ALIA eBook Think Tank

I mentioned in my post on 3 June that ALIA will be scheduling an eBook workshop in Adelaide in July.  The details are now available....

Join us on Tuesday 9 July at the State Library of South Australia as we review common eBooks and e-lending concerns faced by library and information professionals.

Discussion will be prompted by leaders with experience of the eBooks situation in Australia and internationally.  We will consider ALIA's eBooks and e-lending principles and strategy and propose a new model for public libraries and e-lending.  Participants will have the opportunity to share their thoughts and experiences.

The ALIA think tank is open to all library and information professionals.  Spaces are limited, so register now to secure your place.

For further information, please contact Sam Sheridan at ALIA.

I encourage you to contribute your thoughts and ideas.

Jo Freeman

A/Associate Director

Public Library Services

How time flies

Believe it or not, it is one year today since the One Card consortium was born!  On 3 May 2012 the Mitcham Library Service switched over to Symphony and started the consortium ball rolling.  For a whole week they didn’t have to worry about sharing resources or items in transit so could concentrate wholly and solely on celebrating with their customers.  They looked pretty happy didn’t they?

 A week later they had a friend and partner in Onkaparinga and were thrown into the crazy world of transit slips and pallets of black boxes.
Twelve months on the consortium includes more than 40 library services and continues to grow.  As at the end of April there are more than 670,000 registered borrowers on the LMS, with over 2.4 million items available.  This is a huge achievement in only one year and should be celebrated by all libraries, regardless of where you are on the implementation roller coaster.
I asked Mitcham for a photo of their staff celebrating their first anniversary and this is what I got from the one and only Dave Slater.  I’m very glad to see that the sense of humour at Mitcham is still strong, even if they look like they’ve aged a little.

I’m sure each of the consortium libraries will celebrate in style as the one year anniversaries continue to roll around.

Jo Freeman A/Associate Director
Public Library Services

Far North Group Goes Live

As Geoff mentioned in a post last week, he is off doing some work for the State Library for the next few months so I have stepped up to fill the Associate Director role during his absence.  Hopefully I’ll be able to keep our many projects and activities moving forward, with lots of help from the PLS team.

I’m delighted that my first blog post is to welcome the following group of libraries to the LMS consortium.  Having worked with these libraries in the early project days on their change plans including very important things like item barcodes and new library cards I know how long they have been waiting for this day to come and how much effort they have put into their preparations.  It is great to finally have you on board.

• Pt Broughton
• Andamooka
• Leigh Creek
• Hawker
• Quorn
• Coober Pedy
• Woomera

I’m sure celebrations are well underway and I will happily share photos when they become available.  A special mention to our colleagues at the Quorn School Community Library who not only join the LMS consortium today but also celebrate their 30^th anniversary in the public library network.  What a great way to recognise this special milestone with a new library system (and cake of course)!

Port Broughton's launch

The crowd gathers for Leigh Creek's launch 

Leigh Creek's spread for the launch

One Card fans at Leigh Creek

The Enterprise pages for these libraries reflect the diversity of the group and can be seen here.  Just select the library you want to see from the list on the right.

The LMS Project Team now focus their efforts on the next libraries to go live which will be the Copper Coast libraries in the coming weeks followed by the LINK libraries in June.

Jo Freeman
Acting Associate Director, PLS

Opening of the new St Peters Library

Along with several hundred locals and other interested parties I attended the opening of the St Peters Library on Saturday.  The Norwood, Paynham & St Peters Council has re-purposed the original St Peters Town Hall to become a library and cultural heritage centre.  This is fitting, as the role of town halls as meeting spaces and places for public lectures etc has in part been replaced by the role of the public library in the 21st Century. (Also the amalgamated council has a very large town hall in Norwood which still operates to fulfil other "town hall" like functions.)

While there was some local disquiet about the changes, from my perspective the council has made good use of their limited space, and a disused building to create a modern library which will meet the needs of the community for years to come.  The addition of a mezzanine floor to house their non-fiction collection, and access upstairs meeting rooms has increased the available total floor space quite well.  And the use of the front rooms of the building to concentrate on the history of area looks great.  It will be interesting to see how this area develops over time.

Being able to attract $5M in Federal Grant money certainly helped in ensuring that the conversion has been done well and with high quality fixtures and fittings. 

The new library is part of a broader plan to also re-develop St Peters Street which runs alongside the new library. It will be an ANZAC memorial strip finished in time to commemorate the centenary of the Gallipoli campaign. When this work is completed it will provide an area that can be converted into a pedestrian plaza for community events.

Congratulations to the council and its staff on this outcome.  The library staff have achieved both joining the LMS and moving to a new building over the last 12 months - quite an achievement.

I should have used my phone to take a few pics on Saturday, but didn't. However I have popped back to the library - not jam packed with people & taken a few pics.

And while photos are great they can never really do justice to things, so I would recommend a visit if you're in the neighbourhood.



This is one of the new entrances that also connects the "town hall" (now library) to the rest of the council office. The shot is taken from the carpark.

The new entrance facing into St Peters st, with new landscaping

 

 

This is the circ desk close to the entrances from each side.  It is sitting under the mezzanine floor which can be seen above.



Blending the old with the new. The decorative plasterwork is retained and the shelves fit under it nicely. The stairs to the mezzanine can also be seen.





Some of the seating on the mezzanine - amongst the ANF collection

Coffee machine upstairs

Upstairs large meeting room with locked book cases with local history items

Childrens library with a variety of seating

more childrens library

DVDs and CD along the wall

Mitcham "go live" has commenced

The reality that we've been working towards is finally here. As you can imagine we're all both exited and a little apprehensive. 

Mitcham libraries have stopped using their Horizon LMS, and started using the Symphony "off-line" system this morning.  This allows the library to circulate items to customers and record these details.

While this is happening the Mitcham data up until yesterday is being loaded onto the server and it is being checked etc.  This process will be completed by Wednesday night, and then all of the circulation data from Monday - Wednesday will be loaded - to make sure that the circulation transactions are all in the new system. 

So when the libraries (Mitcham and Blackwood) open on Thursday they will be running "live" in Symphony.

SirsiDynix tell us that they could have allowed Mitcham to keep using Horizon until close of business today, but Mitcham took the decision to start the week using the off-line Symphony system. This suits their local business needs.  The usual pattern that we will follow is that libraries will use the off-line module for 2 days while the cut over between systems takes place.

During this time customers can still use the library's OPAC to view whether the library has items, but they will not be able to place holds and the "status" of items will not be accurate, as items that were on the shelf may have been borrowed.

In the meantime Mitcham staff have configured their Enterprise site. This is their public access "discovery layer".   As with the OPAC, the status of items in Enterprise will be incorrect, and customers will not be able to place holds. 

Mitcham staff tell me that their Enterprise site is still a work in progress & it will developed further over time. However they're happy for people to take a look at it.  It can be found at http://sapln.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/mitcham. This URL will change in the future to make finding it easier. 

We'll keep you posted on how things go in coming days & weeks!!

SWAP library consortium joins the LMS network

The SWAP library network was the first formal multi-council shared library system in South Australia, having cooperatively purchased their 1st LMS over 20 years ago.  The original SWAP members were the councils of St Peters, Walkerville and Prospect (hence the acronym - which also speaks of sharing resources).  Council amalgamations in the late 90's added the former councils of Payneham and Norwood, and more recently Campbelltown joined the network.  The total SWAP network provides a shared library service for a combined population of approximately 115,000.

While exploring the possibility of a Statewide network we met with and learned from the SWAP pioneers & I would like to pay tribute to both the founders of SWAP for showing us what was possible & to the current managers for their forward thinking - wanting what is best for their customers.

As pioneers of sharing the SWAP network has now decided to join the Statewide consortium.  All four councils will transition as a single entity in September.  They will bring to 14 the number of councils in the consortium, which will be serving a combined population of over 765,000.

Benefits of a new library realised

In my posts of 16 and 22 September last year I talked about and shared some photos about the new Strathalbyn library.  The library has now been open for just over 6 months & the impact of the new facility is now being quantified. 

There is considerable anecdotal evidence that a new public library will lead to an increase in activity, loans & visits etc. This is usually anticipated to be between 20 - 30%.   While some of this may be a bit of curiosity, there is generally a longer term ongoing increase in library usage for any new library.

Jill has sent in an article that appeared in the Mt Barker Courier paper on 4 April & the usage statistics point to a really positive community response to this great new library - well above that 20 - 30% mark.  This shows that there was obviously a pent up demand in the community that the new facility is meeting, and that because the new building is so pleasant that this demand is so high. 

The Stats that were reported in the paper include:

• Loans (general) up 43%
• Loans (Children's) up 300%!!!
• Membership up 12% - which is really impressive.  These are new users who intend to come back!
• Computer use up 43%

There is a lesson here for all of us.  A new, modern library that meets the needs of the community is not just a "nice to have" community facility - some may even say a luxury.  Rather, it is a necessity if community members are going to maximise their learning and literacy - which can only be a good thing.  So when we're deep into the slog in persuading funders that a new library is needed we can all be reminded that this is not just about a beautiful building, but it is about the literacy and learning levels of our community; it is about the right to access the best possible learning and community interaction opportunities; it is about the future wellbeing of our communities.

As I said in my earlier posts - congratulations to all at the Alexandrina Council for investing in the long term wellbeing of their communities by opening this new library. The community has shown its approval in their overwhelming increased attendance and use of this new facility.

Forward IT - great for libraries & their customers

I caught up with some very positive, practical people in the Digital Economy & Technology section of DFEEST the other day to look at their new program Forward IT.  I was impressed both with the content of the programs that they have organised, and their recognition of libraries as key players in engaging the community in digital literacy.

Forward IT provides small, short and easy to use tutorials in a whole range of online topics from Facebook, Skype & email through to blogs, podcasts, booking travel & shopping online.  The mini tutorials have some introductory information and many have short 3 minute "plain english" videos.  In some areas there are step by step instructions to do things & if you follow them they actually work.  I used the "upload to flickr" step by step instructions as I had not done this before. 

One of the things I really love about the site is that you can jump right into the section that you're interested in without having to do a series of earlier sessions.

I also love that the team continues to add new content as new issues emerge & they have plans for more to come.

Why am I telling you about this?  Well obviously libraries are at the heart of helping our communities maintain and expand their literacy skills.  And today that means new literacy skills in getting and sharing information in an online world.  Here we have a website that you can steer customers to so that they can explore their online options  & learn how to do online stuff in a very easy to use format.

Also - what is really valuable to libraries is that the Forward IT team wants to support libraries to use their site.  Library staff can register to become facilitators. If you do this you will have access to additional information which you can use to support your library customers.

The Forward IT team has worked with the staff at the Willunga Library as part of the NBN roll out.  Their staff are keen to work with other libraries in a variety of ways.  They have great publicity material that is available for you to use & they're prepared to meet with libraries to discuss how to spread the digital literacy message.

So I'd encourage all libraries to take a look at the site, get some publicity material and promote the site to your community, put a link on your website to the Forward IT site, talk to the team at Forward IT about opportunities & maximise this great resource. 

National Year of Reading Launch

South Australian public libraries hosted the local launch of the NYR today.  This post is a bit of a photo montage of the day.

While the weather threatened to be too hot we got away with a slightly warm event under the canopy of the Rundle Mall.  Here is the stage as people are setting up.  You can see the West Torrens Mobile Library in the background behind the stage.

The Giggly Kids entertained us all and got us moving

We had the wonderful and very supportive Keith Conlon of 5AA as our MC.  Keith is also an NYR ambassador as he is passionate about libraries and reading.  We look forward to working with him during the year. 

We also had the Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood on stage talking to us about the importance of reading and literacy.  Stephen referred to the ABS study which found that 46% of Australians struggling to have the literacy skills to get through the day.  He also talked about his English teacher mother who introduced him to the joys of reading - which started with Tin Tin, went through Asterix and Obelix, talked about "choose your own adventure stories" & then on to the world of reading as a necessity as the Lord Mayor.

We had a great crowd of student from the Sturt Street Primary School....

and Mem Fox was there to read Where is the Green Sheep?

...before she drew the winning tickets for the onsite raffle.

Both prizes - a pack of signed Mem Fox books and a bookcase of books were won by Sturt Street students...

Mem then mixed with the Giggly Kids who had provided two brackets of songs

There were some well known library people there...

That wrapped up the Mall event - but a number of us went off to the Mortlock wing of the State Library for the announcement of the SA book chosen for One Country Reads - Our Story.  Stephen Orr's book Time's Long Ruin was the winner.  

Stephen gave us a great tour of a number of SA authors from Colin Thiele to Sean Williams who have written about or evoked South Australia.  Here is Stephen making his speech.

I'll add some more photos of local events as well as any that come through from the National Launch in Canberra.

I will also post the list of authors and their contribution that Stephen referred to in his speech.

It was a very busy day & I want to thank the PLS Staff who worked so hard to make two events go off so successfully on one day.

Here's to a great 2012.  And if you want to keep up with all that will be happening go to www.love2read.org.au 

So what does "AG" mean anyway?

I thought I'd provide an update on the work that the initial group of libraries are currently working on.  They are actively working together to develop their system configuration, rules and mapping. Much of this work is being based on the outcomes of the consultation that has been occurring across the network, while some of the minutiae is based on local library needs.

Because of the time constraints that exist there have been a few times when decisions have had to be made relatively quickly. One of the decisions was to review all of the shorthand codes that have been used for ages within the SA public library network.  And of course the use of the code "AG" for large print books came up, along with "CA" for teen materials. The Transitional User Group had to make a decision on Tuesday as to what codes would be used, so that the libraries configuring their systems could move forward.  

I am not sure that you will be surprised, and many will be greatly relieved that there was unanimous agreement to adopt LP for large print materials and T for teen materials.  While these codes will appear in the staff part of Symphony the customers will see the terms Large Print and Teen. There will be no need to actively change existing labelling unless people wish to do so, however we will be working with suppliers to ensure that catalogue records of the future reflect these changes. (It should be noted that every Large Print book has this in print at the top of the spine of these items. So removing the AG stickers could suffice in making the transition to the new if people wanted to do this.)

These are only small changes, but I see them as indicative of the opportunities that this project has provided for the network to undertake reforms of long outdated or idiosyncratic ways of operating that have grown up over time.

I would like to pay a particular tribute to Kathy Haese of the City of Onkaparinga Libraries who has been driving the configuration and set up of the system.  Kathy works part time at Onkaparinga, but has come on board in what are her usual days off to work with PLS to drive this part of the project.  She has been exceptional in both the intellectual capacity and rigour she has brought to the project, and has been outstanding in her dedication to getting things right and done on time. (Phone calls to me on a Saturday afternoon & emails late at night to clarify things are indicative of the effort she has put in on behalf of everyone in the network.)

Kathy has been working on an ad hoc basis to fill a position within the project team that it has taken us some time to fill.  However we are just winding up that process & I will inform you of the outcome in the next day or so.

Libraries Australia Forum

I spent the day at the Libraries Australia Forum at the National Wine Centre today with about 160 librarians from around the country.  Great venue & wonderful event!  Thanks to the staff of the National Library for everything.  There were some very useful presentations about where Libraries Australia & Trove are going.

There were also some really interesting presentations by Caroline Brazier, Director of Scholarship and Collections at the British Library and Jenny McDonald, Manager, Customer Engagement, National Library of New Zealand.  They were really good in showing us both what is happening in their countries & also looking at the future. 

The recordings from the day will be on the libraries Australia site in coming days. 

I know that I will go back & have a second listen at some stage & I would encourage others to catch up with their talks when they're available.

Libraries Board Tour - new Board Chair

I mentioned on 10 October that the Board would be on tour in the Mid-North. Well the tour is over & it has been another very positive trip for Board members. We travelled over 700 Kms and visited 8 libraries in 2 days as well as conducting a Board meeting.

As always we were greeted with wonderful enthusiasm & hospitality, and we got to see ongoing changes in each of the libraries we visited.  And the presentations by library managers about what was happening locally, and what was planned for the future helps the Board to have a sense of what the issues and successes are. Also having an opportunity to catch up with Council staff members, Councillors and school staff (in SCLs) also provides additional information.   Libraries Board members also came home with local produce they purchased which included eggs & olive oil along with a few raffle tickets.  This is a general and additional "thank you" to all who we visited and caught up with. 

We were also informed that James Bruce (current Board member) had been appointed as the incoming Chair of the Board.  As this was James' 1st tour he assiduously took notes and had many insightful questions and comments about various aspects of library operations and policy.  I look forward to working with James in coming years in supporting public libraries and in visiting more libraries on coming tours.  I think the next one is to the Riverland.

Libraries Board 2011 country tour

The Libraries Board will be undertaking its annual country tour on Thursday & Friday next week. This tour will take us through libraries in the Mid-North. Specifically the Board will visit Clare, Burra, Peterborough, Jamestown and Port Pirie on Thursday, and then Port Broughton, Snowtown and Balaklava on Friday.
 

As is customary, the Board will hold it's meeting over breakfast on Friday morning.

 This tour will be the first in 21 years that does not include former Board member Janice Nitschke. I would like to pay tribute to Janice who has represented library practitioners on the Board for as long as most of us can remember. Janice's commitment will be remembered not just because of her active & successful representation of the sector but also for her dedication. The number of times that Janice has got up at 4 am to drive to "town" as the airport was fogged in are beyond counting. And her flights, attendance at meetings in Adelaide or staying in town to carry out network business have been a real service to us all. Janice's championing of "the country" has been a consistent part of her service, and her unstinting service for "the network" needs to be recognised by all within the network.

 Janice has also been, and continues to be a mentor to so many in the network. I am sure that with the "spare" time that she now has Janice will actively use her experience to continue as a mentor to many.

 Changes to State Government Board regulations mean that in future Board members can serve for a maximum of 8 years. While I appreciate Janice's dedication over several decades I also support the notion of regular renewal on the Board and the opportunities for changes in representation. The changes in regulations also mean that the number of Board members will reduce from 9 to 8.

I would also like to acknowledge the leadership of Dr Peter Goldsworthy AM who has been Libraries Board Chair since 2002. Peter's last meeting will be while we are on the mid-north tour.

 Peter's time is precious - as he spreads himself across his medical practice, his role as a successful, internationally recognised author and his additional duties including chair of the Libraries Board. Despite this busy schedule Peter has managed to juggle his commitments & travelled the State meeting with people in public libraries and leading the Board's considerations of public library and State Library matters.  Under Peter's leadership the Board has been so supportive of the State-wide LMS project as well as managing the GFC's impact on the Board's investments as well as some positive outcomes on a number of other State Library issues.

 We will see a number of other changes to Board membership over the next 6 months. I will keep you posted regarding these changes as they occur.

Update on Strathalbyn

In my post about Strath last Friday I asked if Jill P had any photos to share. So here are a couple just to whet your appetite.  Jill tells me that there will be some professional ones taken & available at some future time.

As you can see this is a very bold mix of the old and new.  And while this is a real contrast on the outside (which I happen to like) the smooth but interesting transition between the two buildings once inside works really well.  Features like the bluestone walls are highlighted rather than covered up.

Jill has some other great action shots but they are of customers enjoying the library & as there was no consents for publication done I can't publish them here.

As I said last time it really is worth a visit.

As you approach the building you can see the old school, but the new sign, which is mounted in the bluestone of the old building.

This is the modern addition on the back - and you can just see the old building to the right.

Here is a shot from near the entrance, looking through the new part of the building,

and here is a part of the library inside the old building (and the person is staff member Robyn).

Great new library opens at Strathalbyn

I was delighted to attend the opening of the new / relocated Strathalbyn public library last night.  It is another very positive addition to the list of excellent new libraries springing up across the State.  

The library is a combined council customer service centre, community centre and public library.  It uses the beautiful old bluestone school house by the lake as part of the the centre, with a spectacular new addition across the back of the building.  This has been another triumph for Brown Falconer - the architects of the Mt Gambier Library.  I really love the juxtaposition and blending of the old & the new.

The Alexandrina Council website has some photos of the progress of the build, however they stop in July & don't quite do justice to the finished product.  Jill Patmore - can you post some new photos up there of last night's opening?  That would be great.

Strathalbyn has had a public library since 1985.  It was a School Community Library at the local high school on the edge of town.  The library served the community well for many years, however the population of the town and district has continued to grow from the village it once was to a bit of a boom town.  While the old library has undergone renovations and extensions over the years the time came for the move into the centre of town as a stand alone library - as a branch supported by the Goolwa library. 

I am sure that this new library will be a real hit for the local community.  And I would really recommend that all from the library community take a drive to the beautiful town of Strathalbyn and visit our newest public library.

Book Launch - Prohibited Zone

I went to the book launch of Alastair Sarre's 1st novel Prohibited Zone last night.  It was held at the Blackwood Library & local resident (& Greens Senator) Penny Wright did the launch.

And as is typical at a Wakefield Press launch I bumped into a few old colleagues and friends, the wine from Fox Creek was great and the speeches were entertaining.  After all I heard about the book I've decided that I need to read it.  It is one of the books under consideration for the National Year of Reading's One Country Reads program.

Congratulations to the Mitcham Library Service team for their coordination of a really positive event.  Having over 100 happy and entertained people in the Blackwood Library on a cold midweek evening was an achievement.  And given how cramped Blackwood is and how much furniture you had to move to create some space I know that you will be spending this morning is a serious rearrangement of furniture & shelves to get ready for your 10am opening.

Libraries Board Metro tour

Last Monday the Libraries Board undertook its annual tour of a group of metropolitan libraries.  They visited three very different libraries in three councils; namely Woodcroft, Blackwood and Goodwood.  It was great to see these branch libraries and to hear how they fit into the overall strategy for library service provision across each council.
At each location the Board met with the mayors and CEOs of the councils along with various other staff.  Each library manager provided an overview of what was happening generally throughout their service as well as issues particular to each branch.  The combination of quite similar programs and needs across each library is also contrasted with local diversity and finding local solutions to meet local needs.

The dynamism throughout the various libraries was obvious, with Woodcroft having recently  been rebuilt and integrated with the local Neighbourhood Centre, and now back in action with RFID and growth in community use, Blackwood being the subject of serious council deliberations for a new library, and Goodwood having been extended a few years ago providing a unique & attractive environment with a specialisation on community languages. 

Each tour provides the Board with an update to members' understanding of what is happening across the network and supports their ability to make informed decisions on policy and funding issues.  To this end the Board will be touring the Mid-north for a couple of days in October.

Congratulations to Onkaparinga on the re-opening of Woodcroft Library

I hear that after having been closed for a major makeover and redevelopment, one of Onkaparinga's busiest libraries re-opened to the public today.

I look forward to visiting the library in the near future. 

Apparently the Public Libraries SA Quarterly meeting was originally scheduled to be held at the new library today, but the uncertainty around the completion date meant that we moved elsewhere.  I hope that the network get an opportunity to hold a meeting there in the not too distant future.

The library is part of a wider centre which includes a range of community and council services.  It also includes extensive use of green technology to lower the building's impact on the environment.  See

http://www.environment.gov.au/water/publications/urban/pubs/green-precincts-woodcroft.pdf

I am sure that there will be some interesting photos taken today & I'll see if we can get a few uploaded here shortly.