Working Group on Multicultural Services (NSW) 9:00 am Thursday the 16th of November 2017 State Library of NSW Macquarie Room Minutes
Apologies: Zora Drazic (Manly), Stephanie Lee (Rockdale)
Confirmation of previous minutes
The previous minutes were accepted unchanged by Vicki O’Rourke (Wollongong) and seconded by Pauline Chan (Parramatta).
Update on unclassified DVDs (Oriana) “Libraries LOTE film survey” closed on Friday the 10th of November after receiving a good response from the public libraries across Australia. The results are being collated now. A summary document will be drafted and circulated among all States before being forwarded to the Classification Board for further discussion. Hopefully the findings will help to achieve the aim of making it legal for the suppliers to sell overseas produced films to public libraries in Australia without having them classified by the Board. The use of stickers, training of library staff and suppliers, fact sheets etc. has been explored by the survey with the aim to achieve a consistent approach across Australia. The issue will be hopefully resolved by March 2018.
Update on the research into multicultural library services in NSW The first draft of the findings of the research has been completed. The library focus group at Blacktown identified the promotion of cultures as a topic libraries should be concentrating more on. Language collections, events, English Conversation Classes and other similar activities remained on the list of essential services. When the project has been completed a forum will be organised around the outcomes to map out the findings. The current research is expected to identify ways of assisting with access to new technologies as the fresh direction for NSW public libraries. Getting the public abreast with the new technologies were the latest election promises of the State and Federal Governments. The Federal Government’s new initiative, “Be connected”, can be taken advantage of by public libraries funding appears to be available. The final report of the research will be released in March or April 2018 and identify what direction libraries should be looking at.
Development of new language collections (Oriana) Need for new collections became more apparent after the amalgamations of the Councils. Tibetan collection will benefit the northern part of Sydney where many members of this community have settled in. The State Library is going to discuss this further with Northern Beaches Library. The last review of the State Libraries community languages collections identified the underused collections. So far no collections have been eliminated though all were carefully weeded. The new approach to the State Library’s languages collections focusses more on the support and cooperation with local public libraries. Especially the newly amalgamated Councils need to review their languages collections and make decisions about the future directions. Establishing new collections is being currently considered by Bankstown/Canterbury Council.
Bulk loans (Oriana) The Large Print collection is now on extended loans to libraries and this has been successful. New material is being purchased and distributed to the participating libraries. Libraries which have not taken advantage of this offer can still join the scheme as items are being continuously returned. The State Library has implemented a new service model for the circulation of the multicultural collections which includes a distributed model as well as the retention of a centralised interlibrary loan model for libraries with lower levels of demand.It will provide equitable access for remote communities, and communities with relatively small populations of speakers of languages other than English The current data on the number of languages held by public libraries is incorrect and has to be updated and moved to a more prominent position on the State Library’s website. This Directory has to be fine-tuned in cooperation with the amalgamated library services.
Action: Members of the Group to remind the staff responsible for the Bulk Loans that the service will be on hold from mid-December to mid-January
Library visits in 2018 Library visits by consultants from the State Library will be organised for 2018. First the amalgamated services will be approached for the exchange of information and to help with the decision making about the future of the combined collections. Other library services will be contacted later in order to ensure consolidated approach to the provision of this vital library service.
Updated Strategic Plan After the previous meeting at Campsie Oriana, Shauna, Wendy Ford and Kasia stayed back to update the Group’s Strategic Plan for the period of 2017 to 2021. The structure, Background, Profile, Vision and Mission remained mostly unchanged. The Objectives and Strategies were updated to reflect the current needs. Applying for a grant to update the multicultural banners was discussed. The final updated Strategic Plan will be tabled and endorsed by the Group at the next meeting.
Action: Laurence, Shauna, Vicky and Wendy Ford formed a working committee to organise a seminar around the outcomes and implementation of the results of the multicultural research.
Multicultural Excellence Award (Oriana) The applications for the Multicultural Excellence Award 2017 once again demonstrated the high quality of the services provided in this area. There were many excellent candidates though more applications should have been submitted. Oriana suggested that any report compiled to inform about the outcomes of a multicultural event, program, service etc. should be filed away to be later submitted for the Multicultural Excellence Award. “Be in it to win it” should be the motto for the improved participation in this prestigious award.
New arrivals in Armidale (Oriana) Armidale Shire is a beautiful LGA with a brand new library. The area is expecting the arrival of the refugees of Iraqi, Kurdish and Syrian descent. It is understood that the language in general demand would be Arabic though the literacy levels of the new arrivals are not known. A loan of Arabic books will be sent in to test the need for reading material in this language. It is expected that the refugees will want to learn English and learn about the Australian way of life therefore there are 20-30 volunteers to assist with this. The refugees’ accommodation, Medicare, banking, social security and other practical things will be taken care of. Armidale is talking with Wagga Wagga to use their experience in this matter to alleviate possible problems.
“Show Me The Way” – films from Blacktown and Fairfield (Laurence) Laurence presented one of the short films produced by the Mitchell High School Students. The project successfully engaged local refugee students whose positive stories were attributed to using their local public libraries. The films promoted the importance of libraries in the lives of the least privileged. The films were enthusiastically received by the local councillors. They are available for purchase. The cost is $290 per copy (including GST). They can be used as a promotional tool and would be a valuable asset. Shauna will email libraries to enquire if they wish to purchase a copy for their collection.
Other Business:
Parramatta – Pauline “FutureAbility Multicultural communities getting NDIS-ready” will be delivered in Hindi and Cantonese in early December. The bilingual SSI staff from the disability sector will aim to inform and educate people with disabilities, their families and carers.
Auburn (Cumberland Council) Kemal Since Mission Australia stopped running the trainings for the volunteers teaching English Kemal has been looking for other available options. Naomi from “Better English Solutions” delivers the training sessions for the volunteers teaching English. They are offered for free to the Inner West Council volunteers but those from other areas will be charged $80 for each participant.
Roman Roman offered 100 never used Kurdish books which had been discarded from Liverpool. Oriana will take them as it is very likely that they will be in demand from the currently arriving refugees.
Edwina Duffy Edwina joined the Group at the end of the meeting to inform that the TSS training is going to be continued in 2018. Funding has been secured and the schedule of the sessions in the community languages is going to be confirmed soon.
Next meeting is to take place at Campsie Library, on the 15th of November 2018.