ACT libraries are understaffed and in decline, says petitioner Caitlin Winter. Photo: Libraries ACT Facebook.
People in Canberra don’t know how far the ACT Government libraries have fallen behind those in other jurisdictions, according to the woman who launched a petition calling for more funding, more staff and longer opening hours.
Caitlin Winter is a former public library worker, teacher and is studying teacher librarianship. She sees libraries as an essential service that binds the community together.
She was spurred into action by reports of so many unplanned library closures occurring, usually due to staff shortages.
The Legislative Assembly petition has garnered more than 600 signatures, enough for the issue to be considered for a committee inquiry, although Ms Winter would prefer an independent inquiry given there has already been a libraries committee inquiry in 2018-19 and public consultation on the future of the library system in 2021-22 (Imagine 2030).
Ms Winter said she had observed a steady decline in the ACT’s libraries over the past five years.
She said the ACT did not even have a strategic plan yet for its libraries, although City and Government Services Minister Tara Cheyne told the Legislative Assembly last month that one was “well advanced” and expected to be finalised in the last quarter of 2025.
Ms Winter said the minimum hours that Libraries ACT operate, which they’re struggling to fulfill because of staffing shortages, were still below what the Australian Library Information Association recommend for minimum opening hours per capita of population.
“I thought for a very long time that ACT Libraries are just generally really behind other states, not just in terms of opening hours, but in terms of service and programs and collection and investment,” Ms Winter said.
She regularly visits interstate libraries and even smaller regional ones looked so much better and had more things going on.
“The rest of the nation’s libraries are seeing a big increase in participation rates and people coming through the door, and that’s mainly driven by the fact they’re offering a lot more events and programs,” Ms Winter said.
She said the constant closures were damaging the libraries’ reputation and future use of the service, saying staff recruitment and retention was an issue, and a lack of trained permanent library staff.
There also seemed to be a decline in the number of books and authors offered. Many people had complained to her since launching the petition that branches often did not have a book they wanted or that reservation waiting lists were too long to the point of having to wait a year in some instances.
Borrowers also said obtaining a library card was too onerous and the website was hard to use.
Ms Winter said she would like to a see a more localised response to community needs and libraries to become more community hubs.
“Its real strength would lie in being a community service and providing access to information and education,” she said.
Ms Winter would prefer Libraries ACT to sit with Community Services rather than City Services.
Under the just announced ACT Public Service restructure, Libraries ACT will move to Access Canberra, where it is expected to increase its contact with vulnerable people.
A motion last month from Greens MLA Andrew Braddock passed by the Legislative Assembly requires the government to model the cost of increasing staffing levels to 0.8 FTE per 3000 residents and assess the need for services that Libraries ACT offer, including staffing requirements, and report back to the Assembly by the last sitting day in May.
