Did you know that under previous Australian law, unpublished materials, including letters, diaries and shipping manifests,  remained in copyright in perpetuity?

This meant they were locked behind laws requiring you to seek permission from an often impossible to identify copyright owner before you could publish, adapt or even copy them.

Due to recent changes to that law, millions of items from our national collections – from Captain Cook’s carrot marmalade recipe and Henry Lawson’s letters to war posters – are now free to use.

To celebrate, Australia’s libraries and archives are declaring 2019 the Year of the Public Domain.

For more information about these changes to copyright law, click here to visit Australian Libraries Copyright Committee.

Image credit
Title: Women! help Australia’s sons win the war [picture] : buy war loan bonds
Created/Published: Sydney, John Sands, [1915-1918]
Copyright: Public Domain
From the collection of the National Library of Australia, http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135721145/view

The Augusta and Margaret River Libraries are open now!

We invite you all to come and refresh your borrowings, find a cool corner to read, or simply enjoy the garden.

The Augusta and Margaret River Libraries are now closed for the Christmas break.

We’d like to wish all our community a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Margaret River Library opens at 12 noon Wednesday 2 January 2019.

Augusta Library opens at 1pm Wednesday 2 January 2019.

Due to scheduled maintenance, some online services (including catalogue) may be intermittently unavailable between 1pm – 7pm this Sunday 16 December.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

Good news: if you need study help over the break, Studiosity will be available. Their subject specialists will be online, waiting to help you out, with a special schedule of available hours.

See a full outline of the summer operating hours.

As an added bonus, the Writing Feedback service remains open 24/7, 365 days a year, with the same high service standards and fast turnaround times you always receive.

So feel free to upload your draft writing file whenever you like, or connect to a specialist and ask a question as soon as you need to.

Click here with your Shire of Augusta Margaret River Library card handy, to start using studiostiy

The Augusta and Margaret River Libraries will be closed for the Christmas break.

The Augusta Library will close at 4pm on Friday 21 December, and open at 1pm on Wednesday 2 January.

The Margaret River Library will close at 4pm on Saturday 22 December, and open at 12 noon on Wednesday 2 January.

Our online resources will be available for the duration of the break – click here to explore our range of e-books, downloadable audio-books, online courses and movie streaming services.

Remember, you can borrow up to 30 items, so be sure to stock up before the break!

Kyesier and Georgie Anderson would like to invite you to an exhibition launch at the Margaret River Library

Thursday 6th December, 4:30-5:30pm

The Anderson’s will be launching their exhibition and offering their art for sale with light refreshments and nibbles provided. If you would like to see the variety of artworks they have created and meet their amazing artist Mentor Talliesen, please come along and join us! All welcome and the library is an easily accessible venue. The exhibition will be on display from 5th December through to the end of January 2019.

Due to scheduled maintenance, some online services (including catalogue) may be unavailable this Sunday 2 December 3pm – 6.30pm.

We apologise for any inconvenience.