Speaker 1 00:02
This is a Vision Australia radio podcast.
Speaker 2 00:19
On Vision Australia Radio, welcome to our conversations on the work and experiences of emerging writers. I'm Kate Cooper and our guest today is Christine Kennedy, Library Officer from the Holdfast Bay Library Service, which has branches at Glenelg and Brighton.
Speaker 2 00:37
One of the aims of our programme is to include reflections from people and organisations involved in supporting, encouraging and promoting writers and writing. Included in our plan is a series looking at libraries and librarians in our state.
Speaker 2 00:54
So we're delighted to be able to speak with Christine today about her work in and perspectives on our public libraries. Christine, welcome to the programme. Would you begin by telling us about your own background and what inspired you to become a librarian?
Speaker 3 01:12
Thank you for having me, Kate. When I was back at school in the 1970s my preferred subjects were always arts and reading and literature. I wasn't quite so keen on maths and science. So if I'd been left to my own devices I would most likely have drifted into teaching or government public service, probably, but my mum was always keen to read the paper and see what opportunities were out there and she discovered the opportunity to apply for a scholarship in public librarianship.
Speaker 3 01:46
I was fortunate to win one of those two places and what that meant was that I studied for a Bachelor of Arts in Library Studies at the Institute of Technology on North Terrace and then in the school holidays I would go into the State Library and work for six to seven weeks doing library work.
Speaker 3 02:04
It was a great opportunity to find out about cataloging, I did that one year, public libraries work in the Adult Lending Services another year and then I worked in the Children's Library one year. So by the time I'd finished doing that I knew pretty well that I liked cataloging the best and for the next few years I worked as a cataloger in the State Library of South Australia.
Speaker 3 02:25
So that's how I got my start but I knew pretty early on that libraries were where I liked to be.
Speaker 2 02:32
Fantastic. You mentioned your studies for librarianship, so what qualifications would someone need nowadays if they were interested in becoming a librarian?
Speaker 3 02:43
To work in a library as such, it's not essential to have a degree. Anybody who's interested in people, customer service, reading, popular culture is welcome to apply to work in a library. However, to rise up and perhaps do some of the more important roles, then you will need a degree of some sort.
Speaker 3 03:05
Now, mine was a Bachelor of Arts, but the current degree is usually the graduate diploma of Library and Information Management. But having said that, we have people who have nursing degrees, teaching degrees.
Speaker 3 03:19
Most generally, Bachelor of Arts, that type of degree is always welcome, and so it's a very broad category of people who can rise up and take higher positions.
Speaker 2 03:30
That's great, and being in public libraries, as you are now, you interact with people, and you mentioned before, people skills are very important.
Speaker 3 03:40
Essential, essential and a pleasant manner and patience too so that you're able to bring to people things that they are looking for and perhaps teaching them about new authors or new books or how to print their resume, lots of different things we do in libraries these days.
Speaker 2 03:59
And before we continue talking about libraries, I want to ask you about your own reading preferences. What types of books do you like to read and do you have any favourite reading places?
Speaker 3 04:12
well. I think I prefer Cosy Crime which is one of those genres that is best represented nowadays by Richard Osman and the Thursday Murder Club. Gentle, a little crime here and there but nothing too traumatic, quite a nice relaxed entertaining read.
Speaker 3 04:30
That is probably my preference although I really do like Australian writing and I've just recently finished The Sun Walks Down by Fiona Macfarlane, a brilliant Australian, South Australian author set up in the mid -north and as I was reading it I was entertained, I wasn't too traumatised and I felt like it was almost poetry on the page.
Speaker 3 04:55
I've also finished reading A Terrible Kindness which is a British historical fiction so I really do like that historical aspect where you're learning something about a time but there's the story about people.
Speaker 3 05:07
I highly recommend it.
Speaker 2 05:08
Thank you, and I must ask, following on from that, do you usually have several books on the go at once, or do you prefer to read one book at a time?
Speaker 3 05:17
Well Kate I don't know about you but I usually have three or four on the go. I belong to three book groups so there's generally three books that I'm required to read within a month but I also have my nighttime listen next to my bed so I don't read it.
Speaker 3 05:33
I listen to books either on Audible which is a commercial product or on one of the library apps, library subscription apps. So generally my nighttime listen is light not stressful guaranteed to send me off to sleep nicely.
Speaker 3 05:53
So I always have a nighttime listen and then generally I have three or four other books on the go. Sometimes I don't read book group books I just go off on my own and read something that I've seen it coming through the library or that customers tell me is wonderful.
Speaker 2 06:08
That'd be great. Yes, I usually have more than one on the go at the same time. Sometimes I'm reading ahead of interviewing someone for this program. I generally have a few and in different parts of the house as well.
Speaker 2 06:22
So it's kind of fun to have that choice.
Speaker 3 06:26
It certainly is, and sometimes it depends on your own mood, or what's happening in a book. So if I'm reading a thriller or a mystery, and I hit a spot that I find a little bit stressful or traumatic, sometimes I put the book down for a little while, till I get my head in that space and think, that's okay, Chris, you can keep reading, and then I'll come back to it.
Speaker 3 06:45
So yes, it depends on my mood and the book, what I read on any particular day.
Speaker 2 06:52
I have to say I love the feeling of being surrounded by books and I like sometimes revisiting old friends as well. Do you ever have books that you're tempted to go back and reread? Or is it there are so many exciting new books that there isn't time to reread?
Speaker 3 07:10
definitely reread some. One I was thinking of as you were speaking was Terry Pratchett. He had a book called Dodger. It wasn't science fiction, it was historical fiction and it's narrated, if you want to listen to it, by Stephen Fry.
Speaker 3 07:25
Oh that's a comfort read for me. It is entertaining, it's funny and Dodger of course is based on the Dickens character of the artful Dodger. It is so entertaining and I do go back and listen to that from time to time.
Speaker 2 07:40
on. And Stephen Fry of course has the most wonderful voice. Yes. Now in preparing for our conversation today I learned that the first local public library in South Australia was opened in December 1957 in the city of Elizabeth by the then -premier Sir Thomas Playford.
Speaker 2 07:59
The State Library of South Australia website tells us that there are now more than 130 public libraries in our state. There are two libraries in the city of Holdfast Bay, one in Brighton and one in Glenelg.
Speaker 2 08:14
Can you share with us some interesting facts about library services in South Australia?
Speaker 3 08:20
Certainly. Well the reason there are two libraries in the City of Holdfast Bay is that initially one was run by the Glenelg Council and the other was run by the Brighton Council but of course Council amalgamations happened from time to time so now we have the two sister libraries in the City of Holdfast Bay.
Speaker 3 08:40
Councils took over from the Institute library system and that was grew very early in the state and it was to educate people give people an opportunity to learn for their careers so they operated on a small fee and people could borrow books if they wished but then once councils took over gradually those Institute libraries disappeared and most councils in South Australia in fact I think all now have some form of public library in the rural areas they are often in schools so they're a school community set up and that is wonderful because it gives good quality public library services to people in the country areas who would otherwise not be able to get to a library easily
Speaker 2 09:32
Some of our listeners may not be aware that there is a library's essay app which they can download onto their mobile phones. I've been using mine a lot since this program started a year ago and it's been incredibly useful.
Speaker 2 09:46
Would you tell us about the features of the library's essay app?
Speaker 3 09:50
Yes, now that app, it's just been updated and it works to help people keep a track of what they've borrowed, what books they have on hold, if they wish to cancel a hold they can do it, so it's actually managing their own personal library account.
Speaker 3 10:06
It is not for reading books or listening to books, it is just for managing your library account. But one of the lovely things about the app is if you happen to be in a bookshop and you see a book that you're interested in, you can scan that ISBN number on the back of the book and it will take you into the library system and say hello that book is in the library and perhaps still buy it if you wish but you may decide to go off and borrow the book from the library.
Speaker 3 10:34
So it's really good when you're out and about, you don't have to carry your library card in your wallet anymore, you've got it on your phone. So that's the main benefit of the app but of course we do have some other apps too but I'll
Speaker 2 10:48
Having said that, not everyone uses apps on their phones, so would you tell us about the facilities and services that members of the public can access when they go into a South Australian public library?
Speaker 3 11:01
Yes, well, when people come into the Glenelg Library, one of the first things they see is a bank of computers, PCs, that people can use for an hour at a time using their library card access. We also have photocopying.
Speaker 3 11:15
We have the ability to print from your email on your phone straight directly to the printer. People can scan a document and send it to their own email account or to their doctor. Sometimes we feel like we are the office works and not the library at all.
Speaker 3 11:32
We do a lot of that technological services for people that can be done at home, but a lot of people don't have PCs or they feel a little bit intimidated by technology. As well as using our facilities, we have a team of staff who will assist, explain, help, and if necessary, a little bit of one -on -one on how to do an email, how to attach a file, how to use the library subscriptions.
Speaker 3 12:01
There is a lot of one -on -one available and one of our new initiatives, particularly at Glenelg, is to be able to digitise photos and slides. Now that's quite wonderful because I know most people at home have a stash of photographs, slides, things that they think, shall I keep it?
Speaker 3 12:21
It takes up too much space. You can actually make an appointment and come into the Glenelg Library and we will help digitise those items for you.
Speaker 2 12:31
That's incredible. So for somebody, for example, doing their family history or a history in their local area who comes across some photographs or has some, as you say, stored away, they can come in to the Glenirk Library.
Speaker 2 12:47
That would be a real help for people doing that historical work.
Speaker 3 12:52
It has been very popular, it's a new initiative and I can recommend the staff that run that particular program and I'm sure that it will only increase. People can do it commercially but sometimes people like to do that sort of thing themselves.
Speaker 2 13:09
killing people as well. So it's not just about come here and someone will do it for you, it's come here and someone will help you have the confidence to do it for yourself.
Speaker 3 13:20
Exactly. Once you've done it a few times, people are able to just do it themselves and get on with it because it's not a quick process. Brilliant.
Speaker 2 13:43
on Vision Australia Radio, you're listening to our conversation program, Emerging Writers. Our guest today is Christine Kennedy, Library Officer from the Holdfast Bay Library Service, which has branches at Glenelg and Brighton.
Speaker 2 13:59
Christine, how does your library service bring to our listeners the work of emerging and newly published writers in our South Australian community and how do libraries support creative writing processes, writers and writing?
Speaker 3 14:15
Well, we have a very proactive purchasing policy of looking at the work of local authors. So within the city of Holdfast Bay, we have lots of locally published authors. Valerie Volk is one. Lindy Warrell is another.
Speaker 3 14:29
Carol Lefevre. We actually try to purchase those books so that we've got them on the shelf. But another way we support those writers is we have something called Shut Up and Write, which you may have heard about, Kate.
Speaker 3 14:42
Several libraries run this now. It's an initiative that grew out of the United States. And the idea is that we are providing a quiet place where people don't talk, we don't give critiques, but they can just sit down, focus, write, and not be interrupted by children or the telephone or the television or whatever's happening in their own lives.
Speaker 3 15:06
So it's a dedicated time for writing. So Shut Up and Write. We run first Monday of every month, unless it's a public holiday, of course, for an hour and a half out of the Brighton Library. And sometimes we've had up to 15 people.
Speaker 3 15:19
Sometimes it's just a smaller group, four or five. They sit down, don't talk to each other and write. And at the end of the time I say, time's up, off you go. And they all enjoy it and feel like they have quite often achieved quite a lot in their writing that they wouldn't have done if they had been at home.
Speaker 3 15:38
That sounds like a wonderful initiative. We also organise workshops for writers. So in the past three or four years, we've done writers workshops and customers do need to pay for these because it's not cheap getting a quality author to come in and talk about their writing process, but they have been extremely popular.
Speaker 3 15:59
And we've got one coming up in April. We've got Mike Dumberton coming. He's a renowned South Australian local author who will talk about how to get over writer's block, how to get noticed by the publishers, his own story in publishing and a few exercises.
Speaker 3 16:16
And that should be really good. It's a Monday evening in April.
Speaker 2 16:21
At the end of the program, we'll give our listeners the details of where the Glen Elgin -Brighton libraries are and how to contact them. You said earlier about scanning an ISBN in a bookshop to see whether a book is in a library, so can members of the public make suggestions to the library about new books to obtain?
Speaker 3 16:41
yes they can. Now you may have heard of the One Card system for libraries. That was a wonderful initiative by Mr. Jeff Strempel who's now the director of the State Library and he drove that program starting in about 2009 and then it finished up in about 2016 so that the libraries across South Australia all share the same management system.
Speaker 3 17:04
So your One Card can help you borrow books from Burnside, Port Adelaide, Clare, Victor Harbour, wherever you are in the state. But everybody's card has a home membership as well. So our home membership customers are able to make a suggestion either online or by telephone to us and we will certainly consider any book that we don't have that we think would be good for the collection and that would be popular.
Speaker 3 17:35
So we wouldn't get something that was published in 1966 probably but if it is a new book of public interest we would certainly consider it.
Speaker 2 17:46
And you've mentioned the one library, the one card, and you talked earlier about community libraries and school community libraries. And I know that when I've borrowed books from the Glenelg Library, they've sometimes come from other public libraries, school libraries from around our state.
Speaker 2 18:03
And I remember being delighted when I was borrowing a copy of the Nellie Stories by Penny Matthews, who was a guest on this program. And that featured a story set in an around borough. And I saw that the copy had come from the Borough Community Library.
Speaker 2 18:19
That was a lovely moment to see that. Would you tell us about how that system works if someone wants a book that you don't have at Glenelg but is in the system?
Speaker 3 18:31
we would put a hold on the item so we can see which libraries have it. Sometimes there's lots and then the older books sometimes we down to one or two copies across the state. Quite often with the older books they're more likely to be in the country libraries because they have less capacity to keep all the new books so they often keep their older books a little bit longer.
Speaker 3 18:55
So within South Australia we have a courier system. By the time I've put the hold on within a day or two the other library that owns the copy will pick it off the shelf run it through the system put it in the courier box and it will arrive in perhaps a week or perhaps a bit longer depending whether it's on the shelf or out on loan for my customer to read or listen to.
Speaker 2 19:21
That is brilliant. As I say it's been a huge help for me in preparing for this program. You mentioned before that you belong to some book clubs and the City of Holdfast Bay website mentions that the library service currently supports 27 book discussion groups.
Speaker 2 19:40
Would you tell us about those?
Speaker 3 19:42
Those book discussion groups are actually, the 27 are there, but we do have an e -book group as well. I belong to three of them, but we support the book groups by having a physical collection of eight copies each of various titles.
Speaker 3 19:59
For example, we've got A Mandalari's The Labyrinth, we've got a Lee Child book, we've got lots of different books. We allocate them to these groups and each of the group has eight members. Currently the book groups are so popular that there are no vacancies.
Speaker 3 20:17
Occasionally they are groups of friends who've met years ago in the Brighton gym or dropping their kids at school. Those people stick close to their book group, so they very rarely have a vacancy. Some of the other groups we have created from scratch as we work through our wait list.
Speaker 3 20:38
The book group I'm most proud of is the blokes read group. All blokes, they've been going for five years, they are the most keen and serious of all. They sometimes have quite high level discussions, get quite agitated and then at the end all is well and they share a drink at the bar.
Speaker 3 21:00
So that group has done really well and it's nice to have a group of where blokes can feel comfortable. I mentioned we had a wait list. In order to provide, we can't really accommodate many more than 27 because we haven't got physical room for any more books, but we have decided to create something called Brighton Book Chatter and that will meet for the very first time on March the 14th, just after writers week, in the Brighton Library.
Speaker 3 21:28
No need to book, just come along and I will facilitate the first few and we'll give everybody an opportunity not to talk about the same book but what you've been reading in the last week or the last month.
Speaker 3 21:43
So it's an opportunity to share what you're reading, hear what other people are reading and if you like the sound of something that someone else is reading, we can help you put hold on or access it via the app.
Speaker 3 21:56
So there's a lot of different things happening around the Brighton Book Chatter and that's our way of working through that wait list for book groups which is quite long.
Speaker 2 22:05
Sounds like a book lover's paradise. It really does. Christine, you just mentioned Writers Week, and of course that starts today, the 2nd of March. And from the 4th to the 7th of March, there will be live streaming of selected East -stage sessions for seniors cardholders through local public libraries, community centres, schools, aged care facilities and retirement villages across the state.
Speaker 2 22:31
The Adelaide Festival website lists all participating venues, and those interested can consult the live streaming programme. The Adelaide Writers Week is such an important annual event, and the live streaming is a great example of how different organisations in the community work together to bring services to people.
Speaker 2 22:52
What other examples can you share with us about collaboration between libraries and other organisations to provide diverse services to the community?
Speaker 3 23:03
Not too long ago we had aged care booths set up, one in the Glenelg Library and then the next day in the Brighton Library and we had that staff by the Department of Health for three or four hours. It was a chance for people to just come in and find out about aged care assessments, what an ACAT is, what the next steps are for them because what we notice in libraries we often find customers come in and they've left it too late and suddenly they need government assistance and they have to go to the beginning of the queue.
Speaker 3 23:36
It's a really good idea to have your ACAT assessment in place early so that when you do need help you are further along in the queue and you don't have to wait. So we worked with the Department of Health to have that put together.
Speaker 3 23:51
Recently we had the Merino Repair Cafe come along and teach us on a Saturday morning how to look after our gardening tools and how to sharpen them. That was an extremely popular event and we shared our tips on gardening and it was a good way for the Merino Repair Cafe to showcase what they do as a community group.
Speaker 3 24:10
We've got a team of children's librarians, they go out and visit schools and kindergartens on a regular basis so we do try to reach out to the community to those people who can't come in.
Speaker 2 24:24
So libraries really are the heart of the community. I believe that's true. Working with books would be a dream job for many people. Would you tell us about some of the day -to -day rewards of your work?
Speaker 3 24:37
I often have people say, I would love to work in a library. Do you read all day? No, we do not. We very rarely get a chance to read our preferred books during the day. So, it is a wonderful job. We don't spend a lot of time reading.
Speaker 3 24:54
In fact, you don't have to be a keen reader because as I said, digitizing things, working on the computers, helping people with their emails, not so much book focused anymore. In fact, libraries aren't just books.
Speaker 3 25:08
They are a lot bigger than that. They're a safe place for people to come. In winter, they're warm. In summer, they're cool. There's always something to do. We run a lot of programs. Brighton Book Chatter is one of our new ones, but we always have some sort of community event once a month.
Speaker 3 25:26
And we let people know about that from a mailing list. So, if customers want to join our mailing list, they will see all the different things that we do every month. Fun.
Speaker 2 25:37
It really, really is. So following on from talking about the rewards, what are some of the day -to -day challenges involved in working in a library?
Speaker 3 25:47
We never know what will happen on any particular day. It's always something new, although there's always something the same. We often get people coming from Australia Post to say that they need to do some printing so that they can renew their passport.
Speaker 3 26:05
We get a lot of customers come from Centrelink who have been sent to us because they know that we will assist people on the computers. So keeping up with technology, keeping up with all the different kinds of mobile phones that people have so that we can assist and help people.
Speaker 3 26:22
So there's always a challenge. There's always something new and it's a wonderful way to work.
Speaker 2 26:28
I love the way you see a challenge as a positive. That's fantastic. Christine, what has been the impact of COVID on how people use their local public libraries from your perspective?
Speaker 3 26:42
Well, when COVID first hit, of course people couldn't come into the libraries, which was a sad thing. However, our City of Holdfast Bay Council was very proactive. We rang customers, we helped them get onto the Libby app or what is now the BorrowBox app, so that they could read at home or listen at home.
Speaker 3 27:05
We delivered books to people's houses, if they required that. So it was an ongoing way of changing people's reading habits. People read less physical now and a little bit more digital, which is wonderful.
Speaker 3 27:21
And I do count listening to audiobooks as reading. So COVID did hit us hard. Fewer people came subsequently to use the PCs. I think some customers went out and bought their own laptops and printers during that time.
Speaker 3 27:37
But that's picked up now and we actually have come back stronger, I believe, since COVID. But it certainly did have an impact at the time.
Speaker 2 27:46
So that is another of the many examples that you've shared with us in this conversation about why libraries will always be an essential part of our community and our cultural life here in South Australia.
Speaker 2 28:00
Christine, it's been lovely to speak with you. Before we finish, would you tell our listeners where the two City of Holdfast Bay libraries are located and also the opening hours?
Speaker 3 28:11
World Library is No. 2 Colley Terrace Glenelg, just around the corner from Moseley Square. That library is open every day of the week, Monday to Friday 9 -5 and a little bit later on Wednesday, Saturday morning 9 -1 and Sunday afternoon 1 -4.
Speaker 3 28:30
So we're there every day of the week. And initially part of that was because we had a lot of tourists and they would come in wanting to do emails etc. We have less of that now because most tourists have their own phone and are able to do that.
Speaker 3 28:45
But that's where it grew from. And it's certainly well used, I was there last Sunday and there were lots of people coming to get their reading and use the PCs. Brighton Library is down on Jetty Road Brighton No.
Speaker 3 28:58
20. It's a separate standalone building and they are open 6 days of the week, Monday to Friday 9 -5 and Tuesday is a little bit later and then Saturday morning 9 -1.
Speaker 2 29:11
Thank you so much. Our guest today on Emerging Writers was Christine Kennedy, Library Officer from the Holdfast Bay Library Service. This program can be heard at the same time each week on Vision Australia Radio, VA Radio Digital, online at varadio-dot-org, and also on Vision Australia Radio podcasts, where you can catch up on earlier episodes.
Speaker 1 29:49
Thanks for listening to this Vision Australia Radio Podcast. Don't forget to subscribe on your preferred podcast platform. Visit varadio.org for more.
Speaker 3 29:59
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