<aside> 🧭
Blog Navigation
Homepage 🏡
Music 🎶🔊
Sitemap 🗺️
</aside>
“Aren’t all libraries pretty much the same? Places where books and some other stuff like toys or DVDs are stored to be borrowed and returned by members of the public? Or where simple IT facilities like PCs and printing are provided?”
Nope, no way, not all of them are the same. Those are the basic or minimum features that libraries often have, but there are so many more variations other than their locations.
After exploring a bunch of the libraries in the Greater Sydney area, I’ve noticed that there are glaring inequalities of library services and collections from one council’s region to another.
(EXAMPLES OF SERVICE/COLLECTION DISPARITY HERE, SUCH AS THE EXPENDITURE PER CAPITA SCATTERPLOT)
While it makes sense that a central library would have more provisions than its respective branch library (e.g., Penrith compared to St Clair, Blacktown compared to Lalor Park, PHIVE compared to Ermington, Hornsby compared to Galston, etc.), it’s still really bothersome to know that libraries in affluent areas that have higher socioeconomic-status (SES) often have much more to offer than those in lower SES areas, especially considering the greater needs of the latter.
Some online statistical platforms and tools, such as Census Data and QuickStats by the ABS, or maybe SBS Australian Census Explorer, can help to illustrate these geographical and social disparities.
I’ve tried to imagine what my own ‘dream library’, free of geographic disparity and and socioeconomic influence, would be able to provide, and have listed the features here. Where possible, I have also included links to examples where existing libraries have implemented these idealised features, which shows that they are genuinely feasible.