Peta, Browne, QPLA CQ Regional Rep and participant in the 2024 QPLA/SLQ Library Leaders Program, attended the Library Leaders tour of Mitchelton Library on Thursday 3 October 2024.
As part of our week at IFLA and the ALIA Queensland Mini Conference, the QPLA/SLQ Library Leaders cohort undertook a tour of three libraries which included Brisbane City’s library in Mitchelton. Shan and Julie kindly showed us through their branch.
Mitchelton Library is set in a lovely space in a residential area next to an open park, quite common for Brisbane City branches. It was originally built in 1983 and refurbished in 2013. During this refurbishment a community organic herb and citrus garden was added by the front entrance. Started by a local horticulturalist the garden is completely maintained by volunteers who also look after the seed library. It is clearly well loved, and it presented a peaceful and natural welcome to the library. Also added in the refurbishment was the back deck. This is an inviting and beautiful spot overlooking the park. And bonus: it has a café!
We were also shown the 24/7 lockers located at the front entrance. These enable many people to collect reservations outside of opening hours and were easy to use. They are usually full, and demand is growing.
The library space itself was open and bright and well designed to cater for various uses. The children’s space included an interactive table as well as an interactive floor. It was noted that many parents prefer the interactive floor over the table as it encourages more imaginative and active play. In line with many places, a small number of public computers reflect peoples’ preference for bringing their own devices.
Of great interest to the cohort was the lack of spine labels on the fiction and large print. There may be a genre label attached, but the traditional label with the first part of the author’s surname is not included. This saves time and cost in processing. Many of us had not come across this before and it was an interesting learning from our tour.
Thank you to Shan and Julie for showing us around their beautiful library!
