Jeremy Rockliff,Minister for Education and Training
The Tasmanian majority Liberal Government’s $3 million ‘Bringing Back Libraries’ election commitment is making our libraries more accessible and significantly enhancing the user experience.
This funding is also improving the breadth and quality of library collections.
In the last seven months we have supported Libraries Tasmania to expand and improve a broad range of resources and services including:
- adding more titles to its lending and reference collections; including over 700 junior non-fiction books; over 1,500 print books based on clients’ requests; and over 200 reference monographs;
- expanding the Express Service available through Hobart, Launceston, Kingston, Rosny, Burnie, Devonport and Glenorchy Libraries by adding almost 1,500 copies of the most popular new books;
- expanding the very popular console game collection by adding 135 games;
- removing fees for Book Groups and adding over 300 items;
- expanding the e-lending service in size, variety and demand;
- commencing a roll-out of 33 On-Shelf Catalogues across the Tasmanian Library Network;
- publishing video tutorials on the Libraries Tasmania website;
- replacing shelving in the Penguin, Kingston, Wynyard and Orford Libraries; and
- purchasing a jigsaw library for community use.
Further improvements for this year include installing more after-hours return chutes at a range of libraries and, exploring ways to expand remote services in rural and regional Tasmania.
Over the past 12 months, Libraries Tasmania has continued to deliver outstanding outcomes for many members and visitors, with a 10 per cent increase in participation and over 8000 new members signing up for the services.
