Bankstown Library

Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre reopened earlier this year, moving across the street to prime real estate in the middle of Paul Keating Park. As a result, they have hugely updated their services, and have succeeded where a lot of libraries fail.
Many upgrade their stacks without upgrading their general seating and desk space, but Bankstown has not fallen into that trap. There is always plenty of room to sit, no matter what the time of day. Not to mention that they all have a great view, and are extremely comfortable.
My favourite feature is the large wall of plants that lines the staircase. It is absolutely beautiful!

Elisabeth Doucett "What They Don’t Teach You In Library School"

This book serves as a practical guide in going from theory to practice, namely from student life to that of a librarian. While a lot of it is common to any industry, such as how to handle unruly people or unrealistic expectations of your career, there are a few pockets of wisdom unique to the library industry.

Encouraging the reader to look beyond their own library and form a sisterhood with another library, the idea is to both take lessons from each other, for the betterment of your job and yourself. Through this relationship, you can improve your management, programs, and marketing, amongst other things, and it gives tips and tricks in how to achieve this.

The advanced chapter contains a healthy dosage of business-like attitudes, from networking to teamwork, which are important in practically any career, as well as how to analyse trends and handle figures.

Although I really enjoyed this book, I think a lot of it is common knowledge if you’ve worked before, whether it is the community, hospitality, retail, or another industry. It is rather hefty, at $38 on a Kindle, let alone a hard copy, and I’m not sure it earns the price-tag. Check it out at your local library, but a new-job guide and an ALIA journal probably cover the same amount of content, and would be just as digestible.

Burwood Library & Ultimo TAFE Library

Burwood Library re-opened last week, and I finally got to check it out on Tuesday. It looks pretty fantastic, if still a little loud due to the large amount of students, who often socialise more than they seem to study. I wish they'd gotten a room in the same way as the children did.

Regardless of my personal complaint, they have used to the space really well. Everything has room to breathe compared to the cluttered old library. They seem to have more books than before, which is absolutely amazing! (Or maybe everyone suddenly returned books I haven't come across).

The view from the second floor, which is mainly for adult fiction, is my favourite. You can see the bridge that goes over the train tracks, where we park just right on the other side.

I found some great books to borrow, and I also managed to lengthen my to-read list.

 

This is another post about Ultimo Library. Picture 1 is their amazing science section, which I was drooling over a little (erm, again). Pictures 2 & 3 are purely about computers and programming, and what is pictured here only goes up to 5.7, as the collection continues onto the other side. I am amazed. This is the biggest programming section I have seen in my life.

There are so many library books (books about libraries, I should say), that I want to check out, and I pictured a few of them below, including the stack that I ended up borrowing.

I also want to comment on the puzzle that they have set up. A communal puzzle in an adult environment is amazing, and I think they are awesome for making this available.

 

Library Studies Update

One week until school starts!

To prepare, I am finishing off my little Dewey Decimal study notes (as of writing this, I am up to 710, which is Civic & Landscape Art. I am learning something new every single day!) I've been using a mixture of Wikipedia, the page here, and this site, as reference.

Our printer has a little bit of a temperment... It will print 100 pages fine for me, as long as I don't ask for colour or anything fancy, and for Peter, it will print barely half. I think it is a little bit spiteful. I am full of praise for it, and Pete prints something expecting it to fail. I think it is a living thing that doesn't want to be disrespected. (Magic Toaster, anyone?)

I was also browsing library books (that is, books ON libraries) on the web, somewhat disappointed that we don't actually have textbooks for this course. Don't worry though. I found something to amuse myself. Added to my order were these two books, links in order here and here. And I added this one to my wishlist.