Viclink - old.plvn.net.auold.plvn.net.au/sites/default/files/PLVN Annual report 201… · Web viewPUBLIC LIBRARIES VICTORIA NETWORK INC. Annual Report 2010-2011. Presented to the

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PUBLIC LIBRARIES VICTORIA NETWORK INC

Annual Report 2010-2011Presented to the Annual General Meeting

September 13, 2011

Vision : Victoria has the best public library services

Annual Report 2010-2011

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Table of contents

PagePresident’s Report 3Introduction - About PLVN 4Office Bearers and Executive Committee 5Vision and Mission 6Public Library Facts 6Key result areas:

Advocacy and leadership Collaboration Innovation

891011

Subcommittee Reports Community Access Community Engagement and Participation Customer Service

121316

Reports of Statewide Library Development Projects 18


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President's Report

2010/11 was certainly a year of action! Commencing with the planning Retreat at Kaloroma we quickly settled into planning for the next triennium of statewide projects with our colleagues from the State Library. Whlist this was occurring there was a constant threat of a significant reduction to the $$$ allocated to these projects, however I am very pleased to note that the Library Board of Victoria has fully funded the first year of the 2011 projects as proposed.

Lobbying was high on our agenda as the State entered Election mode in 2010. Parties and their officials were briefed with a range of issues including capital and recurrent allocations for libraries. The work undertaken early in the year assisted the industry with the recent campaign to restore public library funding in Victoria. Of note was the opportunity that Carolyn Macvean(Vice president) and I were offered to brief the new Minister for Local Government, the Hon Jeanette Powell, MP in February this year.

During the year I participated in regular meetings as a founding partner for the National Year of Reading. It is pleasing to report that Federal funding has been allocated to assist with several of the initiatives developed and each state and territory is busy planning a whole year of exciting activities.

I participated in a workgroup assisting with the development of new national library guidelines that were launched in April 2011 in WA.

A highlight of the year was no doubt the public launch of Dollars Sense and Public Libraries at Geelong. The media coverage was extensive and a 40 minute ABC Radio interview with Derek Guille put the topic squarely out into the public arena. The research was very timely now that we learned of pending cuts to public library funding by the State government right at the end of the year. The Research is being looked at nationally and Queensland is about to undertake similar work.

We farewelled our very close colleague in Anne Marie Swirtlich in March as she made the move to take up the position to head the National library. A number of PLVN


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members were also recognized for the service to the industry as they looked to take up life beyond public libraries.

I would like to thank the MAV and hosting libraries for their hospitality during the year. The Executive has met every month and put in countless hours of time assisting with managing our business. Thank you for your support and for filling various roles representing PLVN when I have been unable to. It requires a dedicated team and you have demonstrated that in droves. Thanks to our Executive officer Elisabeth for all your hard work in keeping us on the “straight and narrow”.

John MurrellPresident

Introduction – About PLVNPublic Libraries Victoria Network Incorporated is an advocacy and collaborative body representing Victorian Public Libraries.

Its predecessor, known as Viclink, was formed in 1991, replacing earlier collaborative associations of public library managers dating back many years. Over the years Viclink’s role expanded from an information sharing network to a body strongly advocating and working for Victorian Public Libraries.

In 2001 Viclink established the Gulliver Consortium involving collaborative purchasing of online databases on behalf of all Victorian Public Libraries. This meant that many libraries who could not afford to subscribe by themselves were able to provide their members with these essential resources.

Viclink also fostered the formation of the Swift consortium which now has 21 members in Victoria and NSW. The Swift Consortium jointly purchases a library management system. Members are able to save money and also greatly expand the range of resources available to their library members.

Other achievements of Viclink included working with the State Library of Victoria on a range of Statewide Library Development Projects which provided tangible benefits to all Victorian public libraries.

The growth in the scope of the organisation’s activities prompted a review of its governance in 2007-2008. With all the projects being undertaken, it was becoming impossible for the organization to be run by volunteers.

In 2008 Viclink formed an agreement with the MAV (Municipal Association of Victoria) to provide administrative support and to employ an Executive Officer for 20 hours a week.

A full review of the Rules and Purposes was conducted and a new set adopted in October 2008. At the same meeting, the name of the organization was changed to Public Libraries Victoria Network Incorporated.

Office bearers and Executive Committee


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PLVN has an Executive Committee consisting of nine people, of whom at least two represent country libraries. Executive members are elected for three year terms with one third of them retiring each year.

Members of the Executive Committee in 2010-11 were:

President: John Murrell – West Gippsland Regional Library Corporation. Vice President – Carolyn Macvean – Goldfields Library CorporationSecretary – Anne Holmes – City of Boroondara Library ServiceTreasurer –Joseph Cullen– Eastern Regional Libraries Public Officer – Joseph CullenCommittee Members:Katrina Knox – Darebin Libraries- until January 2011Christine Mackenzie – Yarra Plenty Regional Library Corporation – From January 2011Karyn Siegmann – Bayside Library ServiceNatalie Brown – City of Greater Dandenong LibrariesChris Kelly – Brimbank LibrariesTrish Smyth – Kingston Information and Library Service

An Annual Report and audited financial statements are presented each year at the AGM. PLVN holds at least four general meetings of members each year with additional meetings as required to discuss particular issues.

A revised Strategic Plan for 2009-2013 was adopted at the AGM in September 2009 and this report covers progress towards the key result areas which were identified in the Plan.

Vision: Victoria has the best public library services

Values Integrity


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Collaboration Action Innovation

Mission:

To develop strategies and facilitate initiatives to enable Victorian Public Libraries to deliver the best possible services to their communities

To be a critical component in the development of social capital in Victoria


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Victorian Public Libraries

Victorian public libraries have a proud tradition of providing free and impartial service and information to all members of the community regardless of race, creed, colour, ability or gender.

Public Library Facts:

There are 45 library services, including the Vision Australia library for the print impaired, serving a population of 5.395 million

These library services, either as regional libraries or as single-municipality services, provide free public library services to 79 Victorian local government areas.

There are 261 permanent branches, a further 29 other service outlets/joint use libraries and 26 mobile library vehicles.

Victorian libraries lend more than 52.7 million items per year There are 2.59 million registered library members representing 48% of the

Victorian population. Visits to public libraries totalled 28.17 million in 2009-10 There are 1,644 equivalent full-time staff working in Victorian public libraries, of

which 614 EFT are qualified librarians. There are 3032 individual staff working in public libraries across Victoria.

All Victorian library services provide some form of home library service, reaching more than 25,000 people across the State.

Library services are provided from 128,018 square metres of public floorspace

Statistics drawn from the 2009-2010 Annual Survey of Victorian Public Library Services (DPCD)

The majority of funding for public libraries is provided by local government with some support from the State Government.

Victorian Public Libraries provide a free service, with membership open to all residents of the State of Victoria. The range of resources provided covers all the traditional print formats, audio-visual items such as videos, DVDs and CD-ROMs as well as access to a wide range of electronic databases and the internet. Most libraries are now providing downloading services using MP3 devices. Libraries provide word-processing, photocopying, a range of learning programs and other services as part of their day-to-day operations. Many libraries also provide an online tutoring service.

Provision of access to computers and the internet has become a very important role for public libraries as libraries provide free access to these essential resources for those unable to afford their own equipment and connections.


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PLVN Key Result Areas

The following three KRAs have been identified as being vital to PLVN’s success and more importantly to the success of Victorian public libraries and the communities they serve.

1. Advocacy and LeadershipTo advocate on behalf of Victorian Public Libraries to increase their profile and their funding

2. Collaboration

To facilitate collaboration between libraries and with other stakeholders to deliver best practice library services to the public

3. Innovation

To create an environment where innovative solutions are encouraged, facilitated and implemented.

Key Outcomes

1. Advocacy and Leadership

Membership of the Ministerial Advisory Council on Public Libraries Membership of the Library Board of Victoria Advisory Committee on Public

Libraries

2. Collaboration

Consortium subscriptions to online resources Participation in the Statewide Library Development Projects with the State

Library of Victoria Development of new Statewide Projects for the next triennium Organisation of nine workshops for library staff The continued operation of SWIFT and LibraryLink Victoria which facilitate

collaboration and resource sharing between libraries

3. Innovation

Finding new ways to advocate for public libraries – attendance at events and direct approaches to political parties.

Developing links with community organizations – attendance at the Communities in Control Conference

Promoting innovations in libraries – workshops on downloadable e-books and RFID


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Report of Activities

1. Advocacy and Leadership

Membership of the Ministerial Advisory Council on Public Libraries (MAC). The MAC was set up to advise the Minister for Local Government on matters relating to public libraries. PLVN was represented by John Murrell and Anne Holmes. It represented a key conduit to the State Government, which is a major funding partner.

Following the change of government in November 2010, the future of the MAC was reviewed. It will be replaced by a larger group with multi-party representation and has been charged with completing a review of public library funding.

The Library Board of Victoria Advisory Committee on Public Libraries (ACPL)also includes representatives of PLVN. They are John Murrell, Karyn Seigmann, Joseph Cullen and Jenny Mustey. The ACPL oversees the Statewide Public Library Development Projects which are administered by the State Library of Victoria. Reports from the Statewide Projects appear later in this Report.

ACPL met four times during the year.

The Dollars, sense and public libraries report was completed and launched. This provides an excellent base for public library advocacy.

PLVN participated in the review of Library Technician training conducted by Innovation and Business Skills Australia

A submission on digital book production was made to the Book Industry Strategy Group which was established by the Commonwealth Government. The submission stressed the need for libraries to be involved and to be able to lend e-books

PLVN collaborated with ALIA to make a submission to the Victorian Floods Enquiry. This dealt with the effects of the floods on some rural library services, the need for disaster planning and the positive role of libraries in the aftermath of disasters.


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Mildura’s new mobile library

2: Collaboration PLVN continued to facilitate collaboration between its members and between public libraries and the State Library and other organizations. Some of the collaborative projects included:

The statewide subscription to Ancestry Library Edition – a very popular genealogical resource.

BRUCE consortium purchases of a number of other databases

Participation in the final year of the 2008-2011 Statewide Library Development Projects in collaboration with the State Library of Victoria. See below for full reports on these projects.

The development of proposals for the next triennium of Statewide Projects. These were discussed and recommendations made at the two day New Horizons retreat held in Kalorama in July. The Library Board accepted recommendations for six new projects to commence in 2011.

Nine workshops for library staff were organized by the various PLVN subcommittees and special interest groups. These were attended by a total of 640 library staff.


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3: Innovation

PLVN continued to explore ways to advocate for public libraries to various levels of government in order to achieve greater recognition of the contribution of libraries and also increased funding. Funding per capita for Victorian libraries is less than all the other major states in Australia.

Leaders of all political parties were approached prior to the November 2010 state elections. They were advised of the poor funding of Victorian libraries and asked to submit their policies. This lead to a presentation by Colleen Hartland, MLC at the Annual General Meeting and a meeting with the Chief of Staff of then Leader of the Opposition. In August 2011 the State Government announced a major review of funding to be conducted by the newly-reconstituted Ministerial Advisory Council on Public Libraries. This was a direct result of lobbying by PLVN, the MAV, local government and the community.

PLVN participated in the Communities in Control conference in May. This event was attended by 1000 representatives of community groups and not for profit organizations so many useful links were made. It was also an opportunity to display the promotional DVD produced jointly by Brimbank, Hobsons Bay and Maribyrnong Libraries. This is shows new migrant communities in particular what libraries have to offer.

PLVN continued to support innovation in libraries through events such as the Online Resources Forum and the RFID Workshop.


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Sub-Committee Reports.

Community Access Subcommittee – Convenor – Karyn Siegmann

Members:, Pru Menzies, Annette Harrison, Jenny Ackroyd, Fiona Clark.

Terms of Reference

a) Provide a forum for discussion of maximising community access to resources in Victorian public libraries

b) Provide information and resources in an equitable, cooperative and cost effective manner

c) Enhance access to resources and knowledge through cooperation among the member institutions for the benefit of their user communities

d) Ensure statewide access to a core level of materials and information services, regardless of geographic location, size of library services or mode of information/library delivery.

e) Place the public library at the forefront of the delivery of authoritative, current and free information

f) Increase public awareness and usage of the resources which are available to meet their information, knowledge, leisure and other needs

g) Maximise professional development opportunities for PLVN membersh) Provide regular strategic, analytical and quantitative reports to PLVN members

The Subcommittee coordinates the activities of various Special Interest Groups as follows:

Resource Sharing

LibraryLink Victoria Working Group was merged into this group during the year in recognition of the fact that all libraries are now part of LLV. The Special Interest Group met twice during the year to discuss interlibrary loans issues. Following the recommendations of the Milbur report into the operations of LibraryLink, training sessions were organized for staff throughout the state and library managers were advised of some of the time-saving measures available through LLV


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Collections

The Collections Special Interest Group held five meetings during the year. Topics included demonstrations of new products by vendors, discussions on the implications of e-books, issues around procurement and general information sharing.

Information Services

This group now incorporates the Online Resources Special Interest Group in recognition of the fact that online is now an established format for information.The group met five times during the year. Activities included organization of the Online Resources Forum and design of a statewide survey of reference questions which took place in May.

Preliminary results from the reference survey indicate a reduction in traditional information and readers advising requests and a big increase in requests for assistance in using computer equipment and online resources. This has implications for staff recruitment and training.

Community Participation and Engagement Subcommittee – Convenor- Carolyn Macvean

Members: , Michael Byrne, Robyn Burns, Elaine Craig, Letizia Mondello, Sue Gray, Shirley Bateman, Marcia Holdsworth

Terms of Reference

Provide a forum for the discussion of specialist services to and issues in our communities


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Provide a forum and advocacy role for the promotion of the library as a welcoming place

Identify and/or provide opportunities to work collaboratively on statewide initiatives

Identify training and development opportunities in specific areas for public library staff including publicity and promotion

Identify gaps in the provision of public library services that maximize social inclusion

Collaborate with the Community Access and Community Services Subcommittees regarding the provision of Special Interest Group projects/initiatives that maximize benefit for PLVN Members.

Creatively enhance the reader experience

The Subcomittee met regularly during the year to monitor the work of the various subgroups.

Special Interest Groups Reporting to the Subcommittee

Children’s and Youth Services and Programs

This group participated in a successful partnership with the State Library to co-ordinate activities for Children’s Week. There was a special book offer, a competition organized by members of the group and special events organized by the State Library.

Two professional development workshops were held during the year and each was attended by more than 80 library staff from throughout the state.

The October Workshop focused on storytelling and ideas to enhance storytime sessions in libraries and the June workshop was entitled “Programs with Punch” and covered, among other things, baby signing and African dancing. Holiday programs and homework clubs were also discussed.

Home Library Services

A successful workshop was held in September and attended by 66 people. Presentations covered various issues of interest to home library services including serving multicultural communities and managing volunteers. The “Book Well “ bibliotherapy program at the State Library was featured. There was also a technology display of relevant new equipment.

Three general meetings were held during the year.


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Multicultural Services and Programs

This Special Interest Group met twice during the year. Activities included the compilation of a directory of languages held in Victorian public libraries which is available on the PLVN website and discussion of the provision of home library service to the CALD communities.

Local Studies

This group held four meetings during the year. These were at The Old Treasury Building, City Library (incorporating a City Walk), the Athenaeum Library and the refurbished Nunawading Library. The meetings were used for information sharing on local history and genealogy.

Reader Development

This Special Interest Group has been involved in the rollout of the Frontline training program for readers advising. All library services have agreed to participate and more than 900 staff will complete the training over six cycles from February 2011-Sepember 2013.


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Customer Service Subcommittee – Convenor- Natalie Brown

Members: Leith Baggs, Judy Bell, Michelle McLean, Tom Edwards, Joanne Smith

Terms of Reference: Achieve best outcomes for the community through:

Identifying skills required by 21st century library staff

Skills enhancement through staff training mentoring and other like programs

Sharing operations knowledge

Explore, promote and share ideas and innovation with potential library applications

Raise the profile of marketing, to fully integrate it as a core function of public libraries

Special Interest Groups Reporting to the Subcommittee

Library Operations Group

This Special Interest Group held a training workshop on change management and collaborated with the ICT Special Interest Group on a workshop on the technical and human resource aspects of RFID.

LibmarkTwo Seminars on library marketing were held during the year.

“Achieving your marketing goals through collaboration and partnership”, was held in October at William Angliss Conference Centre and attracted 55 people from libraries around the state. The development of partnerships is a growing phenomenon within Public Libraries in Australia. They can be a significant marketing tool, enabling services to achieve their strategic goals. The seminar looked at partnerships from this marketing perspective. The seminar provided insights on the benefits, challenges and processes involved in joining forces with individuals and organisations. Key speakers included, Tracey Oliver, Coordinator, Community Centre’s Network, Maribyrnong Council; Debra Rosenfeldt, Manager, Public Libraries, State Library of Victoria, Tony Iezzi, Vision Australia, and Carol Coulson, Project Manager, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. This seminar also provided an opportunity for libraries to share about their marketing success stories achieved through partnership.


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Libmark sponsored the annual Library Promotion Marketing Awards which were won by the Campaspe Regional Library for “Get Crafty” (best promotion on a small budget) and Yarra Libraries for “Chinese reading Month”. (The best Overall Campaign or Promotion)

“National Year of Reading – a Marketing Bonanza!” was held at the Wheeler Centre in June. It was Libmark’s most popular seminar to date with 112 bookings, including CEOs, library managers, and staff from SLV. Speakers included NYOR patron William McInnes, Sue McKerracher from the Library Agency who gave the overview of NYOR, Christine McKenzie on the future of the reading and Michael Williams from the Wheeler Centre talking about City of Literature and Wheeler Centre programming.

The afternoon also included presentations of a more practical nature, from Bibliotherapy to Adult and bilingual literacy programs and finally a storyteller of note to wrap up the afternoon.

The Libmark Promotion Marketing Award was launched, as was the new Libmark logo.

2011 Libmark Promotion Marketing award The focus of this year’s award is to provide funding to assist libraries to promote the National Year of Reading 2012. Two prizes of $750 will be awarded.

ICT Special Interest Group

This group comprises 13 IT librarians from Victorian public libraries and it met five times during the year and has organised a number of useful workshops. The workshop on the technical aspects of downloadable e-books was held in June 2010 and reviewed. This was followed by a seminar on RFID held in conjunction with the Library Operations Special Interest Group in February. This was attended by 83 people. Planning is underway for a workshop on Discovery Layers in July 2011.

The group has clearly tapped in to the need for Victorian library staff to find out more about the implications of new technology as all workhshops have been very well-attended.


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Statewide Project Workgroups

2010-11 was the final year in this batch of three year projects.

Being the Best We Can – Christine Mackenzie

Workgroup Members:Michael Scholtes, Suzanne Gately, Karyn Siegmann, Briengan Rogers, Christine Mackenzie (PLVN)Debra Rosenfeldt, Leneve Jamieson (SLV)Gerard Colla, Euan Lockie (Australian Continuous Improvement Group)

Over the last three years this project developed a matrix for library evaluation and improvement based on a Scottish model. Nine Victorian public libraries were evaluated as part of the project. The process involves structured self evaluation and peer review.

The framework and toolkit which were developed for Being the Best We Can was awarded the Victorian local government’s LGPro award for Excellence in the category of Management Initiative in a competitive field of 115 nominations for the Awards and six finalists in this category.

The success of Being the Best We Can led to the PLVN resolving to continue the evaluation process under a self funding model at the conclusion of the statewide project.


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Building Knowledge for Library Advocacy- Katrina Knox

Workgroup members:Chris Kelly, Peter Carter, Katrina Knox, Joseph Cullen, Patti Manolis, Jenny Ruffy, Jane Grace, Leith Baggs, Kerri Sidorow (PLVN) Debra Rosenfeldt, Andrew Hiskins, Matthew Van Hasselt (SLV)

The Building Knowledge for Library Advocacy (BKLA) project had fourbroad goals.:

• To expand the understanding among funding decision-makers of the value ofpublic libraries to the community and justify continued and increased investment.

• To prove that public libraries contribute economic benefit to the community.• To provide public library managers with new tools for assessing the performance of their services.• To upskill public library managers in the area of advocacy.

The result of this project was the landmark report Dollars, sense and public libraries which was prepared by SGS Economics and Planning and launched at Geelong in April 2011. The report was able to demonstrate the economic value of public libraries to the Victorian community and quantify the value as an average of $3.56 for every dollar spent.

As part of the project a toolkit was developed to enable individual libraries to calculate their own economic value. PLVN has undertaken to have the information in the toolkit brought up to date each year.

The project was awarded the Social and Community Based Planning category award by the Planning Institute of Australia (Victoria) and the National Planning Institute of Australia Award for Social and Community Planning.

The report has received considerable publicity and will form the basis for advocating for greater resources and better recognition for public libraries.

Shared Leadership – Carolyn Macvean.

Workgroup members: Beck Henshall, Barry McGuren, Genimaree Panozzo, Suzanne Gately, Carolyn Macvean (PLVN), Debra Rosenfeldt, Melanie McCarten (SLV).

The Shared Leadership course focused on leadership competencies in the areas of change, team building and managing people, communication, negotiation and influencing and collaboration for public libraries.


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Twenty library staff participated in the second round of Shared Leadership. All received management training and completed special projects as follows:

Guidelines for Joint Use or Co-located Public Libraries Exploring Library 3.0 and beyond Information and Learning Portal ProTeens – teenage volunteering program

All projects presented reports at the State Library in April.

Digitising Victorian Newspapers – Anne Holmes

This project has concentrated initially on newspapers from areas affected by the 2009 bushfires and 40 titles have been completed. Many are now accessible through the National Library Trove website and the remainder are in the process of being uploaded. The next priority is newspapers from the World War I period and work has started on these.

Travelling exhibition – Trish Smyth.

The Independent Type Travelling Exhibition toured around Victoria for two years Over this period it travelled 4,167 km and was seen by 68,000 people at 18 different sites.


Documents

Viclink - old.plvn.net.auold.plvn.net.au/sites/default/files/PLVN Annual report 201… · Web viewPUBLIC LIBRARIES VICTORIA NETWORK INC. Annual Report 2010-2011. Presented to the