News Edition 7, 2010

Since flooding began in Pakistan’s northwest just over a month ago, more than 1600 people have died, a fifth of the country is under water and more than 8 million people are in need of emergency assistance. In excess of 750,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed and 20 million people – close to Australia’s population – have been affected across the country. And it’s far from over.

“As a person whose life was profoundly influenced by the libraries in my school and my home town, I cannot think of a happier set of numbers than these: over 4 million children visiting 10,000 libraries stocked with over 7 million books.” John Wood, Room to Read

Q: I’d like to give to an arts organisation but feel like I should be fighting world poverty instead. Are the arts a worthy cause?