A country boy...... Born and raised in the tin mining town of - - PDF document

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Regional Libraries – Inspiring People, Engaging Communities, Enriching Lives

Presentation to the Charles Sturt University School of Information Studies Thursday 4 April 2013 Robert Knight, Executive Director, Riverina Regional Library

A country boy......

• Born and raised in the tin mining

town of Ardlethan

• Enjoyed a happy if simple childhood
• Educated and employed in the

Riverina

• Too content to leave!

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Libraries then and now

Remember this? ….and this?

Libraries of the past provided

! Collections ! Loans ! Information ! …..and quite a lot of “shhhhhsing”

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Fast forward to this…..

Libraries of the present and future provide:

! Multi-format collections ! Physical and virtual loans ! Packaged information services ! Community spaces ! Access to technology ! Community development ! Partnerships – local, regional, state ! Services, programs and events ! Community learning

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Staffing too has changed In 1955

‘Two Orange girls were selected to be the nucleus of the staff of the new library. They were sent to Sydney where they completed a course at a school conducted by the NSW Library Board. Afterwards they set about indexing the books purchased for the Orange City Library.’

Central Western Daily 13 December 1955

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In 2012

Library staff need the skills to contribute to wider social goals, including information and digital literacy, community development and promoting individual wellbeing as well as being able to work in other settings.

Libraries nationally

! 1,494 public library service points across

Australia (one for every 14,953 people)

! In 2009-10 there were:

• 10.1 million library members
• 114 million visits to libraries (more than 5

visits per capita)

• 41 million collection items
• 10,350 public access computers
• $936 million expenditure on libraries

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Libraries in NSW

! 97 library services ! 363 library service points ! 99.96% of the population has access to library

services

! 3.3million borrowers (46% of the population) ! 37 million library visits ! 13.7 million collection items ! 50.5 million loans ! Open for an average of 50 hpw (central libraries) ! 100% internet access

Libraries make great partners!

! Customer base of 46% of the population ! Repeat business – every customer returns

• n average 5 times per year

! Part of a large network – there are still

more libraries than McDonalds stores!

! Trusted service providers

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Libraries make great partners!

! Valued by communities ! Long opening hours ! Centrally located in nearly every

community

! Equity based multi-service providers ! Meet 22/32 NSW State Plan priorities

NSW regional libraries

! 19 regional library services in NSW ! 18 in country NSW; 1 in metropolitan area ! Range from 9 member councils to 2

member councils

! 69 out of 116 (60%) of country councils

belong to a regional library service

! No two are the same!

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Why a regional library service?

! Economies of scale ! Establishes a critical mass ! Equity of access ! Resource sharing and optimisation

• Collections
• IT and communications
• Specialist staffing

! Regional responsibility of regional cities ! Builds on existing models of local government

collaboration

! Strengthens regional partnerships ! Innovation and creativity ! Enhances learning communities and community

development

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www.rrl.nsw.gov.au

A Case Study

RRL provides services to 9 LGAs: Coolamon Cootamundra Greater Hume Gundagai Junee Lockhart Temora Tumut Wagga Wagga

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Riverina Regional Library Profile

• Largest regional library in NSW (in terms
• f participating member Councils)
• 13 stationary Libraries (soon to be 17)
• 1 Mobile Library serving 28 communities
• 111,000 residents across region
• 25,000 sq km area
• Active membership of 30,000
• Annual issues of 560,000

Our vision:

Inspiring people, engaging communities, enriching lives

Our mission:

Creatively connecting people, information and knowledge

Our values:

Respect for people, ideas and knowledge Commitment to fostering learning communities Integrity, equity and quality of service

Our strategic priorities:

Community Wide Learning Connected Communities Sustainable Organisation

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Riverina Regional Library in a nutshell......

www.youtube.com/watch? v=dw1CrkiHE7o

The Riverina region

• Wagga Wagga has largest population of

approximately 62,000 – high rate of recent population growth

• Vibrant regional city – university, army, air

force, variety of industries

• Wagga Wagga represents 57% of RRL
• A number of smaller towns ranging from 200

– 12,000 population

• High dependence on agriculture and

associated industries

• Drought affected the flood affected
• Mostly static or declining populations

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Our libraries

• Generally well supported by member Councils
• Are real community focal points – sometimes

the only public facility remaining in a town

• Are multi-service providers in some cases

(CTC, RTC, Post Office/Newsagency, co- located with schools)

• Are facing increased community demand for

collections, services and programs

• Had to find a better balance between

process tasks and customer service tasks

Ariah Park – Post Office /Newsagency / General Store / Library Tumut – Library / Community Technology Centre Gundagai (“Mirrabooka”) - Library / Neighbourhood Centre, / HACC/ Community and Agency meeting rooms Wagga Wagga Civic Centre– Council Administration / Library / Art Gallery / Museum / Civic Precinct

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Collections to Clients – what’s it all about?

• Redirecting the energy of the organisation

from the traditional collections focus to a client focus

• Developing an “enabled” organisational

structure

• Aligning the culture of the organisation
• Understanding client segments and what they

want from our libraries

• Optimising technology
• Branding, promoting and marketing the
• rganisation

Collections to Clients – how did RRL respond?

! Established an enabled organisational structure ! Established a “plan, do and review” philosophy of

continuous improvement

! Rebadged the organisation region-wide ! Focussed on technology capacity

• Mobile Library Telecentre
• Riverina Live Project
• New RRL website
• RFID implementation
• e-Resources

! Assessed “gold nugget” opportunities for improvement

• Collection Services identified for review

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Collections to Clients Strategy - what it means for RRL

• Recognition that the role of libraries is changing
• Reassessing the business that libraries are in
• Taking time to assess client demands and organisational

capacity to meet them

• Ongoing development of an “enabled organisation”

through:

• robust planning mechanisms
• relevant performance indicators
• change management and staff engagement strategies
• continuous improvement focus
• Maintaining a relevant library service
• ALWAYS planning for the future

A Tale of Three Services

! Mobile Library ! Book Clubs ! South-West Zone Digital Library

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Mobile libraries

From these….. to these……

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• r even these (in our dreams)…

RRL mobile library

! Visits 28 communities per fortnight (3 of

them weekly)

! Travels 1,440 km per fortnight ! 81 hours per fortnight, deployed:

" 22.5 hours driving time " 27.25 hours opening time " 11.25 hours cleaning/set-up/close down time

! Many communities visited have no other

remaining services

! Community development programs are

being established and delivered

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The new one…

• Launched 25 February 2013
• Flat floor design
• Flexible floor space
• Service area and staff amenities co-located at front of trailer
• Separate independent disabled access
• Total cost of around $840,000 on prime mover and trailer

Floorplan of new RRL mobile library

The “big rig” on launch day Dr Alex Byrne, NSW State Librarian & Chief Executive, speaking at the launch No occasion is complete without a cake! Entry configuration showing separate stair entrance and disabled access entrance

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Walla Walla Mayor, Cr Denise Osborne cuts the ribbon at the Walla Walla launch Students at Walla Walla line up for their first look at the new mobile library Mobile Library Operator Rob Chapman on his first day out in the new mobile library

Students don’t waste any time getting to the shelves! The young girl using the walking frame was the first person to use the chair lift to access the mobile library.

Book Clubs

! From zero to 55 senior Book Clubs in 4 years ! 150 kits ! Spread right across the region ! Multi-media resources for equitable access ! 8 Parenting Book Clubs since 2010 ! 54 kits ! Funded by Wagga Wagga LMC grant scheme ! Smaller communities targeted ! Reading, building skills, supporting community

learning, developing community capacity

! http://youtu.be/Vpy9_QwPY-A

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South-West Zone Digital Library

! Launched early May 2012 ! 31 local government areas ! 12 library services; 47 branches ! 171,000 sq km ! 297,000 population ! $200,000 grant funding ! $420,000 local government funding 2012-17 ! Initial collection 850 e-audio & 1,050 e-books

https://fe.bolindadigital.com/wldcs_bol_fo/b2i/ mainPage.html?b2bSite=1706

Benefits

! Regional project over a large geographic

area

! Aggregates capacity ! Equity of access for large and small

communities

! Introduces “popular” e-resources ! Educates borrowers

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XXXX"LIBRARY")"Comparison"of"South)West"Zone"Digital"Library"Costs"and"Stand)Alone"Digital"Library"SoluAon" (based"on"Bolinda"Digital"recommended"model)" !! SWZDL"" Individual" !! "" Agreement" !! !! !! Year%1%Contribu.on% $0! $28,710! !! Funded!by!SWZDL!grant! iPhone%App%&%intro%of%E6Books%% $0! $7,500! Year%2%Contribu.on% $1,869! $25,210! !! Ongoing!SWZDL!contribu@ons!2012B13!to!2016B17"! Year%3%Contribu.on% $4,265! $17,360! (includes"access"to"$417,260"of"digital"content"by"30"June"2017)" Year%4%Contribu.on% $4,601! $4,600! Year%5%Contribu.on% $4,968! $4,600! !! Stand!alone!3Byear!agreement!cost!(includes!implementa@on!fee;!! Year%6%Contribu.on% $5,393! $4,600! solu@on!and!service!fee;"access"to"$52,080"digital"content)" !! !! !! Total"Cost"over"6"years" $21,096" $92,580" !! Annual!solu@on!and!service!fee;!! no"addiAonal"digital"addiAonal"content"included"

SWZDL cost comparison

Other projects in brief

! Library Initiative

• Federal government initiative for print disabled
• RRL developed “Hear the Words” promotion

! Save Power Kits

• NSW state government initiative
• Originated from a collaboration between Wagga Wagga

City Library and Climate Rescue of Wagga

• Resulted in a statewide education program

! Evocities

• Albury, Armidale, Bathurst, Dubbo, Orange, Tamworth,

Wagga Wagga

• Role of libraries in measuring regional city liveability
• http://www.evocities.com.au/

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Regional Libraries of the Future

! Regional libraries will continue to meet

their primary objectives:

• Economies of scale
• Establishing a critical mass
• Equity of access
• Resource sharing and optimisation
• Regional responsibility of regional cities

The future cont …

• Building on existing models of local

government collaboration

• Strengthening regional partnerships
• Innovation and creativity
• Enhancement of learning communities

and community development

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But there will be a shift towards:

! Fewer physical collections ! Increasing digital collections ! Less onsite borrowing ! More online access and assistance ! Learning community hubs ! Community partnerships ! Community capacity building programs

• Preservation and access to regional content

http://www.abc.net.au/local/videos/ 2011/12/15/3391977.htm http://open.abc.net.au/openregions/nsw- central-west-95mw7bt/posts/dragon-boater- paddles-past-breast-cancer-71yo7vy

• And lots of staff collaboration………..

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Contact me:

Robert Knight Executive Director Riverina Regional Library knight.robert@wagga.nsw.gov.au