Vision, hard work, luck … Ingredients for a great public library
In the last 10 years we must have visited 250 public libraries across Australia and while on holiday overseas. We have seen them all – large and small, old and new, traditional and modern, beautiful and ugly, crazy full and empty. I also have a spreadsheet where I (highly subjectively) rate them on a scale from 1 to 10. Only four libraries have scored a 2, and none have got a 1. I don’t want to live in a world where a community’s library only scores 1 out of 10. At the top end there are ten libraries with a 9 and three with a 10.
In the last few days I have had the pleasure of spending some extended time in one of my 10s – the Echuca Library in the Shire of Campaspe on the Murray River in north central Victoria. And with my analyst hat on I have been reflecting on why I think it’s a great public library. I have identified 10 factors – of which some relied on bold Council investment, some came from great planning, some come from good execution and some from good fortune.
Let me run through why I love Echuca Library.
The first two points are about location, and some of this comes down to luck because you don’t always get to choose where your library sits.
1. Position. Built in 2012, 100m from its original location in Echuca’s Old Town Hall, the library is centrally located, adjacent to the Council offices, one block from cafes and shops in the main street and right beside the Port of Echuca – one of Victoria’s premier tourist attractions. Being in a shopping and tourist precinct the library is easily accessible and there is plenty of parking.
2. Outlook. Echuca Library is long, about 75m from end to end. And one entire side is glassed walls overlooking the river gums and green grassy banks of the Murray River. Picturesque, peaceful, calm, serene. There are about 25 seats and workspaces along this wall where you can sit and read, work, snooze or just gaze out the window, watch people stroll by and the birds in the trees, and listen to the occasional paddle steamer blowing its horn. On the opposite side the quiet study area overlooks a large grassy square where stands a 15m pillar and statue, a memorial to ‘The Glorious Dead’ from World War 1.
The next three come down to the build and design.
3. Size. The State Library of NSW’s People Places: A guide for public library buildings is the accepted standard for how Australian public libraries should be sited, planned, designed, built, presented and maintained. The People Places Building Calculator indicates that for a library that: i) serves an immediate population of around 14,000; ii) houses the central administrative functions for Campaspe’s entire library network; and iii) is also the ‘local’ library for residents of Moama just across the NSW border, Echuca Library would be best sized at around 1,250 to 1,400m2. Echuca Library is 1,300m2. Perfect!
4. Layout. Design and creation of complementary activity zones is critical to the success of a library. From east to west Echuca Library has:
a light airy children’s area, at the furthest point from the quiet study area
a casual seating area with access to magazines and newspapers
a dedicated sound-proof activity/meeting room (including wet area)
a functional zone (including the entry, front desk, check out and returns, library and Council information, toilets and change rooms)
four types of seating overlooking the Murray River
collections (including adult fiction and non-fiction, audiobooks, large print, DVDs, local history, Indigenous and special collections)
eight public PCs
two booths and casual seating with large pillows in glassed cutaways along one wall
quiet study area and two sound-proof pods (1-person and 2-person).
5. Entrance. I might not have thought about this in most libraries but the installation at the front of Echuca Library is a beauty – 11 books naming the 11 townships that were library service points when the library was opened in 2012. Tooleen is no longer active but Campaspe Library Service still has five library branches and five library depots. Yes – it’s a popular photo spot. Yes – it attracts tourists. And Yes – it draws them into the library.
Six and seven are about how you present this space to the user.
6. Fitout and furnishing. I love the variety of seating options at Echuca Library. From the high wingback reading chair in the children’s area to the comfy lounge chairs near the newspapers. Low seats and high seats by the windows, stools and lounge chairs, the booths and the pods, tables dotted through the stacks, ottomans and pillows, and work tables in the study area. Whether you’re here for Story Time, waiting while the car is serviced, in for a long study session, sitting with friends after school, or just staring out the window you are sure to find the right place to be.
7. Presentation. Lots of glass walls means lots of natural light. There are splashes of colour, mainly up the children’s end but also through the use of cushions and timbers. The colour palette for the walls and floor is muted, but a perfect fit with the creams, greys, greens and browns on the gum trees outside. And then there is the character that comes through displays, artwork and artefacts – notably the big bell from the Port of Echuca and the piano (“For public use, headphones available”).
And finally we put some people in the library.
8. Activation. This place was jumping. Over the course of a morning and an afternoon we witnessed a mix of library-programmed and incidental activity:
Toddler Rhyme Time, where families lingered long after the end of the session as parents chatted and children engaged in a craft activity
some serious Mah Jong and multiple tables of card players (scheduled every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon they welcome newcomers to share in the banter)
after school craft activity in the multi-purpose room
one-on-one tech help
a social afternoon where over 55s (actually anyone who wants to walk in) can share a chat and cuppa
a meeting of the Probus Executive Committee
secondary schoolers huddled around tables.
And that doesn’t include the many people who were in the library browsing the shelves, studying/working, reading the paper, doing a jigsaw, crafting, etc.
9. Staff. The staff at Echuca Library are great, in the way that staff at almost all libraries are great. Welcoming, helpful, thoughtful, professional. And of course, they know you by name.
10. Library users. This is one that’s been growing on me over the past 12 months or so as I’ve come to realise that much of the vibe in a library is derived from the way the people who come approach and engage with the space and one another. Just walking around Echuca Library you can feel that there is a lot of love for the place. And when you get chance to stop and chat to people about their library (which is what we’re actually supposed to be doing there) that love comes bursting through. This is a place that many library users hold dear. It is a part of their identity, as a person and as a community. They cherish it and they respect it, and this rubs off on everyone else who enters the library.
So, what does all of this mean – apart from saying that if you’re travelling through Echuca pop into the library?
On one hand, I’ve recognised that sometimes life deals you Aces and sometimes you get 2s. There are libraries we know that have beautiful outlooks (say Wheelers Hill, Portland, Beerwah, Benalla), and some that don’t – and no amount of wishing can change that. There are suburbs and towns where – due to topography, transport routes, existing layout – there is no perfect position for a library. And we know that not every Council is in a position to or will invest in a library of a high standard.
On the other, control what you can, because you can still play a good game with 2s. While there might be a bit of hit and miss in the first few of my 10 success factors, the back half is mostly in the control of the people who manage and staff public libraries. Present something your community can be proud of, activate it as much as you can, and let the love and regard for community-centred libraries shine through. You might not score a perfect 10 on my spreadsheet, but what does that matter? What you want is an 8, 9 or 10 from your community.
