Wrap up: State Library of NSW tour

June sure was a busy month for ALIA Sydney.

Along with our #blogjune challenge, we had our wonderful Events Coordinator Gabby organise a special behind the scenes tour at the State Library of NSW on June 21.

Our brilliant tour guide Wendy Holz (a family history librarian with SLNSW ), was able to show our group around to some areas of the Library that most do not have the privilege of seeing, namely the stacks underneath the Reference Library. The smell of old books and paper is really strong down there! An interesting fact that Wendy mentioned is that at the sub level that we were standing on, only 2 metres of concrete separates us from train lines.

Wendy showed us a selection of beautifully preserved maps showing the history of cartography in Australia and sub division plans that were produced in the early 20th century.

Our group also had the opportunity to view some of the exhibitions that were showing at the time, such as the World Press Photo 2014 gallery.

After wandering through the exhibition area, Wendy took us over to the Mitchell Library, where she explained the history of that wing. We observed some librarians and clients who were examining items from the special collections.

Afterwards, our group was given the opportunity to examine in up close old maps, photographs and diaries. It was a wonderful experience to look through these treasures.

A very big thank you to Wendy Holz for her lovely tour, and to Gabby for organising this event. Watch this space for future events from ALIA Sydney, we hope to see you soon!

-Caitlin Williams

Blog Every Day in June Day 19 : Libraries and the Homeless

This time last year I was in Chicago attending the American Library Association Annual Conference, completing research as part of the Kath Knowles Award. I attended a number of sessions on public libraries providing quality services to people who are homeless, following rising rates of homelessness in the US.

One session that particularly stood out to me was a panel session about libraries working in partnership with local youth workers to develop relationships with homeless youth in the area. Two such youth were on the panel and telling the audience about what the library meant to them as a safe place where they could meet friends and take time out from the streets.

'One youth explained how, without a safe place to sleep, you pretty much

need to walk around all night, because if you do stop or go to sleep, your

chances of being robbed or assaulted start to go up. Even staying in some

shelters, if you can get a bed, is not guaranteed to be a safe night. He spoke

about how with only limited sleep, you cannot function properly as a human

being, and you will start to get sick. That is why the library becomes such an

attractive place to spend time, as it is safe, sheltered and quiet.'

The stories I gathered from the library professionals I met at the conference informed a lot of the work I completed within this project and assisted with the development of ‘Libraries are for everyone’, a toolkit for public libraries to rethink services in the context of providing for those who are homeless. The toolkit has been developed in partnership with Newcastle Region Library, City of Sydney Library, NSW State Library and The Footpath Library.

The toolkit highlights the important leadership role that public libraries can play in shifting community attitudes toward library users who are homeless and also offers some practical ideas for implementing targeted programs or services to those in need. This includes rethinking membership requirements for better access opportunities and building relationships with community organisations and homeless shelters to increase understanding and develop services to meet the needs of the homeless in your community.

Taking these actions are important steps toward building the sense of belonging and meeting the need to connect with others that can also be missed by those who are not having their most basic needs of food and shelter met. Public libraries can promote equity in their communities by actively investigating the needs of people who are homeless within their community and providing the correct service and access levels to meet those needs. We can also lead the conversations within the community about how we can best meet these needs and promote understanding.

For my full report, please visit here, and stay tuned for publication information on the toolkit! 

Heather Davis is the Service Planning Manager at Waverley Library. 

She has been investigating the role of public libraries in providing service to people who are homeless since 2012 after receiving the Kath Knowles Award for her project proposal on the topic. This month she will be continuing the conversation as part of the ALIA LinkedIn Professional Discussion series.

Librarian Design Challenge 1: Signup

On 1 April, Toby Greenwalt set Librarians the following challenge on his blog theanalogdivide: Create a online library card signup. This is to be the first in a 'semi-regular' design challenge called The Librarian Design Challenge, to encourage more design thinking in the library world. ALIA NSW State Manager Julia Garnett and ALIA Sydney Co-Convenor Amy Croft were inspired to rise to the challenge - meeting in the State Library of NSW on 4 May armed with paper, coloured pens, and a 2-hour study room booking to figure out exactly what libraries and their members need from each other, and how to get members signed up as easily as possible online.

Paper, coloured pens, and info on public libraries

We started by comparing notes on the libraries we work in and have used over the years, to reach a core set of requirements, including the requirement of proving residency set in the challenge. We focused on public libraries, and referred to ALIA's Little Book of Public Libraries to think about what communities need from their local libraries. We agreed that library membership doesn't necessarily require a physical card, as long as we can provide a unique ID number/barcode to allow members to access library resources. We also came up with a few other issues such as one membership for all libraries in the state, overcoming language barriers in explaining membership conditions, differences in signing up children and adults, and ways of securing printing credit with a PIN or password, which were outside the scope of this challenge.

Brainstorming public library membership issues and needs

What the library needs and what the member needs - a membership mindmap

We ended up with a workflow for online membership signup for those using computers, and those using mobile devices. Common features are an easy-to-find 'Join Here' button on the homepage, followed by a brief outline of membership benefits and conditions of membership. Potential members agree to those conditions to get to the membership form itself, where signing up is a 4-step process. This would be on one page for those using a computer, but could be on separate screens for mobile devices.

1. Provide name
2. Provide identification by either uploading scanned document(s) or using computer webcam or mobile device camera to provide an image of the documents. One document is photo ID, the other is a bill or bank statement with current address, if this is not already on the photo ID.
3. Provide contact details (phone number and/or email address)
4. Confirm signup. This generates a barcode and unique membership number.

The following screen confirms membership, displaying the membership number and barcode, which the new member can print, have it sent to them by email, or have it sent to them by SMS. These barcodes would be compatible with many systems already in place in libraries, accessible as an image file that could be stored on a mobile device. Members who prefer to have a physical card can visit the library to have one made.

Online membership signup - for computer

Online membership signup - for mobile devices

While these are only prototypes, this was a very useful exercise in really thinking about how to make things easier for our users, rather than making our users fit in with our requirements. We look forward to further design challenges!

-Julia Garnett, State Manager (NSW), ALIA

-Amy Croft, Co-Convenor, ALIA Sydney

Further reading on design thinking:

An introduction to design thinking: process guide (pdf) by Michael Shanks, archaeologist at Stanford University and contributor to its famous d.school.

Do you have suggestions for improving our designs, or examples of your own designs? Please comment below!

How do you feel about working in a dying industry?

Great actually!

If libraries are what people consider a dying industry, please let me share with you a few statistics that were compiled by the State Library of NSW.

There are 376 public libraries in NSW, 142 in metropolitan NSW and 234 in country areas.

The key indicators of public library use show that public libraries are highly valued by their communities. 2012 figures show:

• almost 35 million visits to NSW public libraries (up 30% since 2000)
• almost 48 million loans
• over 3 million internet hours used by the public
• almost 3.2 million library members (44% of the NSW population)
• more than 52,000 public programs and events
• more than 1.2 million people attended public programs (up 38% since 2008)

Now I don't know about you, but I would consider that a growing industry, if anything. We are currently in an era that could shape how people view and use libraries in the future.

What an opportunity and a privilege!

- Gabby

Permanent Positions to be Deleted from the NSW Public Service

Welcome to our guest blogger Robert Ryan. Robert has attended a meeting recently where the proposed Public Service Bill was discussed. 

Robert writes:-

The proposed Public Service Bill 2013 to be introduced into the NSW Parliament

will have the effect of abolishing permanent positions. For Librarians this could mean that their conditions can be changed as previous awards only related to 

permanent positions.

 This and other  aspects of the Bill that is causing concern is listed below:

(1) Remove the statutory protections for merit selection in the Public Service

(2) Undermine job security of Public Servants by abolishing the concept of permanent positions held by officers

(3) Enable the Minister by determination to remove employees from Award coverage and access to the Industrial Relations Commission

(4) Enable the Minister or Department Head to terminate the contract of senior public servants for no reason

(5) Remove many statutory protections for employees and replaces them with yet

to be written Government Sector Employment Rules

Robert Ryan

If you would like more information about the progress of this bill, and the work being done by the Public Service Association or the Community and Public Sector Union, look no further than their website, http://psa.asn.au/ and sign their petition.

Also, did you know the State Library of NSW is going out on strike on Wednesday June 12? 

Find out why here-  http://psa.asn.au/state-library-of-nsw-strike-wednesday-12th-june/

Lauren Castan

ALIA's Year of Renewal

Happy New Year everyone - and welcome to 2013!

This year is going to be ALIA's Year of Renewal, with many exciting changes planned.

Curious? Executive Director Sue McKerracher will be meeting with members on Tuesday 22 January to talk about what's planned and answer your questions.

There's still time to register!

When?
5.45pm - 7.15pm
Tuesday 22 January 2013

Where?
Macquarie Room
State Library of New South Wales
Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000

ALIA Sydney Presents: Grazyna Tydda

Unfortunately we had some difficulties with some of the video footage of our recent event How to become a Library Senior Manager in 12 Easy Steps. However all is not lost, click here for a Sound Recording of Grazyna Tydda.  Grazyna showed us her path from historian to librarian and gave us some insights into what it is like behind the scenes at the State Library of New South Wales.