A Library BMI

What would happen if we built public libraries where the people are – in activity centres where the populace come to shop, travel, gather and play? That seemed to happen 50 years ago, when towns were smaller and suburban living was more self-contained, a bit like the 20-minute neighbourhoods imagined by today’s town planners.

Maybe we should build libraries as grand edifices under the ‘build it and he will come’ principle. Experience tells us that a bigger and/or better library attracts new users and leads to greater overall use of library services.

Or maybe, as an adherent to the activity centre model, we could merge the two ideas and build good libraries where the people are! Simple.

There are times when I look at the distribution of the library network in a Local Government Area (LGA) and wonder how it got to be like that. Never more so than in the places where we should be getting it right – in greenfield developments on our major cities’ urban fringes. Here we are not slaves to the past and ought to be able to serve the new growth communities well. So where to put our new libraries, and what sized population should trigger that investment?

One quirky way of looking at whether population catchments are well-serviced by libraries is to consider where commercially-focused retailers position their service points to maximise community engagement. If I follow that idea to its natural conclusion all libraries would be in shopping malls (which may not be a bad idea, but that’s a rabbit hole for another day – Hoppers Crossing, Armadale, …). Consider two companies – Bunnings and McDonalds. My proposition is that each of these businesses closely monitor population catchments, and especially populations in high growth areas, with a view to positioning their retail outlets as close as possible to the centre of the catchment. This makes it easy and convenient for consumers to access their stores and maximises return on investment.

Therefore, the hypothesis is that if Bunnings or McDonalds position stores on the basis of commercially viable population catchments, then it is reasonable to assume that public library services would also be located close to those population catchments.

Disclaimer: I’m not saying build libraries next to Bunnings and McDonalds. I’m just playing with an idea to see what it tells me.

For example, as at November 2021 Bunnings had 50 stores in metropolitan Melbourne. On average, these Bunnings stores are 2.5km or 5.5 minutes drive from the nearest full-service public library branch. In the fast-growing suburb of Tarneit in the Wyndham LGA (SW of Melbourne) Bunnings is only 300m from the Julia Gillard Library. Nine other Bunnings stores are ≤ 1km from the nearest library. Nearly half are less than 2km and 6 minutes drive from the nearest library.

Of the 50 Bunnings stores only seven are located in population catchments that are more than 4.5km and 8 minutes drive from the nearest library. Only three are more than 5km and a 10 minute drive from a library. And only one Bunnings store is more than a 10 minute drive from a library – the Bunnings in Mernda (Whittlesea, N of Melbourne), which is 7.3km and 13 minutes drive from the nearest full-service library branch in Mill Park. Notably, the Bunnings catchments that appear to be less well served by libraries are mostly in outer urban areas.

There are too many golden arches for me to look at all of them, so let’s concentrate on the 59 McDonalds stores in the 10 interface Councils surrounding metropolitan Melbourne. On average, every one of these McDonalds is 2.9km or 5.8 minutes drive from the nearest full-service public library branch (numbers pretty close to the Bunnings averages of 2.5km and 5.5 minutes). In Mill Park, for example, the McDonalds and the library are only 300m apart. Half of the McDonalds stores in the interface Councils are ≤ 5 minutes drive from the nearest library, and 26 are within 2km.

As shown on the following chart, most McDonalds are no more than 4km or an 8 minute drive from the nearest library. Notably, the three McDonalds which have the longest drive times to the nearest full-service library branch (Doreen, Mernda and Wollert) are all in the central part of the City of Whittlesea. Of the nine McDonalds stores that are 10 minutes or more from  a library, three are in Whittlesea, four are in the City of Casey (Lyndhurst, Clyde North, Berwick, Berwick South – SE of Melbourne), one is in Nillumbik (Diamond Creek – NE) and one is in Hume (Roxburgh Park – NW).

Now I understand that home hardware and fast food products are not the same as library services. And I’m not suggesting installing a library in a corner of every Bunnings warehouse. But in principle, if commercial decisions around placement of outlets are made based on optimising access, then provision of Council services to the community should also be based on maximising equitable access. And on the irrefutable evidence presented here it’s my opinion that a couple of Victorian Councils are dragging their feet in building libraries where the people are.

Addenda

For those who prefer their data without the pickle, here are two other charts (one Victorian, one national) which more sensibly highlight population catchments with lesser access to public library services.

Firstly, in most of metropolitan Melbourne people can drive to their local library within 5 or 6 minutes (under normal traffic conditions). In some areas it is as much as 8 or 9 minutes. And in only 13 suburbs with population > 5,000 is the average travel time more than 10 minutes drive. Twelve of these are on the outer edges of the metropolitan area and seven are populations of 12,000 or less. Three are in the City of Whittlesea, two in each of Casey, Hume and the end of the Mornington Peninsula and one in each of Melton, Cardinia, Greater Dandenong and Frankston. There are none in Wyndham or Nillumbik.

There are only four towns in regional Victoria with a population greater than 8,000 that do not have their own public library. Each of these – West Wodonga, Alfredton, Golden Square and Darley – is part of a regional city and is in relatively close proximity (within 10 minutes drive) of a major full-service library (i.e. Wodonga, Ballarat, Bendigo, Bacchus Marsh).

Secondly, based on 2016 ABS census and updated population data there were 237 suburbs or towns in Australia with populations of 15,000 or more. Being significant population centres most of these have a local full-service public library branch located within the suburb or town, and therefore located within a short drive of residents’ homes. 93 of these suburbs or towns (39%) have a library branch within 1-2 minutes’ drive. Another 75 (32%) have libraries within 3-4 minutes and 41 (17%) have a library branch within 5-6 minutes’ drive.

With 88% of larger Australian population centres accounted for, there are only 28 Australian suburbs or towns (12%) with a population > 15,000 where it is more than a 6 minute drive to the nearest library. Of these, 14 are in the 7-8 minute range and 6 have average travel time of 9-10 minutes.

Across Australia this leaves residents in only 8 towns (3%) having more than a 10 minute drive to their nearest full service library branch. Seven of these are in Victoria and four are in one LGA. I repeat – I think some communities are getting dudded by their Council.