Partnering Public Libraries in Queensland

Our Framework and Model

Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read. Groucho Marx

Libraries in Queensland• 73 local governments • 346 libraries• Funded by local government with State grant support

Independent CLS IKCs

Governments 31 29 10*

Libraries 267 69 20

Regionalisation - history

• History of regional services

• Began to disaggregate in the 80s

• Last region dissolved in 1995

Regionalisation - reform

Amalgamations in 2008:

73 local government areas• 30 of these are regional councils

69 CLS libraries• in 29 local governments

Total CLS pop. < 100,000 (was 380,000)Total CLS grant – $500,000 (was $2M)

Governance

• Partnership between state and local governments

• Sound governance framework

• Protocols

• SLAs

• Standards

• Advisory mechanisms

Governance - protocols• Roles and responsibilities of:

• State and local government in Queensland

• Developed jointly by Qld Govt and the LGAQ in 2006

• Queensland and local government in managing public libraries

– Developed jointly by SLQ and LGAQ in 1997

Governance – service level agreements

• Triennial Service Level Agreements• List obligations in providing library services• Current SLA term is 1 July 2011 to 30 June

2014• Council reports required to receive SLQ funding

• Queensland Public Library Standards and Guidelines

• Robust standards for all kinds of libraries

• Developed collaboratively (PLSSG)

• Ensure consistency

• Provide performance criteria

Governance - standards

• Public Libraries Advisory Group

• Advises Library Board

• Represents public libraries and local government

• Members from:

• Large and small libraries

• Local governments

• Queensland Public Libraries Association

• Local Government Association of Qld

Governance - PLAG

Governance – Expanding Horizons

• Local (88%) and state governments (12%)

• State Library funding includes:• Cash grants

• Book stock and support services

• Support for IKCs

• Specialist resources and databases.

Funding

• $17.462 million

• Up to 30% discretionary

• 66% per capita

• 30% population growth

• 4% based on indigenous population

• Location and dispersion

• Indexed for population growth

Independent libraries

• $ 584,503

• Council allocations use same methodology

• Shelf-ready library materials

• Small annual cash grant

CLS libraries

• $ 1.539 million

• Services for IKCs

• Shelf-ready materials, library management, program support

• Staffing costs State Library / Indigenous local governments

Indigenous Knowledge Centres

Hope Vale Indigenous Knowledge Centre

with Shirley Costello

• $ 944,000

• Language, literacy, audio books (economies of scale)

• Free access to 9 databases

Centralised collections

• $ 600,000

• Queensland web content

• Information-rich communities

• Queensland heritage content, information, and learning opportunities

OPAL funding

• $ 250,000

• State-wide Expanding Horizons projects OR

to local governments for initiatives in specified areas

• 2010/11 – 8 family literacy projects.

Expanding Horizons grants

• Late 2008 by Synergies Rowland

• State-wide consultation

• No major change for next 3 years*

Grants methodology review

• Outcomes-based by 2014/15

• Demonstrate tangible benefits

• Performance measurement

• Advocacy skills

Grants methodology review

• State Library will:• Review Expanding Horizons• Develop measures• Study of the value of public

libraries• Support remodeled CLS

Grants methodology review 2014-2017

In the nonstop tsunami of global information,librarians provide us with floaties and teachus how to swim. Linton Weeks

• Minimum 1 item/capita in core collections

• Populations <1000 min. of 1000 items

• 1000 items for each additional branch

• Quarterly stock exchanges

• Sliding scale by population

• Stand-alone Aurora LMS (most)

• Union catalogue (some)

Country Lending Service – current stock provision

• Mostly untrained staff

• Limited opening hours

• Some co-located with other services

• State Library support:

• Learning opportunities and forums

• Brisbane • Regional• online

Country Lending Service – training

New service delivery model

Current 3 tier model: Independent CLS IKC

New 5 tier model: Capital city Urban regional Rural regional CLS IKC

Direct service toeach CLS branch

Service to nominatedCLS ‘headquarters’library

Multi-branch CLS services

• Manage internal stock rotation

• Support from State Library:

• Transitional financial package

• Training and logistics assistance

• Upgrade of LMS to web-based catalogue*

• Collection analysis

• Boutique collections

• Targeted services

• Digital resources

• Community / library capacity building

• Lifelong learning

• Resource sharing (Aurora 1)

• Advocacy skills development

Benefits - general

Benefits – remote libraries

My childhood library was small enough not to be intimidating. And yet I felt the whole world was contained in those two rooms. I could walk any aisle and smell wisdom. Rita Dove

Benefits – remote libraries

Sustainability Scalable model Local input into

collections Regular

networking Resource sharing

(Aurora 1)

Low financial commitment for small local governments

Economies of scale for small libraries

Cost-effective use of in-demand resources

Rotation enhances range of materials

Training / support for non-librarians

• Staffing issues

• Short opening hours

• Bandwidth limitations in some places

• Small councils most difficult to regionalise

• Reduced CLS funding

• High travel & freight costs

Limitations and challenges

• Diverse range of needs

• Geographic / social disadvantage

• Distances / decreasing populations

• Embrace digital

• Grow capacity of librarians

• Consultation with government

• Advocacy for libraries

• Strategic planning

Conclusion