Sutherland Shire Libraries is an Australian

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

system which serves the

Sutherland Shire Sutherland Shire is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Southern Sydney, 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 pop ...

, in

Sydney, New South Wales Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. 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) *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; Walte ...

, Chinese,

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. 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 sch ...

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 Entertainmen ...

, Kanopy 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 ...

, Consumer Health Complete, information about health for the general public, Gale Virtual Reference Library, Infobase ebooks, Salem Press biographies, and the Standards Australia 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 Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlockin ...

construction clubs are offered in Sylvania and Engadine. For older people, home library services, knitting clubs, 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 w ...

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 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 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 catalogues, 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 betwe ...

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. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amp ...

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, ...

. 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 realis ...

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 ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

to be the longest read-alouders, with a time of 81 hours and 15 minutes.

RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electroma ...

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 account ...

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. 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 Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

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