Batchelor campus library welcomes visitors of all ages for September events

Kasey Ryan and Stephanie Barber add their ideas to the message board during Adult Learners’ Week.

Batchelor Institute’s library hosted a number of exciting events during September to mark the recent Adult Learners’ Week, Indigenous Literacy Day and Nature Book Week at Batchelor campus.

Students heard about the campus experience during Adult Learners’ Week.

The celebrations began on 1 September with a Welcome to Country from Elder Academic Dr Sue Stanton and a livestream of the Adult Learners’ Week launch.

On 6 September, staff members Stephanie Barber, Louisa Castle and Kasey Ryan from the Student Experience team gave a warm and informative presentation about studying with Batchelor. Participants also enjoyed watching video reflections about adult learning featuring talented screen and media students Maritza Roberts, Mark Watjana and Michael Raymond.

This was followed by a lively discussion among participants, including a number of linguistics students, who shared stories of their life and study experiences.

A message board in the Seminar Room titled ‘How has adult learning changed your life’ invited staff, students and visitors to share their responses to the topic. The thoughtful reactions ranged from “Exploring passions” to “Made new friends” and “Achieving your life goals regardless of age.”

On 7 September, the library hosted some special visits to mark Indigenous Literacy Day. First up, Batchelor Area School students in years 7, 8 and 9 explored the Language Room and learned about some of the languages in the library’s collection. The group also enjoyed a surprise appearance from linguistics students Angelina Joshua, Letitia Harris and Dhani Gilbert, who read from books in their language and shared insights into their ongoing learning journeys.

Participants joined in a lively discussion about their life and study experiences.

That was followed by an Indigenous Literacy Foundation video about young First Nations graphic novelists, along with displays to inspire the school students’ own creative characters and covers, and even a copy of Phantom in Warlpiri from the library’s Centre for Australian Languages and Linguistics collection.

Next up, a group of kindergarten, transition and Year 1 students arrived from Batchelor Area School for their own visit. The young students were excited to discover children’s bilingual books, nature books and works by First Nations authors in the library.

As the events coincided with Nature Book Week, the library also celebrated with relevant displays, themes and readings about the natural world, interwoven with the other activities.

Rounding out a busy week, the library’s Adult Learners’ Week activities concluded with a creative community craft session with local artist Bev Garside on 8 September.

With welcoming facilities at both Batchelor campus and the Desert Peoples Centre campus, the Batchelor Institute library is open for all students, staff and community members to come and enjoy.