The Age reports the State Government has invested $10.4 million towards raising the profile of Melbourne as a home for writers and writing, A third of the funds will be directed towards a new Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas based at the State Library of Victoria, as part of a bid to become only the second UNESCO City of Literature. The remaining funds will be for a program of public events at the Centre. This is in addition to $9 million which the Government has already invested for repairs to the State Library and support of the Melbourne Writer's Festival.

In the same paper, the Entertainment section includes a review of a cabaret-comedy show performed by a Darwin-based librarian. In Librarian Idol Andrew Finegan attempts to challenge the sterotype of librarians as awkward, introverted, myopic and just plain boring. While doubtful as to the success of his performance, Finegan does at least manage to convey the idea that libraries are not just for scholars and students, nor are they mere repositories of knowledge. Rather they are spaces where anyone, especially the homeless and mentally ill, can find comfort, convervation and above all, a sense of their human dignity.