ACC Library Service

ACC Library Service Vision  In 2011 a Library Vision was created with the community, staff, Council and other key stakeholders.

Our Vision States:  ‘Our libraries will promote participation and the development of a strong and productive community’.

Our Vision:  The vision describes a library service that helps people connect, learn, discover and express themselves;  that welcomes all ages and histories;  is a leader in social, technological and environmental sustainability;  is surprising and fun, and provides an iconic city destination.

The Future:  Over the next 30 years it is predicted that the demand for library services within Adelaide City will more than double.  Residential and worker populations are expected to increase by 27,300 and 50,000 respectively and international students will continue to be a significant user group.

Major ACC Projects:  Rundle Mall Master Plan  The Adelaide Oval Redevelopment  Victoria Square will deliver a vibrant and enriching city environment that attracts residents, business and visitors.  A modern and responsive library service fits within this future vision.

What does this mean?  Our Library Service is changing. A new City Library will open in February  We are relocating our Grote Street and North Terrace Libraries together with our Pirie Street collections facilities into the new City Library.  The North Adelaide Community Centre and Library and the Hutt Street Library will remain in their current locations.

What does this mean?  We are on a quest, an adventure together to be the best library service we can possibly be.  The new City Library gives us the opportunity to step forward on the quest, providing space and opportunities for us to move from a predominately transaction library service (books in, books out) to a participatory library service (where we work together with the community).

What does this mean?  Together we will co-create the library service, we have talked and will continue to talk with our various communities to discover what they would like to see happening in our library service now and in the future.

What does this mean?  Our role is changing as we become facilitators rather than experts in everything that we offer. The Innovation Lab is an example of this, we provide the space and the equipment and the expertise is provided by others - partners, volunteers etc. We are learning and working with the community.

Social inclusion Excellent infrastructure Connected & engaged Strong neighbourhoods LIFE LONG LEARNING INNOVATION PLACE MAKING CITY CULTURE Adelaide City Library Service: Strategic Goals Provide Opportunities & Spaces for Learning, Social and Cultural Expression Relevant & Responsive Collections Social Inclusion: Providing an environment that is safe, friendly, and welcoming for all members of the community An everyday partner for learning, reading & reflection Strong Neighbourhoods : Highly visible, well used, flexible library spaces and places – physical / virtual / pop-up / community Connected & Engaged: User friendly places & spaces Working together, collaborating, participating & co-creating Excellent Infrastructure: A professional and dynamic customer focused team Facilitation of sustainable services and resources

What Next? We will now break up into small groups for about 30 minutes for a group activity that will involve a short set of questions. After this we will reconvene as a group to talk about the next steps in the recruitment process.

How did we get to this point?  Library Vision Workshops  Library Vision Next Steps Workshops  Library Vision Next Steps Survey Summary and feedback to staff  Roster Review, discussions with staff & implementation  Community Engagement Planning workshops with staff  Program Planning Workshop

 Library Services for the Future Presentation No.1  Library Services for the Future Presentation No.2  Sharepoint Central Library Site & Blog Set Up  1st FAQ Communication  2nd FAQ Communication

Operational Plan Rationale  The new City Library was built to meet community need and to overcome the limitations of the cramped premises at North Terrace and Grote Street and to better integrate the back of house operations from Pirie St.  As a result the Staff structure needed to be realigned to support a more adaptable service delivery.

The Operational Plan was designed to deliver: Operational requirements for an increased span of hours to meet Rundle Mall retail hours Less transactional service delivery and move to a co-creation and participatory model Shift towards virtual and digital resources Facilitation of community spaces and increased programming Improved business continuity

Succession planning and career development opportunities and progression Skills & competency based approach to staffing with higher level ICT and training required Flexibility to accommodate staged retirement process for an aging workforce

As part of the Operational Planning six new positions were created:

Recruitment model:  Advertisement:  Shortlisting:  Phone Interviews:  “Tell us about you”:  Group Interviews:  Group interview format:

The key areas of assessment at the Group Interview stage were:  Team Fit  Communication  Active listening  Positive approach to customer service & technology  Leadership skills  Innovative/creative thinking

 Competency Interviews:  Pre-employment Medicals and Police Checks  Reference checks

Pros & Cons:  It was a lot of work and involved many staff  We were able to involve lots of staff from different area across council in the process – HR, Library Leadership Team, Library Coordinators & specialist staff, Volunteer Coordinator, admin support officer etc  We had lots of internal staff applying for only 6 position  Current staff were engaged with the process and wanted to apply for the roles. 3 of the 6 position went internally. We received positive feedback from the majority of staff involved in the process.

 The actual recruitment process was extremely fast.  We under estimated the amount of time the phone interviews would take.  Actually talking to candidate before asking them to the group interview meant that the candidate felt more at ease at the group interviews.

 Some candidates felt overwhelmed by the group interviews and were unsure about what to expect.  We were looking for team fit, how people interacted and to provide them with more information about the Library Service. Some people decided that we were not a good fit with them and withdrew from the process, many more (success or not) provided feedback that they had enjoyed the process.  Would we do it again?  Yes – watch this space

Key Learnings:  Without a credible vision, a well thought-out plan and an effective communication process support from current staff will not occur & transformational change is not possible.  It is essential to listen to comments, ideas, and objections from staff and to involve them as fully as possible in planning and delivering the change.  This is a lot of work but very worthwhile.

 The library team gain insight into the real problems faced by the library service going into the future; by sharing these problems the library team become aligned on one side and the problems on the other;  The knowledge derived from the process also includes facts about the self- interest of the various parties;  Everyone who plays a part is implicated in the outcome.