On my way to Wagga for the Libero user group meeting. It's been a good day. Visited libraries at Goulburn, Yass & Gundagai. Yass & Gundagai have old buildings, tucked away from the main street, but their collections & facilities are great! All the libraries I've seen today have plenty of books, PCs, reading & study areas, plus specific collections & areas for various user groups, be they children, youth, or aged. And the staff are always friendly, visible & accessible.
It would be nice if the libraries were more visible from the main streets, but the good news is they are all well signposted, so it is easy to find them. Only one library I saw today was closed (it only opens limited hours). The rest were all open & serving customers.
I was particularly impressed with some of the collections I saw today, with one exception, none of the libraries appeared to have strong reference [not for loan] collections. Most appeared to have been absorbed by the non-fiction lending collections. Hmmn.. I wonder if we really need our reference collection to be quite so extensive (and spacious)? Especially as so many people are now depending on us for internet access.... and a place to do their homework? Things are changing. We have noticed a sharp increase this year in the number of people using our free Wifi access. ....free? Hey! Just remembered, as I write this, I'm using Gundagai McDonald's free WiFi access! Makes a lot of sense. I like the way you can login immediately, without any password. Maybe we should do that on our Wifi, certainly makes it easy & convenient for people.
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