LEP in action - Broome
WA LEP Coordinator David Brown reports
"The sheer size of WA has been driven home to me. While I have visited most of our member Libraries within the Geraldton, Kalgoorlie and Albany triangle, I have never been to the real north.
Just before Christmas I travelled to Broome to train librarians at Broome Public Library and Broome Campus of Notre Dame University in CLIB 2001 and other ABS services.
Broome is some 2,500 kilometres by road from Perth but only 1,100 by air. During the near three hour flight I thought of the reaction of some English friends who are constantly amazed by the distances we travel for work. An equivalent distance from London would mean a trip to Copenhagen, Madrid, Prague or Vienna, something my friends could only dream about.
Landing in Broome was a culture shock and I immediately revised my idea of casual wear by discarding my tie.
My first visit in Broome was to the Public Library where the air conditioning and Stefan Jordanoff and his team made me very welcome. I have been dealing with Stefan and Campbell Creswick from the Shire of Broome concerning eLEP connection, and it was a pleasure to finally meet them in person. I presented a training session on CLIB 2001 and we discussed eLEP. During my visit Bruce Rollerson from the Broome Advertiser dropped in for an interview and took the picture which later appeared in the Broome Advertiser.
My second visit was to the Broome Campus of Notre Dame University. The Library is situated in lush tropical grounds full of native wildlife and I narrowly avoided stepping on an unidentified lizard some half metre long basking in the heat. Again the air conditioning in the Library was a welcome relief. Campus Librarian Bronwyn Mathieson had been instrumental in my visiting Broome and it was a pleasure to meet her and her staff. I presented another CLIB 2001 training session and we discussed a wide range of ABS topics.
While in Broome I did the obligatory tourist things including a camel ride at Cable Beach and a visit to the Crocodile Farm where I turned down the opportunity to conduct a Crocodile census.
While the trip was relatively short I saw enough of Broome and the north to want to visit again as a tourist."
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