NSW HOME LIBRARY SERVICE WORKING GROUP MEETING MINUTES

Host: Northern Beaches Libraries Date: Monday, 1st February, 2021

Time: 10am – 12pm Venue: Online via Teams

Welcome and acknowledgement of country – Mary Anderson, HLS Team Leader, Northern Beaches Libraries

1. Attendance and apologies

Attendees: Benjamin Campbell (Ku-ring-gai), Bec Edwards (City of Sydney), Peter Green (City of Sydney), Rebecca Coello (Bathurst), Sandra Bice (Canterbury), Melissa Angelo (Blacktown), Saqib Mahmood (Penrith), Stephen Peacock (Sutherland), Catherine Manfredotti (Lithgow), Eileen Smith (Wollongong), Jane Moffat (Randwick), Magnolia Szabo (Randwick), Leeanne Surjadi (Vision Australia), Michele Hamidi (Waverly), Kristen Langlois (Northern Beaches), Nicki Fox (Northern Beaches), Pamela Smith (Liverpool), Marijana Miletic (Canterbury) Sarah Wild & Kylie Streeter (Canada Bay)

Apologies: Annette Schofield (Clarence Valley), Kay Pisel (Newcastle)

2. Confirmation to previous minutes 

      Previous minutes provided in transcript form.  Accepted by Melissa Angelo; seconded by Eileen Smith.

3. Overview of Northern Beaches HLS – Mary Anderson 

      •	LGA :  274,000  (consists of 3 amalgamated councils)
      •	310 active members in both individual homes and in aged care.  
      •	14 aged care homes receive bulk loans
      •	5 Book clubs
      •	4 week delivery cycle
      •	1 delivery vehicle and we publish a quarterly  newsletter called Homefront
      •	6 staff working across 3 HLS offices, role includes customer service shifts
      •	Currently 18 volunteers assist with delivery (in the process of returning our selectors and more 
              couriers) at full strength we have 50.
      •	Eaudio is available to on 3 platforms, speaker, Navigator and Envoy.  The content is from our own 
              collection and the VA library. Recently partnered with VA to convert our navigator clients to 
              ENVOYS.  We encourage them to buy one and we will supplement with our own devices which we have 
              just purchased. Currently phasing out the Navigator.
      •	Focus is on expansion as our ageing population is growing.  In 2020 we added 124 new clients to the 
              service. The most successful current method of gaining new clients is word of mouth. 
      •	Additional tasks in 2020 involved consolidating runs to help us manage the service without the 
              assistance of our volunteers.  Also reviewing our WHS protocols in light of COVID, eg PPE, 
              contactless deliveries & quarantining.     
      •	Challenges: overdues/lost items, communication, back filling volunteers, readers with narrow 
              interests, big readers!

Recent growth of the HLS service at Northern Beaches was influenced by the “Library 2U” service offered during lockdown and “well being” calls focusing on library clients over the age of 70 years during the second lockdown.

There was discussion of what is a reasonable number of maximum items per client regarding WHS, overall it was no more than 20 books with a few exceptions.

Other WHS concerns regarded the number of couriers delivering in one car. This varies and many services have 2 people in a car, City of Sydney and Manly find it practical to have 2 delivering due to parking and traffic issues. Northern Beaches always does and initial Risk Assessment with 2 people. Many services only use 1 courier and with COVID are just dropping bags at the door.

Benefits of having 2 people delivering: Safety aspect, car accident, illness, if there is an allegation. Best to do a survey and risk assessment to present to manager.

Further discussion concluded that HLS clients can self select in libraries and set their items aside for HLS staff to deliver.

4. Guest Speaker – Leanne Surjadi, Community Engagement Coordinator for the Vision Australia Library.

Vision Australia is located in Melbourne, it is a State funded, national service for anyone with a print disability, this includes difficulty holding or manipulating text and perception disability. Membership is free and can be completed online or by phone. A referral is required by a General Practitioner or Public Librarian.

There are 60,000 titles available as well as magazines and newspapers. The library consists of 54,000 audio titles mostly with a leisure focus, mostly narrated by humans (newspapers and magazines usually synthetic voice). Members can also join an international Book Share platform which is mostly academic and does have a fee.

VA members have 2 different ways of listening: a) Via a VA app for Apple and tablets, generally the client uses voice command. b) DAISY player such as and Envoy Connect https://shop.visionaustralia.org/shop/product/es0211#:~:text=Envoy%20Connect%20is%20the%20world's,up%20to%2030%20audio%20books.

To select stories, VA members have detailed reading profiles and can set up exclusions, the system then automatically selects items. Alternately, selection can be done independently. A maximum of 20 titles can go on an Envoy. To download stories, simply download the software and connect the Envoy via a cable to your PC. It will take approximately 1 hour to download 20 stories. VA content is free apart from the Book Share platform.

Other services VA provide includes Book Clubs to help combat the isolation vision impaired people experience and they have a comprehensive selection of items for HSC and dyslexia.

There are no institutional accounts with VA, only individual memberships that can be set up by public libraries who provide assistance by guiding clients on how to use the Envoy and downloading material. Northern Beaches will be asking clients to purchase 1 Envoy and we will purchase the other to swap over for deliveries. VA have phased out the use of navigators.

For more information visit the Vision Australia website, Leanne is happy to loan the Envoy device to have a play and here is the membership link: https://www.visionaustralia.org/services/library/join

5. Matters arising from previous minutes:

Dee Why Library housed a demonstration of the Tovertafel and Sunnyfield came along. This innovative and exciting technology would be beneficial for our community members with dementia and disabilities. It can be purchased through LEEF for $15,000 + $150 per month subscription.(approximate pricing)

There will be another Tovertafel demonstration at Bankstown Library on February 16th at 10am. All welcome, please let Sandra know if you plan to come.

6. Programming:

Some libraries are slowly reinstating public programs if space permits. These include: Waverly Library – collage workshops and ‘Books, movies and more” (small groups). Cooking online was very popular during COVID and attracted international guests. Jane (Randwick): Chess has returned and 8 weeks of ukulele lessons with pre-recorded singing, computer classes online, tai-chi, table tennis. Bankstown Library – the mobile bus service returns.

7. General Business:

The latest Spydus upgrade has scrambled the HLS Profile page for printing, hopefully this can be resolved.

Seniors Week April 14 – 23 Northern Beaches have a digital exhibition of “The Art of Aging”, other libraries will be offering Tai Chi, Pilates and Meditation for seniors with social distancing.

Jane Moffat is retiring and has enjoyed the support of SLNSW meetings, farewell and best wishes Jane!

Next meeting: Monday, 3rd May, Sutherland Library with Stephen Peacock