WAGGA WAGGA CITY LIBRARY REVIEW DRAFT Cover: National Science Week 2018 Photo: Jack of Hearts Studio 2 Wagga Wagga City Library Review – Draft CONTENTS Acknowledgement Overview 5 of Country Wagga Wagga City Council Executive Summary 6 acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of this land, the Wiradjuri 2020: A Day in the Life at Wagga Wagga City Library 8 people, and pays respect to Elders, past and present and emerging. Section 1: Research 11 We honour the living heritage of the Community research 12 world’s oldest continuous culture, After the lockdown 16 and we celebrate the contemporary Case study 1: Place for the imagination 18 creativity of our First Nations communities. We acknowledge the ongoing connection between First Section 2: Reference points 20 Nation communities and this land. Benchmarks 22 The Wagga Wagga City Library Future Library Service Models 24 Review 2020 has been compiled in Leading libraries 26 consultation with the local Wiradjuri and First Nations Communities with the aim of building a city that thrives Section 3: Themes 28 on positive relationships and cultural Growth 29 diversity. Case study 2: A bit of magic 33 People and place 34 Case study 3: Knitting Circle 37 What people say 38 Summary 39 Section 4: Future 41 Future 42 Commissioned by: Summary of recommendations 44 Wagga Wagga City Council 243 Baylis Street, PO Box 20, Recommendations 46 Wagga Wagga NSW 2650 2038: Hotbed of Ideas 48 Written and produced by: 2038: A Day in the Life at Wagga Wagga City Library 50 Project Sisu www.projectsisu.com Appendices 52 Designed by: Bibliography 52 Pro Bono Publico www.probono.com.au Glossary of terms 54 © Copyright 2020 3 Boorooma Estella Bomen Wagga Wagga City Library Glenfield Park To Wagga Wagga Airport To Kapooka 4 Wagga Wagga City Library Review – Draft OVERVIEW YIRADHU MARANG (GOOD DAY) Opening in 1999, the Wagga Wagga City Library has served the community well in its current location for twenty years. To mark its 20th anniversary, a review of library spaces, services and capabilities was launched in 2019. The Wagga Wagga City Library Review aimed to position the library service for a future that will be radically different from the world in which it was originally conceived. Scope of review Riverina Regional Library The City Library Review has drawn on extensive Wagga Wagga City Library is a member of the community research, library benchmarking, relevant Riverina Regional Library (RRL), conceived in 1978. case studies, and a comprehensive examination of Wagga Wagga City Council (WWCC) continues public library trends, national and international. to support the Riverina Regional Library Model in It has involved: its role as Executive Council. The current Deed of Agreement expires in 2022. WWCC and RRL have • conversations, workshops, meetings and initiated a consultative process to explore future surveys with 710 people throughout the City membership service options. A report will be of Wagga Wagga tabled to WWCC by June 2021. Future options for • extensive research into a range of regional the City’s membership of RRL will be made after library services across NSW and Victoria this date. • in-depth exploration of international library trends, research and futures thinking. Uncertainty and opportunity The repercussions of the Covid-19 global In a nutshell pandemic are predicted to be far-reaching. Wagga Wagga City Library is well used and loved by The crisis also presents opportunities to think those who value its physical and online resources, and act differently. spaces, learning programs and capable staff. Trusted places like public libraries, in which More can be done to extend its reach into every communal identity is amplified by practical corner of the Wagga Wagga community. resources, have never been more vital and The Library Review has clear findings: necessary. Libraries, more than any other cultural • the City Library is too small for a regional city institution, welcome, encourage, entertain and of Wagga Wagga’s size and ambition support the greatest number of people and uses • too many people are missing out on the in any given community. important and often life saving opportunities Libraries, including Wagga Wagga City Library, the library provides have already displayed innovation in response to • library staff exhibit an inventiveness that if recent crises and creative recovery efforts. further resourced will help the City find a new When it comes to supporting Wagga Wagga’s creative edge: to rebuild communities; tackle economic, social and cultural aspirations, the library disadvantage; actively engage with and learn service can’t do everything, but it can do a lot. from Wiradjuri elders, cultural knowledge and language; craft new 21st century stories of identity, inclusion and hope. NOTE: This map is for illustration purposes only. 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE CITY CITY LIBRARY 65,258 (2019) people 20-year-old building in Civic Centre 100,000 people by 2038 1600 sq metres/2 levels > % growth in migration to No branch library network Wagga Wagga Small staff cohort = 18.7 FTE > % growth in (since Sunday opening was younger age demographic approved in July 2020) 5.6% Aboriginal and Torres Strait Member of Riverina Regional Islander Library since 1978 Hybrid economy: agriculture, Library is highly valued health, knowledge, aged Excellent programs/responsive care & creative industries staff COMMUNITY RESEARCH 710 participants: LIBRARY SIZE 500 Perceived gaps WW City Library x 578 surveys, Flexible frequency mentioned 132 interviews meeting EQUITY OF ACCESS & workshops study Lack of spaces LEARNING PROGRAMS COLLECTIONS meetings critical to branch Physical/ Lots of ideas growing structure Great, more city outreach online frequency needed/ for expansion mobile & PARTNERSHIPS keep more places/ fresh & & new pop-up broader Shared diverse services options cross 24/7 section of space & + Library Consistent access community services in of Things digital community/ views on creative + creative hubs current gaps + literacy 0 higher importance lower 6 Wagga Wagga City Library Review – Draft REFERENCE POINTS THEMES 1. Growth NSW Coffs Harbour Port Macquarie Lots of economic, social & cultural Tamworth Dubbo opportunities/potential for unequal Port Stephens Orange distribution of services to support disadvantaged communities VIC Albury Bendigo 2. People & Place Ballarat Geelong Growth + liveability, accessibility, equality of opportunity How does WWCL compare with = need for cultural infrastructure other regional cities? = libraries. • One of the smallest city library services of any regional city in NSW and Victoria • Smaller staff cohort • Smaller spatial footprint in comparison to other regional city libraries of similar populations Performing well: programs + collection diversity + staff responsiveness FUTURE: RECOMMENDATIONS 2020 - 2038 NOW 2020 - 2022 INTERMEDIATE 2022 - 2025 LONGER TERM 2025 - 2038 Reconfigure floorplan: Maximise Implement Agile Library: Expand Agile Library Services in use of current and potential nimble van that can be driven response to population growth. floorspace to increase seating and by staff to suburbs and villages. Redesign footprint of the study areas, digital access and Trial activation of a library Civic Centre including the Civic programming. presence in neighbourhood Arcade; integrate Customer Level 1: More learning/meeting locations e.g. Glenfield Service/Library experiences; spaces; western end - install casual Community Centre & Ngurra stretch outwards towards seating and a smaller concierge desk Youth Hub in Ashmont. Wollundry Lagoon including to replace the large front desk; install a Café. Explore possibility of 24/7 mobile technology with bookable kiosk. Explore need for a branch laptops/tablets and café style library in a growth area. benches; install smart return shelves Add capabilities: outreach, to accommodate recent returns; digital engagement, diverse self-serve coffee bar. Enclose the futures, learning and literacies. book chute returns area. Level 0: Expand Children’s Area for events and regular Storytime sessions; install smart return shelving. 7 Around the clock… 2020: A DAY IN THE LIFE Knitting Circle AT WAGGA WAGGA Around 25-30 people “Summer 2019-2020: our community is at a loss to know CITY LIBRARY how to deal with the growing sense of hopelessness in the face of bushfire emergency. Storytime Book launch The library holds a Knit for Around 125 people and reading Joey’s event to support our local chapter of WIRES. We across two sessions Around 65 people provide cake and tea, always a (kids and parents) great social lubricant. Around 20 women gather to knit, other members of the community donate wool and needles, there is a sense of purpose for these women, they share skills, knitting patterns, and stories of fire survival they make sense of the wold through the simple act of being together with common cause. Across the day the group decides they would like to continue to Local studies knit together each Tuesday. The library has facilitated requests this request. This group has “A woman came in asking now decided to knit beanies for help. She was born in for Wagga’s homeless, the Wagga Wagga but moved library will connect with local away as an adult. All her welfare agencies to organise family came from Wagga, distribution.” and when she was a little girl Chrissie her grandmother died, but it wasn’t talked about. With no explanation, visits to her grandma stopped abruptly. I was able to find information Disability support in Trove about where and “Kerry is a regular Library how her Grandma died, and customer with a vision identify where her Grandma’s impairment. Typically, she house had been, using the comes to the Library to type council mapping portal and letters. When she enters, she Computer access NSW lands department. will come to the main desk Tourists, grey nomads, With the information I was to ask for help to log on to international backpackers, able to give her, the woman a computer, find the word job seekers, students: was able to trace her processing feature, and for the use the library facilities to Grandma’s route to where font to be changed to size 48.