The University of Canberra hosted our most recent LFA Writers’ Workshop on 18th December. Held in the aptly named Inspire Centre, this event brought together a cross-faculty collection of researchers, librarians and educators to create original non-fiction books for our growing library.

The University is part of the Together For Education consortium which underpins our work in Papua New Guinea. The idea to collaborate on a workshop tailored to developing factual books came about during this year’s unConference idea generation event.

Dr Kym Simoncini (Assistant Professor of Early Childhood and Primary Education) opened the session with some background information about the consortium. With extensive experience of the PNG landscape, Kym also provided valuable advice around cultural contexts for stories as they developed over the day. Dr Lara Cain Gray (Senior Research Librarian, LFA) facilitated the workshop, guiding participants through the steps involved in using their research expertise to create a book for University of Canberrakids.

Disciplines represented on the day spanned psychology, physiotherapy, microbiology and diversity education. Participants created a ‘story in a day’ and submitted drafts directly to Lara by session’s end. Over 40 unique factual manuscripts, written by highly qualified professionals, will now move through the editing and illustration process to be enjoyed by our readers.

Workshop opportunities like this one generate valuable new content for our collection, but also provide participants with a chance to learn about our mission, while engaging in a creative day of skills development and making a difference. “It’s great to be able to make a meaningful contribution this close to Christmas,” one attendee commented. We can’t wait to see all these stories in our app!