In small towns across the Western Plains, the local library remains one of the most important gathering places in the community.

At the Lachlan Shire Library, residents come together to read, learn, and connect, from children’s story time and Monday movie afternoons to seniors’ euchre and knitting groups.

“We’ve got plenty of members and a lot of regular programs that keep people connected,” Debbie Kelly, Community Services Manager at Lachlan Shire Council, Debbie Kelly said.

“We pick up most of our new members when families move to town or when children get their first library cards.

"People really value the library as a community space.”

That sense of connection sits at the heart of the NSW Government’s new $3.2 million writing and literature strategy, designed to strengthen the state’s creative industries and celebrate reading, writing and storytelling across all regions.

Titled Stories Matter: A Writing and Literature Strategy for NSW, the three-year initiative is the first of its kind in the state.

It aims to support authors, publishers, libraries and readers, while boosting access to creative opportunities.

Minister for the Arts John Graham said the investment was vital to sustain the state’s literary culture.

“Here in NSW, we have an incredible legacy of writers and the biggest publishing industry in the country, but there are still challenges,” he said.

“Writers’ incomes remain low, publishers and reading rates are under pressure from digital media, and artificial intelligence poses a profound threat to the publishing industry.

This requires direct action, because there is too much to lose, and so much to gain, from a strong literary sector in NSW.”

Library Technician, Abby from Lachlan Shire Library, puts a lot of effort into her role, particularly on 'Dress like a Pirate Day'.

The strategy includes:

• • $500,000 for a Literary Fellowships Fund for authors, playwrights and illustrators.

• • $225,000 for three Writing Australia collaborations, including regional school events and international development programs.

• • $200,000 to support First Nations writers and publishing professionals.

• • $630,000 to partner with public libraries to boost memberships and improve access for women, girls and gender-diverse readers.

Western Sydney literature organisations have received a special boost, starting with WestWords and an emerging writers academy, who will see a share of $100,000 .

Authors praise funding for literature

Acclaimed author Charlotte Wood said the strategy was long overdue recognition of literature’s central role in Australian life.

“Literature has long been the most poorly funded art form in this country, despite all the studies showing how crucial reading is for our brains and social cohesion,” she said.

“Australian books and writers are a dynamic contributor to the cultural, economic and political thinking that shapes our society.

"Unless governments begin to take reading and literary contribution seriously, that flourishing intellectual life is doomed to evaporate.”

The strategy’s rollout comes as NSW continues to lead the nation in publishing, generating $1.3 billion annually - 62 per cent of Australia’s total publishing sales.

More than 22,000 people are employed in writing, bookselling, publishing and libraries across the state, accounting for nearly half the national workforce.

There is also growing international recognition for Australian stories, with one in four authors selling rights overseas.

NSW’s 361 public libraries lend 40 million books each year, including nearly 650,000 in languages other than English, and continue to act as engines of equity and access.

The list of writers who have called NSW home spans from legends Patrick White, Christina Stead and Tom Keneally to modern literary stars Anna Funder, Markus Zusak, Charlotte McConaghy, Tara June Winch and Aaron Blabey, proof that, as Ms Kelly’s library shows, every reader and every story begins in the same place: a community that values books.

For Ms Kelly and her team in the Lachlan Shire, that recognition of libraries and readers as part of a bigger creative ecosystem rings true.

“We’re small, but we do a lot,” she said.

“Whether it’s seniors playing cards, kids listening to stories or newcomers joining the library as soon as they move to town, it all matters.

"Libraries keep communities connected, and that’s where it all begins.”