Sutherland Shire Libraries is an Australian public library system which serves the

Sutherland Shire Sutherland Shire is a local government area in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire comprises an area of and as at the had an estimated population of . Sutherland Shire is colloquially ...

, in Sydney, New South Wales. It was officially established in 1953. As of June 2016, the library had 76,389 registered members, and a collection of 367,049 items. There are eight branches in the system, named after the suburbs in which they are located.

Branches

There are eight branches in the Sutherland Shire Libraries system, named after the suburbs in which they are located. *Sutherland (Officially the Athol Hill MBE Memorial Library) *Cronulla *Caringbah *Miranda *Sylvania (Located within

Southgate Shopping Centre Southgate Shopping Centre is a large shopping centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Southgate (just west of Mondeor) and is one of the ten largest shopping centres in South Africa, with over 160 commercial tenants. The centr ...

) *Menai *Engadine *Bundeena (Located within Bundeena Public School, open Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays)

Collection

Sutherland Shire Libraries had a total stock of 372,518 items as of June 2015, and 367,049 as of June 2016. The main community language collections are held at Sutherland, Menai and Sylvania libraries, covering

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

. As of June 2015, adult fiction was 24.73% of the total library collection. Sutherland Shire Libraries offers several different platforms for

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

s and

eBooks An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

. It offers free music MP3 downloads from

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...

Kanopy Kanopy is an on-demand streaming video platform for public and academic libraries that offers films, TV shows and documentaries. The service is free for users, but content owners and content creators are paid on a pay-per-view model by the in ...

on-demand video streaming, and a number of research databases, mostly available online with a library card. Sutherland Shire Libraries also offer

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

, Consumer Health Complete, information about health for the general public, Gale Virtual Reference Library, Infobase ebooks, Salem Press biographies, and the

Standards Australia Standards Australia is a standards organisation established in 1922 and is recognised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Australian government as the primary non-government standards development body in Australia. It is a com ...

building standards in-library. Sutherland Shire Libraries maintains a

collection development Library collection development is the process of systematically building the collection of a particular library to meet the information needs of the library users (a service population) in a timely and economical manner using information resources ...

policy, and a local studies collection policy. In the Local Studies collection, several historical photographs have been digitised and put online. It keeps a historical newspaper index dating back to 1900. Several oral histories with early residents of the area have been recorded and transcribed on the website, released under a

Creative Commons license A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyric ...

. Historical studies, videos, and pathfinders are available on local topics.

Services

The library offers

reader's advisory Readers' advisory (sometimes spelled readers advisory or reader's advisory) is a service which involves suggesting fiction and nonfiction titles to a reader through direct or indirect means. This service is a fundamental library service; however, ...

services, book clubs, author talks, and

interlibrary loan Interlibrary loan (abbreviated ILL, and sometimes called interloan, interlending, document delivery, document supply, or interlibrary services, abbreviated ILS) is a service where patrons of one library can borrow materials and receive photocopies ...

s. Storytimes are available for young children, and the library supports the

Premier's Reading Challenge The Premier's Reading Challenge is a literacy initiative developed by Australian state governments. It is set not as a competitive event, but rather as an individual challenge to each student, as well as to promote a love of reading books. The chall ...

. The library runs activities for

Children's Book Week Anne Carroll Moore (July 12, 1871 – January 20, 1961) was an American educator, writer and advocate for children's libraries. She was named Annie after an aunt, and officially changed her name to Anne in her fifties, to avoid confusion with Ann ...

in August, and coding and robotics workshops are offered for children. LEGO construction clubs are offered in Sylvania and Engadine. For older people, home library services,

knitting clubs Knitting clubs are a feature of the 21st-century revival of hand knitting which began in America and has spread to most of Europe. Despite the name, knitting clubs are not limited to knitting; both crochet-centered and knit-centered clubs are col ...

, and technology classes are offered.

International English Language Testing System The International English Language Testing System (IELTS ), is an international standardized test of English language proficiency for non-native English language speakers. It is jointly managed by the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia an ...

(IELTS) online courses are provided. The library provides lectures about Higher School Certificate topics, a study skills online resource, and lists of related texts for HSC English topics. Quiet study spaces are also provided for HSC students. All branches except Bundeena have internet-connected computers available for hire. Most branches have four hours of free

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wav ...

access, with a login using a library card.

Photocopying A photocopier (also called copier or copy machine, and formerly Xerox machine, the generic trademark) is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply. Most modern photocopiers ...

is available at all branches, and some offer scanning and

fax Fax (short for facsimile), sometimes called telecopying or telefax (the latter short for telefacsimile), is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer o ...

services. A monthly meeting is held at Sutherland Library's makerspace. The library has held an annual book sale since 1989 which lasts over three days, which fund furniture and equipment for the libraries. Energy-monitor devices for households have also been available to borrow from the libraries. The library also offers an app which allows users to search the collection, check out books, and manage their account. The Library website's homepage had 320,883 hits in 2014–15, and 346,920 in 2015–16.

Population served

As of June 2015, the library had 69,740 registered members. Of these, 4,922 were non-local to the area. As of June 2016, the library had 76,389 registered members. Of these, 5,743 were non-local to the area.

History

Prior to Sutherland Shire Libraries, a free library for unemployed people operated in

Engadine Engadine may refer to: Places *Engadin, Engadin(e), a valley region in Switzerland *Engadine, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia *Engadine, Michigan, unincorporated community in Michigan *Engadine (Candler, North Carolina), a building l ...

as of 1937. In 1950, the Kirrawee Progress Association asked Sutherland Shire Council to establish a library of non-fiction. Sutherland Shire Council adopted the Library Act 1939 (NSW) in 1952, which provided free library services for people in New South Wales. Cronulla School of the Arts offered their library space for the library-to-be in 1953. Sutherland Library opened in 1953 in the home of a former doctor, with 8000 books. In 1955, the Miranda and Cronulla branches opened. In 1964, Miranda Library moved into Miranda Fair. Part of the School of the Arts was used for the Cronulla branch when it opened. The Cronulla branch moved into the old Methodist church on Surf Road in 1969. In the Sydney Subject Specialisation Scheme, a defunct Sydney-wide collection development agreement which facilitated

s since 1962, prior to the advent of computerised

union catalogue A union catalog is a combined library catalog describing the collections of a number of libraries. Union catalogs have been created in a range of media, including book format, microform, cards and more recently, networked electronic databases. Pr ...

s, Sutherland Shire Libraries maintained a focus on philosophy,

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

aquariums An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, a ...

chemical technology Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

and

Dutch literature Dutch language literature () comprises all writings of literary merit written through the ages in the Dutch language, a language which currently has around 23 million native speakers. Dutch-language literature is the product of the Netherlands, Be ...

. In 1989, Sutherland Shire Libraries withdrew

The Satanic Verses ''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism ...

from circulation due to a bomb threat. In 1994, the central branch of the library moved to Eton Street. In 2004, Sutherland Library staff won a Guinness World Record to be the longest read-alouders, with a time of 81 hours and 15 minutes. RFID tags were implemented in 2008, allowing library users to check out books themselves. In 2011, a fire was started in Cronulla Library's return chute. In 2013, free Wi-Fi was introduced at the Sutherland, Menai, Engadine, Miranda, Caringbah and Cronulla branches. A strategic planning document tabled by

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounti ...

for Sutherland Shire Council in the same year recommended the closure of two library branches. In the lead-up to the 2015 state election, Sutherland Shire Council, as the governing body of Sutherland Shire Libraries, advocated for more state funding to be allocated for library services. In 2015, Sutherland Library bought a

3D printer 3D printing or additive manufacturing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer co ...

and opened a

library makerspace A library makerspace, also named Hackerspace or Hacklab, is an area and/or service that offers library patrons an opportunity to create intellectual and physical materials using resources such as computers, 3-D printers, audio and video capture an ...

. Weekend hours for Sutherland and Cronulla were extended in the same year, by increasing use of volunteers. The library subscribed to the BorrowBox e-book service in 2015. Sutherland Shire Libraries won the 2015 LIAC Centre of Excellence Award for their partnership with the Sutherland Local Court and their Law Week activities. A justice of the peace help desk was offered at Cronulla library beginning in 2015. The central branch was proposed to move to

Kirrawee Kirrawee is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Kirrawee is located 25 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district in the Sutherland Shire. Kirrawee lies between Sutherland, to the west, and ...

as part of the South Village shopping centre, but this was later scrapped.

References