Yarra Plenty is a 4 star library!

Melanie McCarten, Michael Scholtes, Christine Mackenzie, Karyn Siegmann, Euan Lockie

Our Library service recently completed a Quality Audit as part of a Statewide project called "Being the Best We Can" which is being managed by the State Library of Victoria, the Victorian Public Library Network and consultants from Australian Continuous Improvement Group.

The process is based on a Scottish model developed by the Scottish Library Association and involved self rating on 5 Key Result Areas:
1. Providing gateways to information
2. Building individual skills, capability and well being
3. Developing social capital
4. Demonstrating leadership and values
5. Designing, managing and improving systems and processes.

We identified our key strengths as

• Attractive well designd welcoming libraries staffed by friendly knowledgeable staff
• Effective and efficient procurement of library collections
• Use of technology to improve processes and free up staff (eg RFID)
• Integrating Web 2.0 technologies into service offerings
• 5 year strategic frameworks developed in consultation with key stakeholders and community

Part of the process is identifying opportunities for improvement and we will be working on promoting the library to non users, improving circulation and promotion of collections, increasing community engagement in planning processes and improved availability of new items for loan.

A 4 Star library means
Major strengths
High standard of provision
Any weaknesses do not impact on users’ experience.

We are very proud to be assessed as a 4 star library and we will be working hard to become a 5 star one - and that means a library that is international best practice!

And don't forget the Librarians tonight on ABC tv - our Mobile library is one of the stars!!