Western Downs library services earn top State library award

Published on 17 April 2025

Western Downs Regional Council’s library services team has been honoured with a third Queensland Public Library Association (QPLA) award since 2021 for excellence and innovation in community library services.

Council’s libraries team picked up the coveted award for Heritage Services, celebrating its historical image database initiative, the Picture Western Downs Collection.

The award was presented at the annual QPLA conference in Townsville recently.

Western Downs Regional Council Mayor Andrew Smith praised the library services team for their outstanding work on the Picture Western Downs initiative, highlighting its role in preserving and showcasing the region’s rich cultural heritage.

"The Picture Western Downs Collection is a user-friendly online platform empowers the community to explore, contribute to, and celebrate the unique stories and history of the Western Downs," Mayor Smith said

“It’s truly wonderful to have such a valuable resource that our community can not only access easily but also contribute to in meaningful ways — preserving and celebrating the history of our region.

"The collection is extremely accessible for the community, who can contribute to the collection, leave their memories and comments or browse through momentous historical occasions.

"The Western Downs library services team has earned a reputation for being one of the best in Queensland due to their consistent delivery of high-quality library programs and projects like Picture Western Downs.”

Mayor Smith said the Picture Western Downs initiative was supported by a $27,500 State Library of Queensland's Strategic Priority Grant.

"To have the backing of the State Library of Queensland and their grant opportunities is a major triumph for us; it showcases the terrific work our library services team does every day to improve cultural and educational outcomes in our rural communities,” he said.

“Our library services team is also on the hunt for volunteer history buffs from across the region to help with researching some of the fantastic images in the Picture Western Downs database so that our historical knowledge of times past can be preserved for future generations.”

Western Downs residents who would like to volunteer and assist with historical research as part of the Picture Western Downs collection should contact the library services team via email at library@wdrc.qld.gov.au

To view the collection visit https://picturewesterndowns.recollectcms.com/

For more information contact Council on 1300 COUNCIL or visit www.wdrc.qld.gov.au