The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has donated more than 10,000 reference books to Indigenous Australian students in the Northern Territory.
The books have been replaced at the ABC by their digital equivalents.
Head of Content Services at the ABC, Mary Jane Stannus said the donation was made to the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education and features 10,500 carefully-curated titles with a strong Australian focus, across biography, politics, history and current affairs.
The Batchelor Institute is Australia’s oldest, specific-purpose provider of university education, vocational training and research for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Since the late 1960s, it has successfully supported generations of students, their families and communities, particularly in regional and remote Australia.
Head of Content Services at the ABC, Mary Jane Stannus said the ABC’s move to digital resources offered the opportunity to find a good home for its extensive collection of reference books.
Manager of the Batchelor Institute’s Library Service, Gillian Terry said she was thrilled to receive such an extensive collection.
“It will broaden our campus libraries and support learning in remote locations in Central Australia,” Ms Terry said.
“Our focus at Batchelor Institute is to champion Indigenous development in all its forms but particularly through improved literacy, so this material is highly valued and appreciated”.
The ABC has separately donated some of its rare books to the National Library of Australia and several State libraries and cultural institutions.
