South West libraries acknowledged for “outstanding” service to community

Two South West libraries have been recognised at State level for their outstanding service to the community. Libraries in the Shire of Boyup Brook and the City of Busselton were among those acknowledged at the Library Awards of Western Australia last Friday night, in the small regional community and large regional community divisions respectively. Highlighting the “innovation and collaboration” of libraries across the State, the awards seek to honour the efforts made by libraries in getting their communities engaged in reading. The Shire of Boyup Brook took home the win among its pool of four nominees. It was recognised for its Re-imagined Initiative after recently moving the library to the local Community Resource Centre. Centre manager Jodi Nield called it a “fantastic” achievement. “It’s been an amazing 18 months of development, after the Shire relocated the library to the Community Resource Centre from the Shire admin building and we’ve been able to grow the library (and) develop programs,” she said. “It’s just been a really successful initiative for the entire community.” Ms Nield said community feedback on the move had been incredibly positive. “They love the space and what we’ve been able to create — it’s really welcoming, bright and colourful, and they can just wander and have a look at books and sit and read if they want to. “We’ve also increased our membership numbers and have had over 100 new members within about the first year of moving.” While not being named the overall winner, the City of Busselton was nominated for its free, interactive Storytime Way trail. The City’s acting director for community and commercial services Maxine Palmer described the nomination as “really rewarding”. “(Storytime Way) is an innovative way to promote early literacy and break the library out of its walls and put books quite literally in your path,” she said. “A project that Penny Crowley and Carolyn Ryder collaborated on, they landed on the idea when thinking about a project that would engage families in physical activity, bring the library out into the community, and encourage aspects of literacy like reading, singing and playing. “Being nominated is really rewarding and the entire experience has been fantastic. Recognising ideas and creativity in libraries is important, and knowing that a project we have done is among the best of them in WA is an amazing feeling. “Commitment to our community is central to everything we do, and council specifically supported this project through its discretionary funding as a significant project of community benefit.”