Issue 136

In each addition of Connections, we like to give an update about the Educational Lending Right (ELR) scheme. We know that you – as librarians and school library staff – understand the importance of supporting the Australian literature community. Each year, ELR surveys schools to understand how many copies of Australian book titles are available for loan in our school libraries.

The data is provided to the Australian Government’s Office for the Arts – data which, in turn, ensures Australian authors, illustrators and publishers are compensated for the free use of their books held in any educational libraries. When authors are compensated fairly, it increases their ability to produce more content to enrich the minds of our children.

We’d like to give a big thankyou to everyone who participated in ELR 2025–26. We received data from more than 4,000 schools in Australia, through bulk extractions via schools’ Library Management System (LMS) vendors.

All participating schools were eligible to win one of three gifts. The two schools that received book gift packs – proudly sponsored by our SCIS team – were:

Our Lady of the River School

In Berri, South Australia

Mt Eliza Primary School

In Mt Eliza, Victoria

The school that received a $150 gift card was: Hillbrook Anglican School

In Enoggera, Queensland

Delivering a survey like ELR does not occur without collaborative partnerships with LMS vendors, suppliers of digital content, and staff in all state and territory Departments of Education and Catholic Education Offices. We’d like to thank those who have helped make ELR the success it is.