TL;DR
As AI content and AI-powered misinformation, scams, deepfakes and other behaviours by bad actors increase so does the need for media literacy in the community. Libraries have long been part of media literacy education and ALIA and PressReader’s report Ready to Act looks at how that role is evolving in our complex information environment. Barriers such as limited capacity, training, resources and time are hampering these efforts, underscoring the urgent need to better support libraries and formally recognise their role.

Libraries have been a key part of delivering media literacy training for a long time, and continue to consider media literacy important, but AI has added more complexity to the information environment. Ready to Act: Media Literacy and the Role of Australia’s Public Libraries, jointly published by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and PressReader, looks at how public libraries are responding to this evolving need.

ALIA and PressReader publish new report on media literacy in Australian public libraries
ALIA and PressReader have released a collaborative report examining how Australian public libraries are supporting media literacy in their communities and where opportunities remain.
ALIA

A news article published by ALIA about the report.

Ready to act: Media literacy and the role of Australia’s public libraries | ALIA Library
This report, produced jointly by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and PressReader, explores how public libraries across the country are responding to the need for media literacy.
ALIA online repository

Access the report from the ALIA Repository.

While ‘libraries are uniquely positioned to help their communities navigate [the complex information environment]' (ALIA and PressReader 2026:3) the report flags that capacity, training, confidence, limited resources, time pressures and access to quality news sources are hampering in library efforts to support a media literate community. ALIA and PressReader also flag the need for national recognition of the role libraries play in media literacy.

As ALIA and PressReader say:

The question then is not whether public libraries should participate in building media literacy. It’s how we can equip them to do it at the scale that their communities need (ALIA and PressReader 2026:3).

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What’s in this briefing

This briefing on ALIA and PressReader’s Ready to Act report includes:

  • an overview of the report and its methodology
  • a discussion of the report’s findings
  • a summary of current media literacy initiatives occurring in libraries
  • ideas about how libraries and the library sector can address the barriers.

About the report

Ready to Act reports the findings of a survey of 340 library staff representing libraries of different sizes and locations around Australia. The survey returned quantitative and qualitative data. Where relevant, findings have been linked to other research by ALIA, the University of Canberra, the Australian Media Literacy Alliance (AMLA), the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and UNESCO.