International public library trends.

In May and June 2002 27 libraries and 3 central support services were visited in Singapore, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, UK, Canada and the US. Outcomes of the visits are described under lifelong learning and community development; program delivery; reference services; user empowerment; materials handling; opening hours; workforce; staff development; staff structures; funding; library design. Notable trends, mostly very positive for public libraries, are identified. Edited version of a paper given at the 7th biennial conference of the WA Local Government Librarians Association March 2003

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In 2000 the City of Joondalup in WA commenced a process to develop new strategic directions for its library service. As part of this process the manager of library and information services undertook an overseas study tour to collect information to feed into it.

Research identified libraries which were considered to be providing innovative or leading edge solutions in service development. The visits commenced in Singapore on 20 May and concluded in Seattle on 19 June 2002. Twenty seven libraries and 3 central support services were visited in

* Singapore

* Helsinki, Finland

* Aarhus, Denmark

* Norrkoping, Sweden

* Chelmsford, Croydon and Sutton, England

* Toronto, Burnaby, Richmond and Vancouver, Canada

* Seattle, US

Lifelong learning and community development Strategic level

In Singapore the National Library mission is

   To expand the learning capacity of the nation so
   as to enhance national competitiveness and
   promote a gracious society

The Singapore government agenda is to invest in lifelong learning to equip people with knowledge in order to stay focused in a competitive environment and develop the economy. This acknowledges that the acquisition of knowledge cannot be confined to learning through formal institutions and environments. Libraries, referred to as street corner universities, have been identified as the major tool to stimulate and satisfy the community thirst for knowledge. Singapore is literally reinventing its libraries through investing in their growth by developing new local, regional, and national libraries under a 5-10 year capital works program as well as expanding program delivery.

Singapore libraries take an active role in introducing the community to emerging trends through interactive programs based around branch library themes such as Lifescience @the_courtyards, IT@orchard, and kidsdiscovery@parade. There are also higher level programs, such as the Asian Children's Festival which stimulates an interest in reading, literature and culture. Statistics of 25 million loans compared to 21 million visits demonstrates the trend in Singapore to increasing user visits for other than borrowing.

Program delivery

Internationally the traditional library focus on literacy programs has been greatly expanded to encompass the lifelong learning process from beginning to end. It is acknowledged that intellectual, coordination and language skill development all influence subsequent literacy skills development. Library staff are outreaching to engage people from birth. The diverse range of initiatives implemented appears only restricted by resourcing and staff creativity.

Partnerships with the infant health clinics may include the library providing the clinic nurse with library kits or book gift vouchers to give to new mothers to be redeemed at the library. The subsequent visits to the library provide opportunities to introduce both to library resources and activities.

The national Canadian Mother Goose program was established in response to government identification that many children were starting school with inadequate language skills. The program works with parent and child, particularly migrants, to increase oral skills. It then continues to introduce books and literacy.

Children's libraries

Children's libraries have become much more involved in assisting the development of child intellectual, manual and coordination skills. Storytimes are incorporating motor skill development and pcs are being introduced which are more child friendly. The Library Connection@ Crossroads in the Seattle King County Library System is an interesting example. This service point was established to connect traditional nonlibrary ethnic residents to library services by trying to make it more appealing and less institutionalised. At the time of the visit a two year old child was parked in a stroller at a low level pc. The slimline monitor was wall mounted and accompanied by a kiddie fingers keyboard. The child sat there with dummy in mouth and was absolutely engrossed in his task. The concentration span and dexterity in using the mouse and clicking at the appropriate time was astonishing for a child of this age. Clearly this child was gaining an early advantage in skills development. It is probable that he also attends the multilingual storytelling in this library connection facility and has become an early reader. It is unlikely that many parents would let children this age near the home computer and highly unlikely they would purchase suitable equipment for a passing developmental stage.

Family literacy 

The Vancouver Public Library annual Family Literacy Week supports family interaction. The One Book-One Vancouver program encourages all in the city to join the fun and read the same book by a local author. Such a project not only supports local authors, it encourages reading and, most importantly, it also promotes community participation and interaction.

One or two primary school classes visit the Norrkoping library daily with each class visiting 3-4 times or more each semester. Norrkoping has a social inclusion approach. When a child in a group is not a member, he or she is enrolled and is allowed to borrow. The library sends a letter to the parent advising that the child has been to the library and encloses information regarding library rules.

Read Across America is a national year long reading extravaganza culminating in March, and showcasing storytimes already in place. In 2001 over 35 million readers participated.

In Seattle, people are starting to expect the library to be doing something new and exciting. The Seattle Public Library conducts a variety of programs including

* Global Reading Challenge is a battle of the books with school teams from years 4 and 5 reading the same ten books then competing in an atmosphere of teamwork and competition

* What if all kids read the same book? involves many partners including two library systems, schools, children's theatre and is presented in several languages including sign language

* the teen program READiscover your world features draw cards such as basketballers, creative writing workshops, kickboxing, rap and lyric writing, henna body art and robots

The King County Library System outside of Seattle conducts the themed author series 'Author! Author!' Ready Set Read, and the Accelerated Reader program.

Other programs

Apart from programs directly delivered by the library there is also an increasing number of other learning and social opportunities within libraries which enhance the experience of the library visit. Providing a venue for the exhibition of artworks is achieving a higher presence incorporating library artworks, travelling exhibitions and dedicated galleries. Music programs are also appearing in libraries such as youth bands in the Singapore library@orchard entry, pre examination public performances by students in Norrkoping, weekly jazz in the library cafe in Croydon, and Shake the Stacks in Seattle.

In terms of seniors services Australia is generally acknowledging well the need to plan for an ageing population as well as servicing current seniors' learning needs.

New programs under development in Australia, such as IT courses for seniors, are equal to any observed overseas.

Reference services

There has been a distinct shift in many libraries to provide extensive reference services online for user access within the library and remotely. This is an area experiencing significant developmental work. Reference Easy Links, for example, assesses and classifies websites for easier use by members. Several libraries have interactive versions of Ask a Librarian, primarily an email reference enquiry form, with a prominent presence on the homepage and in marketing materials. This service is increasing with the development of chat facilities. Telephone reference services are expanding with a trend to operate the service in a purpose built nonpublic location. Several of the larger reference services are developing consortia to develop and share interactive services, which can then be made available 24/7.

Empowering the user

'Power to the user' is an IT industry approach being applied to libraries. It reflects the principle of self service being adopted by service leaders.

Australian libraries are already implementing online facilities such as enabling library users to

* become a member from home or work

* place reservations

* renew loans

* make reference enquiries online

* search of catalogues of other libraries

* read a magazine article online

Overseas, these facilities are being extended to include

* account payments

* bookings for program classes, pcs for internet, word processing, library events and meeting rooms

* self collection of holds

* presorting of returns

It is acknowledged that development of these services requires considerable resourcing initially. The most successful programs have the simplest interface for the user, which of course generally involves more complex programming. The presentation of information must be clear and easily accessible so that the user does not have to delve deep into the library system, require tittle input from the user to achieve the transaction and provide simple confirmation that the transaction has been successful.

Materials handling

Automated self service facilities are being developed integrated with materials handling systems. Developments have been taking place in each of these areas for some time. However a more holistic approach is now occurring and is opening up many possibilities. The application of radio frequency identification technology (RFID) and robotics to the library environment is providing a significant step forward, particularly in catering for the huge amount of materials being handled on a daily basis.

There have been problems with the introduction of serf service loans into public libraries in Australia due to the withdrawal of one of the two key suppliers from the industry. Without support for these suppliers equipment there has been significant downtime which has impacted on user service levels and staff working conditions. A key focus area of the study tour was to identify developments occurring with self service technology.

Singapore was one of the first countries to apply RFID to libraries. Its libraries provide self service loans but not returns at this stage. The massive, behind the scenes, transportation of materials does not appear to have been addressed as a priority in the early stages of the major development program.

Helsinki utilises central materials sorting equipment. Boxes of items are shipped in daily, placed on a scanning and sorting conveyor belt, reboxed and delivered to next location overnight by a contracted courier.

Aarhus in Denmark is leading the way with the implementation of the Crisplant Library Mate which was commissioned in the months following the study tour. This system provides 24 hour user access to automated loans return. It was developed by Aarhus with the manufacturer and is based on airport baggage handling technology. It provides solutions for small, medium and larger libraries from basic receipted returns and user dialogue via a touch screen to expanded self service loans and payment facilities. The medium and large solutions also incorporate materials sorting. Users deposit returned materials into a checkin machine. As the items move along a conveyor belt the loan is discharged, the next destination for the item is determined, such as return to the shelf specific collection shelving trolley, reservation for another borrower or transfer to another library. The item proceeds along the conveyor belt until it reaches the designated trolley or box.

Magnetic or RFID options are available. However the magnetic system is losing popularity as it is far less efficient at processing individual items and in a much more cumbersome manner than RFID.

Seattle Public Library is in the process of implementing a similar system to Aarhus but also including a facility to enable users to collect requests after hours. The person will access the service through badging their membership card, the system will identify if there is a request for collection, retrieve the request and eject it back through the external checkin machine. These machines can be programmed to enable user access to a range of online services after hours. The sorting system components also have the flexibility to be reprogrammed for other functions, such as acquisition sorting at any time during the day. It seems inevitable these technologies will become a part of the way all libraries do business.

Implementation of this technology is currently too expensive for individual Western Australian and many other public libraries in Australia so consortia appear to offer a solution which could ensure library services keep pace. The Western Australian system interchanges great quantities of stock as a part of normal business. For each library system to be taking different decisions is very expensive, inefficient, confusing for users and presents the potential for a range of problems due to noncompatibility. Implementation of compatible systems would make it possible to achieve agreed standards to ensure resource savings for all.

Opening hours

The libraries visited were part of larger systems, so information was gained on many more than the 27 visited, In order to provide a simple summary the hours of the 152 libraries were collated.

* common weekday opening times were 10am (55%) or 11am (22%)

* common weekday closing times were 8pm (32%) or 9pm (50%)

* Saturday opening is undertaken by 99%

* common Saturday opening times were 10am (43%) and 11am (27%)

* common Saturday closing times were 5pm (43%) and 6pm (29%)

* Sunday opening is undertaken by 34%

* common Sunday opening time was 1pm (73%)

* common Sunday closing times were 5pm (59%) and 8pm (20%)

* 15% of libraries close one day a week

* 14% of libraries close 2 days a week

There does not appear to be a significant trend to extending opening hours by opening early morning or closing late in the evening, although there were some exceptions. In Helsinki summer opening hours are less than in winter and in Vancouver Sunday opening is restricted to summer months.

Human resource matters

Ageing workforce

The main common concern relates to an ageing workforce. In many libraries succession strategies are being developed as a matter of priority as the majority of senior staff will retire in the next 5-10 years. The most common contributing factor is the curriculum shift in library schools towards IT skills. Graduates are not entering public library work but taking up more lucrative IT positions.

The average age of staff is also becoming higher. Library staff are continuing beyond 65 years, as in the King County Library system which employs staff up to 85 years of age. This trend increases occupational health and safety risk and provides additional support for the implementation of automated materials handling.

Staff development

Staff development is also receiving an increased focus with continuous and broad based staff training programs. An example from the Toronto Public Library demonstrated 22 training courses over 20 available weekdays in June 2002. The courses ranged from 2 hours to a full day, were run by inhouse staff and covered

* Excel '97

* Word '97

* English can be fun

* Login and use of network drives at TRL 

* Readers advisory workshop

* OH&S Act

* News and current events at TRL

* FMLC--rotating deposits

* Street Smart

* Business and company information at TRL

* Community information database

* Ontario Child and Family Services Act

* Tea and books workshop

* Database maintenance

* Electronic resources for readers advisory at TRL

Most of the courses increase staff confidence in their skills but also encourage them to market products, particularly online resources, to users.

It is interesting to see the changing social training needs for library staff. The Child and Services Act training at the Toronto Public Library addresses the procedure for children in need of protection, to help staff to determine when to report an incident to relevant authorities. The Street Smart session provides skills to effectively manage difficult, abusive and potentially violent situations.

In Finland human resources receive a heightened focus. It is acknowledged that staff are operating in a change environment impacted by IT, lifelong learning, teaching methods, a rise in community education levels, an increasingly multicultural user base and the introduction of digital and networked services alongside a continuing demand for traditional services. These changes bring demand for new services and enquires which are more demanding, requiring increased social, communication skills and marketing skills.

Helsinki also places an emphasis on staff morale. Every three years an external consultancy measures the staff attitude to the corporate image and internal working atmosphere. 'Values' are also evaluated. These are measured based on multivalues such as equality, freedom, multidimensional and confidentiality. The target is a satisfied and committed staff to guarantee future success. People must feel competent, skilled and appreciated.

In North America there is a trend for larger library systems to have their own annual staff conference. The Vancouver staff conference appeared very successful. The conference occurs over two days with attendance open to all staff. The organisation operates basic front line user services for the conference duration, providing all staff with the opportunity to attend as many sessions as they wish. Individual staff members, not supervisors, nominate sessions to be attended. The conference program is the responsibility of a staff conference committee and comprises a range of strategic, work applications, health and well being and general interest. The conference concludes with a party. Vancouver Public Library achieves this event on a limited budget as most of the program speakers are volunteer staff and advertising and venue hire costs are minimal. The organisation budgets for a keynote speaker and the wind up function. The conference provides the opportunity for networking, building the internal culture and improving morale.

The delivery of library programs aligned to community learning and development of new skills is increasing rapidly. Traditional library focused programs have been expanded greatly. In addition library staff are increasingly becoming teachers, particularly in relation to online technology. Teaching people the most basic skills in using pcs and the internet is now accepted internationally as an important role for library staff as it represents a direct extension of the role of facilitating and ensuring equity of access to information. This, of course, also requires new skill sets for staff.

It was not surprising to find confirmation that the internet, far from early predictions that it would replace the need for libraries, has presented the greatest opportunities and challenges to enable libraries to continue to be a vital component in community development.

Staff structures

Internationally, staffing structures of large library systems are now including senior strategic staff to ensure targeted service development. Structures are also acknowledging IT demands. The rapid development of online services and public use hardware and software is requiring dedicated library IT sections. In addition branch libraries structures are now including technicians to ensure equipment reliability and fast trouble shooting. This is a logical adjustment to the staff structure as the branches are remote from the central IT support and offer user service over extended hours.

There is a higher ratio of librarians to clerical staff compared to Australia. Commonly one third are qualified librarians, providing for more skilled people to develop and deliver programs, including online. The clerical staff are generally part time and undertake the more physical work spreading the physical workload aspect over more bodies. It also provides more flexibility as many part time staff wish to work additional hours and are available at short notice.

Financial

England was the only country placing an emphasis on income generation in the public library. This is a direct consequence of national funding cuts over many years. The government now provides funding for the development of specific programs for which local governments must submit bids. Development of submissions is very time consuming but as most programs are targeting social inclusion ie the less affluent areas, councils which do not fall into this category are suffering.

They are forced to develop alternative funding strategies. Income generating initiatives include leasing out display space, hire of videos, dvds and cds and the sale of a range of items including stationary, Readyspex, greeting cards and publications. It appears that libraries placing a heavy focus on income generation subsequently lack the energy and resources for program development. These are the libraries experiencing decreasing loans.

Sponsorship is achieving a greater profile in North America. The Vancouver Public Library evidences sponsorship throughout. Sections of the library carry sponsor names, as do shelving units. The 2002 'One Book--One Vancouver' program also contained costs through the support of Literacy BC, 32 Books, The Word on the Street and Vancouver Asian Heritage. Other examples include the Singapore Nokia-NLB Arts program and the Nokia-NLB Creativity Program. Singapore is cautious about aligning only to strong commercial sponsors.

Several libraries promote donations and bequests. Sutton has a beautiful cased remembrance book with users paying to have a professional calligrapher inscribe a memorial to a loved one.

In Burnaby, Vancouver, donations are placed into an endowment fund. Expenditure of this fund is under the jurisdiction of the library board and does not require approval of the council. The endowment fund is used as seeding money to establish new initiatives. The fund has $30,000 generated annually by the interest. Funds generated by wills and bequests are flagged for a specific purpose. For example the Burnaby Perrot Trust can only be used for the housebound service. Such bequests can dictate that only a specified amount can be spent on a service each year. The only reporting required is advice of the status of the fund annually to the will executor. Books purchased by this means carry a book plate. This funding is gradually increasing.

No library charges membership fees. In the Seattle Public Library everything is free including photocopying. In general the range of services attracting a charge is similar to Western Australia. One library charges for nonattendance at courses once a booking is made as well as for the noncollection of reservations.

No library charged to access email. This is seen as an integral component of providing equitable access to the internet. It is considered that the email facilities in particular are bringing nonlibrary users back to the library, notably youth.

The Vancouver Library leases a large amount of office space, which will eventually return to library use. It also accommodates a range of tenants including coffee shops, a bookshop and a hairdresser.

Library design

One noteworthy observation is the rapid development of learning centres in libraries. It has been recognised that the community's training needs require appropriate infrastructure. Toronto was establishing centres at a rate of four a year, other library services provide mobile vehicle training centres, and the Seattle Public Library has a travelling laboratory comprising laptops and an established curriculum.

The Toronto High School outreach visits to year 9 classes are conducted by staff using an LCD screen to demonstrate the internet and virtual reference library ie research skills. This has been very successful, with a 40 per cent increase in youth membership.

In Scandinavia public libraries are very much becoming integrated with other learning providers. The threat of competition is no longer an issue. In smaller communities new libraries are characteristically joint use. Excellent examples of partial integration of public and educational libraries were seen in the Vikki and Vuossari libraries in Helsinki. In the first the library is the tenant whilst in the second the landlord. Vikki collections and functions are separate except for the reference and browsing periodical, newspaper and display collections.

The university functions covered five floors whereas the library was contained to the main entrance level. Staff and the public are able to move between the two libraries internally.

Vuossari Library comprises an education and cultural centre complex with the library as the landlord. The building is connected to a school on one side and sports centre on the other. There are three levels to the building. The entry or middle level is connected to the shopping centre by an external plaza. This level features the public library, a coffee shop, the art gallery, performing arts centre and technology learning centre. The upper level has a range of facilities for adult education. The lowest level connects the school to the sports centre and library complex but also features classrooms and an auditorium. The use of many of the facilities is shared. For example the classrooms are used by school students during the day and by adult education in the evening.

An exciting future

There is a sense of excitement internationally about the future of public libraries. The most notable trends are

* libraries are a growth industry

* libraries have redefined where their role in lifelong learning begins

* libraries are playing a much more dynamic role in community development

* some libraries are experiencing unprecedented memberships as high as around 80 per cent of the population

* usage of traditional lending services is generally continuing to increase at a steady rate, often around 4-8 per cent annually

* in person visits to libraries are increasing, often at around 10-20 per cent annually

* community demand for direct delivery of programs aligned to community learning and development of new skills is increasing rapidly

* there is an increasing library staff role as teacher particularly in relation to IT

* libraries are an integral partner in the lifelong learning process, not a competitor with other learning providers

* there is an unprecedented demand for libraries to develop and facilitate access to online services and information.

* purpose built technology/learning centres are being incorporated into library design

* governments are identifying libraries as key access points to ensure equitable access to information

* libraries are taking a much more professional approach to marketing

* staffing required to service the global increases in loans, in person visits, program development and delivery and online services is partially being offset by empowering the user through self service facilities and automating materials handling

* there is growing concern over an ageing professional workforce

* opening hours increases are focusing on weekends rather than earlier opening and later closing

* increasing costs are being partially offset by sponsorships and partnerships

Nerida Clifford commenced her library career as one of the first Library Board of Western Australia cadets. Following a short absence when her son was born, she returned to librarianship when she accepted a six week casual assistant librarian position at the then Shire of Wanneroo. She remained in the library system for 24 years. During this period Nerida was promoted to branch librarian, deputy city librarian and then in 1991 as manager library and information services. Recently Nerida decided upon a sea change and joined the Town of Cambridge as assistant library services manager where she is enjoying hands on librarianship again. Address: Cambridge Library 99 The Boulevard Floreat WA 6014 [e-mail]