA Biennial 2012 Conference, Sydney, July 2012.
• International Congress on Archives, Brisbane,
August 2012.
• Australia Law Librarian’s Conference, Brisbane,
August 2012.
• Art Libraries Society Australia and New Zealand 2012
Conference, Melbourne, September 2012.
• New Cataloguing Code Resource Description and
Access, Canberra, October 2012.
• Measuring and Improving Library Value Conference,
Sydney, November 2012.
• ALIA Information Online 2013, Brisbane,
February 2013.
• 6 th New Librarians’ Symposium, Brisbane,
February 2013.
Twenty applications were funded by the Sir John Morris
Memorial Trust Fund for the 2012–13 year in accordance
with the Trust Deed. The total amount of grant funding
awarded was $18,674. This represents a decrease from
last year’s grant allocation of $31,912 which was shared
across 31 applicants. The decrease reflects a decline in
interest earned on the capital investment, and the Trust’s
concern to maintain the investment to a level that will
preserve its goals and objectives for the longer term.
The successful applicants prepared reports on their
activities and also made presentations to gatherings of
library and archives professionals in order to share the
knowledge gained through their participation. All reports
are available on request from the secretary of the Trust.
Through the assistance provided for these activities,
the Trust has continued to help raise the skills and
knowledge of library and archives workers throughout
Tasmania.
Travelling
scholarships
The Trust did not offer a Sir John Morris Memorial Trust
Travelling Scholarship in 2012–13.
TM Crisp
Memorial
Sporting
Library Fund
The Trust also administers the TM Crisp Memorial
Sporting Library Fund, which provides grants for the
purchase of sporting books for public and reference
libraries. The sum of $700 was made available from the
fund to the State Library in 2012–13 for the purchase of
books on sporting pursuits, including cricket, tennis and
other popular sporting activities.
Kula Bequest
Fund
In 2012–13 a sum of $3,700 was made available to the
State Library for the first time, after SLAT became
administrators of the Kula Bequest Fund in the previous
financial year. This fund stipulates that the yearly income
of the trust fund is utilised to purchase works of foreign
fiction subsequently published in English.
Meetings and
funds
Three ordinary meetings of SLAT were held during
the reporting year: in August and November 2012,
and May 2013.
The Trust is now reliant on utilising safer bank-managed
funds to grow its assets for investment in the continued
professional development of library and archives workers
across the state, while retaining the required Consumer
Pricing Index to maintain assets over time, and has
exercised prudence and equity with the distribution
of Trust funds. This strategy has seen the investment
conservatively grow over the current year, with minimal
losses occurring with the divestment of one investment
portfolio remaining from 1999 through Shadforths
Financial Services. The Trust will now consider funding
applications for each coming six month period at meetings
held in May and November.
I would like to express my sincere appreciation to each
of the members of the State Library and Archives Trust,
Ms Simone Bingham of the University of Tasmania;
Mr Duncan Hall of the Public Trustee, Mr Ross Latham,
State Archivist; and Ms Jenny Rayner, Director, LINC
Tasmania, for their ongoing dedication and contribution to
the success of the Trust, and to thank Ms Suzi Ransom for
her support throughout the year in the role of Secretary.
Mary Bent
Chair
92 Required Reporting » Other Annual Reports