Queensland, Australia: City Looks to Commercialise #Libraries ow.ly/kt34S via @infodocket Tip: @mattrweaver

— Library Journal (@LibraryJournal) April 26, 2013

A short time later I found the article on our local newspaper website – The Gold Coast Bulletin.

City looks to commercialise libraries (April 27, 2013) by Stephanie Bedo.

ABC Gold Coast (on Facebook) is asking what locals think about having to pay to check out books, and if collection development preferred e-books over print resources. Check out their responses.

Letters to the Editor

LIBRARY

The Gold Coast Bulletin
Apr 29 2013

I FIND it amazing we can’t afford library services but can afford the exorbitant wages of councillors and CEOs like Dale Dickson. – Grasshopper AS much as libraries are nice relaxing places and a good place to store records on paper, Colette McCool’s…read more…

Facts & Figures about Gold Coast Library Services – one of the busiest public libraries in Australia.

Public Libraries advocacy resources from ALIA

Follow #learn12 on Twitter, or follow tweets below

Program

The appointment comes in the wake of the departure of Ann-Marie Schwirtlich, who has taken on the role of Director General of the National Library of Australia.

Due to start by the end of March 2012, the new CEO is Sue Roberts, most recently from her position as University Librarian at Victoria University in New Zealand.

Libraries Interact wishes Sue well in her new position.

Most recently, the British Library is under fire for including a link to Amazon in its catalogue. The link takes the user to the matching record on Amazon, where they can then purchase the item.

Unsurprisingly, the furore has not arisen over having a link to a bookseller, but that “a very British institution is driving readers away from local libraries and high street bookshops……  ………..it is a shame that the British Library choose to give their endorsement to one aggressively commercial organisation.” (James Daunt – Managing Director Waterstone – as quoted in the Bookseller.com)

British Library responded that is was generic to their Primo product, but took it down briefly in response to criticism and for review. It was reinstated days later, with a statement from British Library saying it had done so “with the aim of providing users with the choice of an alternative method of obtaining a title if, for some reason, it is not available in the Library’s Reading Rooms. It also offered users a rich source of additional information for many titles (book jacket images, contents pages etc) that supplemented the data the Library itself was able to provide.” (British Library reinstates Amazon Link – The  Bookseller.com. They also noted that they did not receive anything from Amazon for this.

Many library catalogues have the functionality to enable users to pursue their search outside the immediate local library. My library is part of a consortia of 15 Victorian public libraries, so our link takes it to the next option, which is to search all Victorian public libraries via LibLink.

Does your library catalogue have such a link?  Where does it link to?  As nothing changes hands, is this a form of sponsorship or partnership? Should libraries have such arrangements, either compensated or not?  Only public libraries or all? Would love to read your take on this situation.

The outcomes are reinforced by data in the ABS report 4114.0 – Attendance at Selected Cultural Venues and Events, Australian 2009-10.

Some of the outcomes of note were:

• an attendance rate of 34% of the population aged 15+
• making it the 4th most attended cultural event in the preceding 12 months (cinemas coming in at No. 1)
• with more frequent visits than the other events – 64% of those who had visited a library had done so more than five times in the 12 months
• figures were similar across the states, with the ACT the highest at 38% and WA lowest at 31%
• increases from previous studies in every state except SA and WA
• females more likely to visit than males
• highest attendances reported by those born overseas in an English speaking country, employed part-time, had dependent children, with graduate or post-graduate qualifications.

(note: this is reporting on attendance at National, State and local libraries only)

You can read both these reports at the ABS website.

Any surprises for you?

Jo is Youth Outreach Librarian at Logan Library Service in Queensland.  Logan has 280,000 residents, 63 suburbs, 9  libraries spread across a 960 km2 area, serves 185 ethnic groups and is growing by more than 2% each year.

PH – I saw on Twitter that your work team won a customer service innovation award for a program at Logan Libraries. Who’s on the team?JB - The Logan Libraries Young peoples team is made up of Young People’s Librarian Jenny Hall (Pictured), Youth outreach librarian, me (Jo Beazley pictured) and 8 YPLO’s (Young peoples liaison officers). 

PH – Tell us about the program.
JB – Technology for Toddlers is a hands-on computer and technology session held at Logan City Council Libraries for parents and carers and their children aged 2 – 5 years.  A training package and resources for the Technology for Toddler sessions were created by the Young Peoples Librarian in consultation with the Young Peoples Team.   Interested Young Peoples staff  were trained in implementing the sessions and using the resources at the libraries.   Staff have continued to roll out and further develop the resources for these sessions at the nine library branches.

The sessions were not just about educating the young children how to use the computers and learning software but they were about educating the parents and carers attending. Parents and carers are the first and most influential educators of children and these sessions were about putting quality free technology resources available from the libraries for the very young into the hands of these educators. Many adults are happy to explore technology resources with young children at home or at the library but there are many who need help to know where to start and what is available.

 
PH – What’s involved, how is the program delivered?
JB – The sessions involved staff demonstrating and leading participants in using a range of free online resources available to help develop literacy and computer skills in young children.  The aim of the sessions was to provide participants with opportunities to:

• Gain new knowledge and understanding of the ways technology (computers) can help their children learn.
• Discover the range of computer software in the library to support and enhance learning
• Build links between the home and the library
• Attain new skills to further develop a home learning environment
• Gain an understanding of why children should become familiar with technology
• Learn how young children can use computers
• Participate with their child/ren in activities exploring hands on use for computers, hardware and software available for parents learning alongside their children.

PH – What have you enjoyed most about it?
JB -  I personally loved watching the mums learn basic computing at the same time as their children are, and seeing both hands on the mouse.

PH – What challenges were faced in developing this program?
JB – Staff buy in.  Trying to convince staff that booking out a meeting room of PC’s for mums and toddlers is good use of the machines.

PH – How long as the program been going?
JB – A trial of the tech for Toddlers sessions commenced in February and May last year across the 9 Logan City Council Library branches.  Due to the program’s success the sessions continue to be held at various branches in 2011.

Thanks Jo, and congratulations to the team at Logan Libraries on their award and the success of the program.

Image by Jobeaz reproduced under a CC licence.

We Love Libraries

1. Do you remember where you were when the earthquake hit?

Hahahaha yeah. I was rolling out of bed and scrambling into the corner that previous idle daydreaming had determined would be the best place to be (later I learned that if one’s in bed one’s safest to stay there with a pillow over one’s head, but my corner was probably second best) and bracing myself there while the house roared and shadows moved in the dark. I think the fastest moving shadow was my cat hiding under the bed. I stayed in my wonderful corner – with a brief excursion to get laptop, radio, and warm clothes – for several hours, as we were getting little aftershocks every few minutes to start with.

2. When did you realize that the library might have a problem and what went through your mind?

It was late morning before I really thought about it, and I think I mostly thought, “Oh God how many books are we going to have to pick up?” That day was strange because in my suburb there was very little damage and people were doing ordinary Saturday lawn mowing, but on the radio we were hearing about the destruction in other suburbs and the CBD. So I didn’t know what things were like at the university, only (from a hasty note plastered on the homepage) that it was closed.

3. Do you remember when you were told what the damage was?

On Sunday my manager phoned us all and passed on what she knew. That was still incomplete of course. The situation was changing on an hourly basis for days, on a daily basis for weeks. The university also put news and photos up on its website.

4. Did you know whether your library had a disaster recovery plan?

Yes, and it had been used in small ways before the quake. With something the scope of the quake it was of course just part of the whole university’s disaster recovery plan.

5. How long before you could go back in and what was it like in the days after the main quake?

We had to wait until it was certified safe. That was almost done when on Wednesday a large aftershock caused more damage and they had to check the buildings again. By this time I was quite desperate to go back and do something. The constant aftershocks made us tired and anxious and I couldn’t concentrate on anything I’d normally do on a surprise involuntary holiday. At one point I saw a photo of workers putting books on shelves and I was devastated to think we wouldn’t have the solace of that physical labour. It didn’t occur to me until we were back on Friday that they were actually taking the books off the shelves, so the shelves could be dismantled to make room for repairs.

6. What was it like to reenter the building?

For me it was overwhelmed by how wonderful it was to catch up with my colleagues and be among people properly again. I spent most of Friday in two branches that hadn’t been much damaged, working on what access and information we could provide users just through the website. It was definitely weird though. That Friday we had to sign in and out, and wear lanyards. Computers had to be tested before we could use them. In one building things had fallen against the inside of a door, jamming it closed, so there was a mighty wielding of power tools.

Just before the end of the day I briefly visited my own branch (EPS Library). By then the rest of my team had tidied up most of the ground floor – we weren’t allowed upstairs yet. When I came back on Monday I had to wipe all the plaster dust off my desk. Windows would develop cracks overnight from little aftershocks. And of course there were no students around those first days, so nothing was as normal.

7. What did the cleanup involve?

Once everything was certified safe, it depended on the library. In EPS Library, some windows had to be replaced. A dozen stacks on level 2 were dismantled so scaffolding could reach the ceiling to replace fallen tiles. More stacks on level 3 were dismantled because they’d been damaged or weakened and needed rebuilding, and we had to shuffle books from stack to stack to make room for that. We had the library open downstairs while this was happening upstairs (we brought extra tables down to jam as much study space in as possible), and the noise of heavy things dropping and shaking the building was occasionally a bit much for aftershock-jangled nerves. I had to go for a sudden long walk one afternoon. But the students were awesome about it.

Once all that was done we got to put the rest of the books back. They’d been piled out of our way — in our beanbag area on level 2 the piles stood taller than I am, and on level 3 they were two piles deep under desks along three walls. Also lining a walkway, and on top of desks, and in various other random places. (Photos on Flickr.) The contractors told us they’d sorted them for us by size, but they were just joking. Any criterion they were sorted by was beyond mortal understanding, though occasionally we found three or even four books together in order of LC number. It was so overwhelming it was easier to just laugh at it all.

Fortunately we knew the ranges that should be on each stack, and someone had the idea to run reports to find out how many books were in each range. The reports weren’t perfect (some item types weren’t included, and of course they made no distinction between a 10-page report and a 1000-page tome) but we could label each bay with a guesstimate of what should be there, and that helped a lot. We all pitched in and hired extra people to help so it only took a few weeks.

We opened up bits of the library space and lending as we finished them. Of course we’d finally got everything back to normal, after six weeks, when Just Another Fecking Aftershock brought down some more ceiling tiles, so yet again we’ve got one room closed to the public and are retrieving books several times a day.

8. Was there much damage?

No structural damage. The floor has a new ridge between two sections, but it was designed to do that in such an event. Windows and ceilings and shelves — all repairable. Surface cracks in all sorts of places. The odd daunting hole in a desk where a ceiling tile punched almost all the way through. (The new tiles are lighter, the new windows are stronger, and the shelves have extra reinforcing.) Only a trolley-load of damaged books. Mostly it was just a giant mess.

9. What was the damage to libraries around the city?

Academic libraries:

• At University of Canterbury, Education, Law and Macmillan Brown were fully operational by the time students were back; EPS is now mostly open. Central Library had ceiling tiles down in the technical services workrooms, windows broken, and some stacks down. Staff are working in other spaces, and services are being provided from Law while Central’s shelves are remade over the summer (plans for Central; full current situation at UC).
• I’m not sure about the full scope of damage at Lincoln University but they have photos on Facebook and I believe they’re now basically back to normal.
• CPIT had minimal mess (blog post) and their staff helped Lincoln with clean-up there.
• Canterbury Medical Library has photos available.

Public libraries:

• Christchurch City Libraries provided extra services through the mobile library while branches were being checked for safety, but all branches are now open again. They’re now hosting the Kete Christchurch : Canterbury Earthquake 2010.
• Outside Christchurch, Selwyn Libraries needed repairs, tidying, and drying soggy carpet (photos) but were operational within several days. The Kaiapoi branch of Waimakariri Libraries is heavily damaged and closed until further notice; two other branches are open and the Christchurch City Mobile Library is making visits to Kaiapoi (more info about books, budgie and goldfish).

The special libraries I’ve heard about generally tended to “messy but tidyable”. Some volunteer libraries have been damaged.

10. What did you learn from the experience?

Drop, cover and hold. Putting together an emergency kit is an excellent way to keep yourself busy in the aftermath of an emergency. A jolt is nearer than a rumble. Blutack is your friend.

A stack can stand on a book for weeks and barely dent the cover. When working in plaster dust, wash hands with water, then with soap, then moisturise (not forgetting the fingernails). If people really want to borrow a book, no amount of yellow “Keep out” tape will stop them — although they can be persuaded not to sit and study directly underneath a precarious ceiling tile.

This initiative is about benefiting the community – through the food donations to those in need, and also in providing the opportunity for library users to maintain use of library services where often they would be unable to until their library fines were at an appropriate amount deemed by the library’s policy. What happens with the money raised from paid library fines is often a mystery – both to the library customer paying the fine, and to those who work in libraries alike. Library fines are in place for many reasons primarily to ensure fair access to library resources, but most importantly the revenue raised from library fines should go back to benefit the community – whatever community the library serves. In this case Brisbane City Council are serving both their library community and the greater community in which they live. Do you know what happens to the money raised from your library’s fines?

It would be great to see similar initiatives rolled out across libraries of all kinds all over Australia. I suggest you all encourage your library to participate in a Christmas in July initiative – in the same vein as Brisbane City Council’s – to waive library fines in exchange for a donation of a can of food. Would your library participate?

Their minds are boggled by the size and scope of the NLA’s archiving activities.

Check out the photo essay.