Chicago

Chicago Public Library

The next stop on our tour was Chicago. This is a beautiful city that has undergone a renaissance over the last couple of decades. There is a wonderful waterfront onto Lake Michigan, and one of my favourite things is the new Gehry outdoor auditorium and the big silver jelly bean type sculptures with water parks in the same precinct. I have only been in Chicago in summer, and there was a real festive air in the city.

The Chicago Public Library is one of the major institutions in the city and with nearly 11 million volumes it is the largest library system in the Midwestern United States and one of the largest public library systems in the United States. The Chicago Public Libraries consist of 79 branches including the central library. In 1991, the Harold Washington Library Center, Chicago's new central library, named for the late mayor, opened to the public. It was the world's largest municipal public library at the time of its opening. Since 1994 the Chicago Public Library has been led by Commissioner Mary A. Dempsey who launched an aggressive rebuilding project, replacing or rehabilitating the majority of Chicago's neighborhood library branches. It has been the largest and most successful urban library expansion in recent history.

We also went on a River Tour by the Architectural Society and we visited Oak Park to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s studio and went on a walking tour of the neighbourhood.

Seattle Library

Seattle City Library

The second city we visited on our US tour was Seattle, and for many of us it was our favourite place. The City has a good feeling about it and is set beautifully into Puget Sound.

The Library is just amazing, it has won a number of architectural prizes and is a real iconic building for the City.

Seattle Library has 26 branches and 1 Central Library. In 1998 Seattle voters approved a USD$196M bond measure to fund the “Libraries for All” building program. The program was delivered from 1998-2008 under the leadership of the then City Librarian Deborah L. Jacobs. It was one of the largest and most comprehensive library capital construction programs in the U.S. and included the renovation of 22 branches, the construction of 4 new branches plus the construction of the new Central Library.

The “Libraries for All” program is now complete and under the leadership of the new City Librarian Susan Hildreth, the Seattle Public Library is currently engaging the community to develop a new strategic direction.

The new library opened in 2004. It is double the size of the former Central Library built in the 1960’s on the same site.

Size: 412,000 sq ft; including 49,000 sq ft for parking.
Cost: USD$165M
Library bookstock: 1.4m items
Public Computers: 400

This bold and innovative building was designed by international award winning Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. It is a contemporary steel structure cut like a diamond and wrapped in glass. Occupying a full city block the library is one of the city’s icons.

This library is built over 11 levels and is a series of asymmetric platforms positioned so as to transform a rather ordinary outlook into spectacular internal and external views with multiple vantage points. The library was awarded a silver LEED rating for sustainable environmental design and construction.

US Libraries

Back in June and July I was lucky to be able to tour some US libraries - some of the biggest and most beautiful in the country and indeed the world. Our group of 14 visited Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Columbus, Washington DC and New York.

Over the next few weeks I will share the highlights from each city we visited.

Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) system has over 6 million volumes and is one of the largest public library systems in the world. There are 72 branches and a beautiful Central Library that includes significant art works.

The library service was established in 1872 and had a vigorous growth during the 1920s. All branches have been refurbished over the past 15 years; these well managed programs (financed by 2 bonds) meant that there was budget for three extra branches to be built. Different architects have been used for all branches and all reflect their communities.

Los Angeles is going through what was described to us as the worst time financially the library has ever had. Prior to the current budgetary situation the usual opening hours for a Regional Library were 60 hours open week, and 40 hours per week for smaller branches. Over the past year opening hours have been reduced to 6 days per week (no Sundays) and following more budget cuts in the 2010/11 fiscal year will be reduced to 5 days; the average opening now is 40 hours per week. In order to minimise the impact of this, branches are being paired, with one branch open Monday –Friday; the other Tuesday –Saturday, with staff working between two branches.

Despite this, the library continues to provide much needed and valued services to an increasing number of people who use the library to improve their literacy, get assistance applying for jobs and providing a safe and secure place to spend time.

Beautiful Eltham

After a $1.25 million makeover, Eltham library reopened last Monday with a week of celebrations. The official opening was conducted by the Mayor of Nillumbik, Cr Ken King, the Minister for Local Government, Richard Wynn and the Chair of the Library Board, Cr Lewis Brock and local member for Eltham, Steve Herbert.

The new features of this iconic Greg Burgess designed building are a new children's room with an outdoor reading and activities garden, more room for teens with new pcs and a wii, and a dedicated local history area. There is also a state of the art automated book return that sorts items into bins to assist with easier and quicker shelving. A special addition is the replacement of the old circulation area with a reading lounge complete with a gas open fire to create a cosy and comfortable ambience.

Eltham is also now open 7 days a week - the 3rd library in the region to have 7 day a week opening.

One of the highlights of the week was the visit by international best selling author Matthew Reilly, who delighted over 150 people with his talk on how and why he writes what he does.

New Libraries in the West

Altona North Library

Last week I joined 60 or so other public library staff visiting 3 beautiful new libraries in the western suburbs. Point Cook and Altona North are brand new buildings, both real community hubs incorporating other council services; and St Albans has had a complete makeover and was packed to the rafters when we visited after school.

What these 3 libraries demonstrated was that in this age of digital information public libraries are still seen as vital community places and the 3 councils, Wyndham, Hobsons Bay and Brimbank are all investing heavily in providing these facilities to their communities.

What we saw were state of the art buildings, all incorporated self service and RFID, all had lots of screens and all were being very heavily used. It's a great time to be in public libraries!

Eltham Library redevelopment

The Eltham Library redevelopment is moving ahead, and today a wall went up inside the library to enable the builder to start internal works. The extension is starting to take shape and the photo shows the wall of the new children's library. The new library will feature more spaces to sit and read, more space for training and technology and more space for children, both inside and outside. It is going to be wonderful!

New model for libraries?

The future library on show in Abu Dhabi

A proto type library is on show at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair that heralds the likely future of public libraries in that country. The report explains

Abu Dhabi’s future libraries are likely to feature 24-hour, self-service facilities with vending machines stocked with books, CDs and DVDs, allowing people to take out and return them any time of the day or night... Books, CDs and DVDs will be available in vending machines using radio frequency identification technology.

This raises interesting questions about what people value in libraries. Is it just access to lending materials? Our industry research conducted in Victoria as part of the "Libraries Building Communities" showed that the value that libraries offer is much more than the collection. In any user survey it is always the "helpful friendly staff" that get the highest importance, and the wide range of programs and activities held in libraries that encourage learning and creativity are seen as just as important. The whole notion of libraries as third places (ie a place where you can be that is not work or home) is also embraced by many libraries.

Let's hope public library provision is never reduced to a few vending machines!

Are ebooks finally here?

When you start seeing articles everyday in the daily newspapers about ebooks you have to think that maybe the tipping point is coming soon. Today there is the announcement that Apple has invited journalists to a special event in San Francisco on January 27 which is expected to be the unveiling of the long awaited tablet computer. The new Apple is expected to be a colour, touchscreen tablet that can browse the web, display video and also serve as an electronic book and newspaper reader.

Reports are that Kindle was one of the most popular Christmas presents this year, and the ability to download books and newspapers wherever you are really simplifies the whole business of getting your content. One of my friends got one, and showed it to me last week. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the screen, the weight and size and also interested that it is not back lit. I remember the early versions of ebook readers, back in 2000, the Rocket in particular which was rather bulky and the very difficult time we had sourcing content for it for Brisbane libraries.

We are pleased that Overdrive, our supplier of online content, is enhancing their offerings too, and Windows Mobile® users – OverDrive Media Console for Windows Mobile is here! For more on this new release of OverDrive Media Console, click here. This allows you to directly download to your device, rather than the previous 2 step process.

The notion of all these functions converging on one device is full of possibilities, though I can't but wonder how many people will want to skype on their tv. But certainly the functionality promised by the new Apple tablet may well revolutionise the way we access ebooks and online content, the way that iPods revolutionised music. I can't wait to see one!

Did you get a Kindle for Christmas? We love you to tell us about it.

Top 10 things for the year

NEAMI launch September at Watsonia

It is the time for lists - here are my top 10 things for Yarra Plenty over the past year:

1. The fantastic response by our staff and especially Jane and Carolyn to the Bushfire Relief effort and the Rebuilding your library collection project

2. Lalor opening 7 days a week, that library really rocks! It is packed with people everytime I go there - great work Felicity and the team

3. The Book Crossing project at Rosanna Station by Joyce and co - making commuters happy on their way to work

4. Storytimes at Epping Plaza, reaching out to kids who wouldn't otherwise have contact with the library

5. All the fantastic Local History events that have been organised by Liz and the branches - and the Local History Forum that brings together over 30 local history associations once a quarter

6. The NEAMI project at Watsonia that has delivered a beautiful underwater mosaic art work for the entrance to the library

7. The Job Exchange to Columbus Ohio by Felicity and Natasha - who learned lots and represented Yarra Plenty with great enthusiasm

8. The reading programs that are encouraging a love of reading in our community, especially the new Bedside Reads that was launched with author visits

9. Our technology gets more stable and better all the time - and now includes iMacs at all branches too - thanks to Les and the Online team

10. Being awarded 4 stars by our library peers in Being the Best We Can - a real tribute to all that the branches do and the direction we are taking the library

I hope that you enjoy the services and programs we offer and there are more exciting things happening in 2010, with the Eltham Library redevelopment and a new website.

Happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year to all!

The Big Issues Seminar

Storytime at Epping Plaza - outreach to all

The Big Issues Seminar was held at the State Library last Monday and featured 3 keynote speakers.

Tom Bentley, Chief of Staff to the Deputy Prime Minister, has an interesting background in education policy in the UK. He has written a book called "Learning beyond the classroom" and he highlighted the role that libraries can play in lifelong learning. He spoke about the need to recluster education and learning in a broader community network and saw the potential of public libraries as third places for young people.

Patricia Faulkner is the Chair of the Social Inclusion Board. She described their focus so far as being on those with locational disadvantage, jobless families with children, children at greatest risk and measuring social inclusion. Patricia urged us to become involved in aggressive outreach to these people, they are unlikely to be library users and it is necessary for the library to go where they are.

Bill Thompson is a technology commentator for the BBC. He described this current period in human history as a time of profound change and transition, equivalent to the beginning of the agricultural revolution. He talked about the role of libraries in a pervasively networked world and the library's role in ensuring that people don't get left behind. It is not so much access to pcs they need now as the ability to be skilled in using online services and accessing online information.

The two common themes that emerged from the day were:

1. The library as hub or 3rd place to close the digital divide, for the learning agenda of Tom Bentley, the social inclusion of Patricia Faulkner, and the possibilities of easing across the transition for Bill Thompson. This is the connection point, the hub, where people can become empowered, the place where people can become literate in digital and print.

2. The ability to remain relevant to the over served as well as the under served. Every community needs a public knowledge space where all can contribute and have a common meeting ground. There is a need for libraries in affluent areas too as hubs for old and new literacies.

It was a very interesting day.

Books and reading

Jung called it synchronicity - when things came together, and that happened to me over the last couple of days.

On the excellent Bookshow on Radio National on Monday, Ramona Koval interviewed self styled bibliophile Rick Gekoski who has written a book called Outside of a dog. The book's title is inspired by the Groucho Marx quote: 'Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.' Rick Gekoski is a former Warwick University literature professor who became a rare-books dealer.

In an amusing and clever interview he described how he had a house full of books - thousands of them. When his first marriage ended acrimoniously, his wife claimed the books as part of the contents of the house, which she was entitled to. He said he was shattered for a long time and wondered how he would cope without these books around him, but came to the realisation that it was reading that was precious, not the act of owning books. ( Aside: a good plug for public libraries!)

Yesterday at the State Library we had a wrap up session on the Bushfire Relief Project - and especially the Rebuilding Book collection project. We were talking about how difficult it would be for book lovers, one lady showed a photo to one of our staff of her extensive collection that she lost in the Black Saturday fires. The program that has been offered to people, to replace particular items and also provide new books, has been very much appreciated by the 200 people who were part of the first program, and no doubt by the many people who will be able to choose their own books from the 28,000 items that will be shipped to affected communities - to libraries and relief centres. We have had some wonderful stories - one was a small boy who couldn't get to sleep because every night his dad had read the Hairy Maclary stories to him, and they had been destroyed. We were able to get a replacement set and sent them up to his school where they were presented to him.

Books are such an integral part of many people's lives, it is hard to imagine not having them around. How do you think you would cope if a vengeful wife or a natural disaster deprived you of your books?

Kindle readers

Maybe this time the ebook reader will take off. A report in Time Magazine says:

Amazon, the online retailing giant, did more than any other company to turn the sale of digital books into a real business with the 2007 launch of the Kindle electronic reader. The company has sold an estimated 1.7 million units of the handheld device in the U.S., and it's getting ready to ship millions more. On Oct. 6, Amazon announced that it would soon begin selling Kindles — complete with a key feature that allows users to wirelessly download e-books from Amazon — in more than 100 countries.

This was followed up by a report in The Age last week saying:

Australian Kindle users will have to pay at least 20 per cent more than Americans for books on the Amazon e-book readers and the local publishing industry has expressed serious reservations about supporting the gizmo.

International users already have to pay $US20 ($22) more for the device itself, which begins shipping on October 19 for $US279.

I can remember the first lot of ebook readers - they were launched around 9 years ago, and we purchased 20 for a new branch that was opening in Brisbane. They certainly got us lots of publicity and they weren't too bad to read from, but the business model collapsed and getting content became harder and harder and then impossible. It's taken all this time for the industry to try again, and if anyone can do it, it will be Amazon. The most obvious application is for students, though the use of print text books is surely going the way of print reference books, as more and more information is available online and students have their own laptops. Some US libraries have lent them out - but there is no real library business model yet. We'll see!

Have you read a digital fiction book? Let us know what you think.

Philadelphia libraries closing

Free Public Library of Philadelphia Central Library

This is the sort of news that no one expects to hear - as reported on the Free Library of Philadelphia's website

All Free Library of Philadelphia Branch, Regional and Central Libraries Closed Effective Close of Business October 2, 2009

We deeply regret to inform you that without the necessary budgetary legislation by the State Legislature in Harrisburg, the City of Philadelphia will not have the funds to operate our neighborhood branch libraries,regional libraries, or the Parkway Central Library after October 2,2009.

This is not some small rural library system, it is a major library with 54 branches and a collection of over 6 million items that has been established since 1892.

The Wikipedia article on the library says:

Among the Free Library's exemplary collections is the Print and Picture Collection. Spanning the graphic arts from 1493 to the present time, the Free Library's Fine Art Prints and Photographs collection includes thousands of images. Initially representing only Philadelphia artists, the collection has been extended to include early masters as well as renowned modern printmakers and photographers. You can view prints by such artists as Dürer, Rembrandt, Warhol and Dali. Some of the photographers include Ansel Adams, Bernice Abbott,Ray Metzker, Eadweard Muybridge and Aaron Siskind.

In May Siobhan Reardon, President and Director of the library addressed the City Council on the impact of budget cuts and said:

While some may think of the library as an institution that simply lends books, we are in fact a multi-disciplinary, cradle-to-grave institution that serves teens, entrepreneurs, older adults, new immigrants, job seekers, young children, and employers, among so many others. And, as the economy declines and unemployment rises, we are seeing increased demand for our services. Two areas – employment support and drop-out prevention – are of particular importance in these times.

Obviously, this testimony about the vital and highly valued services offered by the library did not have the required result. Having undergone already significant cuts in the past year, the Library Board and Director decided that there was no longer sufficient funding to keep their doors open. Let us hope that the various levels of government step in to stop this major library service closing.

The future of libraries

Games corner, Lalor library

CNN has reported that "The stereotypical library is dying -- and its taking its shushing ladies, dank smell and endless shelves of books with it."

Well, I don't think that Yarra Plenty was ever a stereotypical library by that definition, but even so, there is no doubt that our world is changing and as the world goes digital and libraries are undergoing complete transformations.

The article quotes Helene Blowers, from Columbus Metropolitan Library in Ohio (where two of our staff are heading on Wednesday for a job exchange.) She says that "The library building isn't a warehouse for books, it's a community gathering center."

Another person quoted is Rolf Hapel from Aarhus Library in Denmark who says "The library has never been just about books." In Aarhus they are have an exciting array of digital objects and discovery areas that illustrate how people can and will access information.

At Yarra Plenty we have introduced a number of initiatives to broaden the appeal of libraries as well as future proofing ourselves. Most branches now have video game consoles available and there has been a general decrease in the collection as the need for more technology means we need to make decisions about how we use our precious space. The Eltham Library redevelopment will take this a step further with its learning lounge, reading lounge and new children's library that will be more about space for programs and activities and reading space than about books. And the implementation of our RFID system and self service has freed up staff to deliver more programs and activities - we saw a 20% increase in attendance last year. We are just completing our Annual Report and the range and depth of the programs that are run shows what a modern library can do to promote informal learning and encourage a love of reading.

What we are doing is redefining the role of public libraries and ensuring that the traditional values that have ensured the importance of libraries are not lost in a digital age.

Parallel imporation of books

This week I'd like to talk about a controversial subject currently before the Australian parliament - the parallel importation of books into this country. The Productivity Commission has recommended that the restrictions on overseas book imports should be lifted. A special Labor Party working group will this week recommend the restrictions be kept, to protect local authors, publishers and printing works.

Federal cabinet is split on the issue, and so am I. On the one hand as a librarian I applaud any moves that will reduce the price of books, both for our purchasing for the library but also the greater good of the community. People buying more books has got to be a better thing from lots of points of view, leading to increases in literacy and knowledge and creativity.

However I am also aware of the grave fears that authors and publishers have; that removing the current arrangements will have a detrimental effect on their industry and on Australian writing. They argue that the current restrictions enable a fairer system for authors and that publishers cross subsidise their emerging authors with well established and profitable ones. And that would not be a good thing.

One example that is often quoted is that when the restrictions on CDs were lifted some years ago, similar dire predictions were made about the local music scene and that in fact the local industry has not suffered and is flourishing. Whether it is a fair thing to compare these two creative industries or not is a moot point.

I'd like to know what you think - as The Australian says, it is an emotional debate and both sides are cranking up their lobbying efforts.

Lalor opens on Mondays

Cr Sam Alessi with children from Lalor Park Primary School Choir

Last Monday there were great celebrations at Lalor Library to mark the 7 day opening of this branch. Lalor is the first library in the Yarra Plenty system to be open 7 days and it is a tribute to the staff at Lalor who have rearranged their rosters and taken advantage of the additional time that has been made available by the introduction of self service into our branches last year.

Chairperson of the Library Board, Cr Sam Alessi, spoke about the changes in libraries and how Lalor library reflects these changes, with its wide range of different media, the game stations and pcs and the attractive layout that makes the library so welcoming and a real community place. He noted that when Lalor first opened over 30 years ago the library lent just one book on its first day, now it regularly lends over 1,000 a day.

On the first Monday open, there were 830 visitors to the library - and many complimentary comments from people who are very pleased with the extended hours. Lalor library is a real star!

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!!

Everybody's doing it now

In last week's Fairfax community newspapers there was a feature article on technology use amongst older people. One of our colleagues at Bayside library was on the cover and was interviewed for the article. Karyn pointed out that librarians are sometimes seen as a bit old fashioned but as far as take up of new web 2.0 technologies they are right out there, and are also helping lots of people get online to widen their social networks and keep in touch with family and friends.

At Yarra Plenty we run lots of classes for people who want to learn more about online services, from the online program called Taste of Web which you can work your way through yourself (its on our homepage); to one off classes on particular topics such as planning your next holiday or shopping online; to the regular Techno playgroup run at Ivanhoe library; to an indepth 2 day program held at Mill Park library that was fully subscribed to in a couple of days. All these programs can be found on our events calendar.

And I have to tell you about my 82 year old mother who has just got on the internet and is now connecting with her daughters and granddaughters on Facebook - good on you mum! I think that this really demonstrates the great opportunities that the new technologies offer and enable people to keep in touch in different ways.

How have you found the social networking sites changing the way you keep in touch? I'd love to hear!

Bedside reads program

We are launching a new bookclub concept called Bedside Reads next month with the inaugural Bedside Reads Booklovers Festival that will be held from Monday 27 July - Thursday 30 July.

Bedside Reads is an "un" book club. It gives you the opportunity to share your ideas about what you are currently reading, and is not structured around a particular program of books. For more details check out our events calendar.

The Bedside Reads Booklovers Festival invites all readers to partake in a week of interesting author talks, bookchats and offers the opportunity to meet other booklovers. Authors include Jacinta Halloran, Greg De Moore, Bette Sheils, Kate Holden, Arnold Zable and James Phelan.

What have you got on your bedside table at the moment? I've just finished a delightful book called the The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer that tells the story of a group of people on Guernsey Island following the German occupation during World War 2. It is presented as a series of letters and I can really recommend it as a bedside read.

LibraryLink Victoria

Did you know you can access the collections of nearly all the public libraries in Victoria easily through one portal giving access to more than nine million books and resources?

LibraryLink Victoria connects to the State’s entire catalogue, including books, CDs, DVDs and other items available for loan. It saves you from going through individual catalogues or driving from one library to another in search of a chosen item.

Library Link can instantly tell you where an item can be found and have it sent to your local library for collection. Simply go to the LibraryLink page and start searching!

As well as searching for physical items you can also search all the online databases at once. To do that you need to SIGN IN (just use your library card number and PIN) and go to Advanced Search, and then choose "Databases" in the Profile section. We will be working on making this easier to find and use over the next few weeks.

Happy searching!