Originally introduced to keep library teams connected with families missing out on storytimes during COVID-19 lockdowns, for some libraries, Online Storytime has become a regular fixture. It means that families with very young children living at a distance from their nearest library, or with working parents, can participate in these fun, educational activities at a time to suit them. 

Check if your library already subscribes

Enter your state or the name of your library service to see if your library already subscribes.

How to register

To register, you simply fill out this agreement and return it to ALIA for our signature.

Please download agreement

You pay for an annual subscription costing $150 + GST multiplied by the number of branches in your service. So if you have two locations, you pay $300 + GST, for 10 locations, you pay $1500 + GST.

When you receive the fully signed agreement – usually in less than 48 hours – you can start recording books from the list. We will send you an invoice to pass for payment for your subscription or if your state association is covering the cost, we will add your library service to that account.

Books 

This selection of books is available to library subscribers. You can search by title, by publisher, by author, by illustrator, or by ISBN:

Grants

Library subscribers can apply for grants that will help to expand the reach of the program thanks to $100,000 of Australian Government funding.

You can apply for amounts ranging up to $10,000 that can be used for anything to support the delivery of library Online Storytimes. This may include purchasing props, hiring an Auslan interpreter, or technical training for library staff or contributors. 

There are two grant rounds. Up to $80,000 will be available in the first round and $20,000 in the second. Round 1 applications open on 11 October and close on 17 December. Successful applicants will be announced on or before 10 January. Round 2 applications open on 7 February and close on 25 March. Successful applicants will be announced on or before 11 April. 

Apply here for Round 1 open for applications 11 October to 17 December

Apply here for Round 2 open for applications 7 February to 25 March

Resources

Download the image required at the start of your videos here or make your own using these logos.

Australia Reads logo

Online Storytime logo

Download a guide to music for your Online Storytime here.

More resources are in development for 2022.

Reporting

As a library subscriber we need you to complete a simple report each quarter so we can keep our book industry partners up to date with the progress of the program and work out how much of the subscription funds should go to each title.

You can fill in your quarterly report online here. You will need to have a list of the titles you have recorded, the dates when these were first posted publicly, the platforms they were posted to and, wherever possible, the number of views. We also ask you to let us know how many books from the list you have bought for your collection.

FAQs