Libraries Portfolio Report - 20 April 2016

Life Size Monopoly

South Burnett Libraries continued to be a place for fun and learning over the last few weeks with a variety of activities and events taking place. Life size monopoly featured in several of the libraries, drawing in community members who may otherwise not visit the library. During these games, children participated as the actual monopoly pieces used for the playing board. Local flair was brought into the game with utilities, such as Tarong Power Station, featuring as properties on the board. A total of 49 children took part in the sessions which ran in Blackbutt, Kingaroy, Murgon and Nanango Libraries with an additional 16 people visiting the library just to spectate. On the 31st March an additional session at Kingaroy Library was held for the local community organisation PCYC with 14 children playing. Overall participants had a wonderful experience playing Monopoly in a way they never have before.

First 5 Forever

First 5 Forever programs are continuing across the South Burnett libraries with Rhyme Time and Story Time sessions being well attended.

At the recent Future Libraries program hosted at the State Library of Queensland, figures following the first year of the state wide First 5 Forever initiative were announced. The state wide comparison between 2014 and 2015 shows:

• 4,090 more sessions delivered to 0-5 year olds and their families representing a 28% increase;
• 65,529 more attendees representing a 16% increase.

Specific figures for the South Burnett show how we have contributed to this growth. Across the six libraries in the South Burnett, comparison between 2014 and 2015 shows:

• 103 sessions delivered in 2014 increased to 187 sessions delivered in 2015;
• 413 more participants representing a 38.5% increase.

The word is getting out there with a recent Family Day Care Carer attending a Nanango Rhyme Time session giving fantastic feedback. She is planning on sharing the Library’s First 5 Forever program timetable within the Family Day Care community to encourage attendance. The regions first outreach session was conducted with a Pop-Up Library being held at the Proston Show in March. Many community members and show goers commented on how impressed they were to see the library being represented in this way.

Blackbutt Library

Blackbutt library continued to be the hub of the local community, hosting a number of community meetings which ranged from the Baby Health Clinic and Jobmatch panels to Bloomin Beautiful Blackbutt Festival and infrastructure meetings.

Kingaroy Library

The Kingaroy Library hosted a visit from the entire Wooroolin School with a total of 42 children and 4 adults treated to a VIP tour of the library, including the back workroom. Currently, the school is focusing on the importance of reading and the purpose of this visit was to introduce students to what is available at the library. The library also welcomed a year 11 work experience student from St Mary’s College, who gained insight into the numerous processes and programs that make up the library service.

Regular computer classes and workshops based on improving digital literacy, continue to be well attended at the Kingaroy Library. Weekly Tech Savvy sessions, which are based on a series of lessons developed by the State Library of Queensland in partnership with Telstra, have attracted members of the community wanting to learn the skills needed to partake in the digital world. These sessions are complimented by monthly computer classes that cover the more advanced topics such as online security, online shopping and how to complete tax online. Continued attendance was evident at the monthly Family History Workshops with 13 participants learning the skills needed to navigate a variety of databases. In addition to these workshops, individual sessions to help community members with one of the more popular family history research databases, ancestry.com, are now held weekly.

Wondai Library

Wondai Conversations group came together on the 31st March. Attendees were approached to assist a colleague who is presenting a talk at a U.S.Q workshop during a 2 day seminar involving writing historical fiction. Their task will be to critique his presentation by acting as a test audience.

Nanango Library

Nanango library hosted a talk with local author Graham C. Braddock on the 21st March. During the event Graham spoke about his novel “Operation Gravelrash” and he described some of the things that happened which inspired him to write his book. After the talk Graham assisted other budding writers by answering many questions including how to get past writers block and how to get your work published.

As part of the school holiday program, two sessions of Easter egg decorating were held. In total 22 children decorated their eggs in many ways, some opting for colourful patterns while others tried to make their favourite superhero into an egg. A minion was even spotted amongst its egg companions.

Artists within the community have the opportunity to display their artwork within the Nanango Library. The space is booked for a month at a time with April being dedicated to the artwork of Gary Wilson. Gary’s artworks consists of painted portraits of local characters and a variety of landscapes.