Assessment 5: Professional Placement Report
Section 1: About the placement organisation
Newcastle City Libraries (NCL) offers a comprehensive range of services to a growing number of communities, reaching from the bustling city of Newcastle, to scenic Port Stephens and the picturesque Hunter Region. NCL comprises of 13 branches and regional library partners, including: Adamstown, Beresfield, Newcastle City, Hamilton, Lambton, Local History (City), Mayfield, New Lambton, Stockton, Wallsend, Newcastle Digital Library, Port Stephens Libraries and Dungog Library.
While the number of registered members of Newcastle Libraries is unknown due to the number of NCL sites and partner organisations, the number of new users on the NCL app rose by more than 53% in one month during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 (City of Newcastle, 2020). The City of Newcastle (2020) reported in the same year the e-Library accounted for 30% of all library loans in the Newcastle City government area alone. Due to such a broad and high demand user-network, the City of Newcastle recently dedicated $100,000 to increasing the NCL e-Library catalogue and related services for the public in an effort to support the wellbeing, enjoyment and mental health of the NCL patrons during such a tumultuous and unprecedented time in our history. The facilitation and upgrade of this service means that patrons are able to instantly access a vast range of resources at their finger tips without needing to leave the safety of home – a particularly good benefit when a nation faces potential ongoing lockdowns.
NCL offers its members more than books, magazines, DVDs/CDs and digital resources (such as audio books and e-Books); members are also presented with many community programs including internet and technology support sessions, writing workshops, author visits and public speaking forums. The Newcastle Library additionally provides Home Library Services once a month to patrons who are otherwise unable to physically access the library; usually due to disability, age or sickness. Children’s programs are run regularly across most NCL branches, and are successfully designed to engage children and their families in literature to promote and encourage a love of reading, whilst promoting and offering a variety of support services to families. Registered patrons are able to access free PC and internet access at all Newcastle Region Library branches, with service and support available to members from trained Library staff during branch opening hours. NCL furthermore hosts a range of exhibitions in both the Newcastle City and Wallsend District branches. Exhibitions are regularly opened and free for the public, with Library staff encouraging and supporting the admittance of local school groups, aged-care organisations and other community groups.
Perhaps one of the most important roles NCL plays within society is providing the right to, and freedom of information to the public. With the support of Library staff, patrons are able to locate and access information, with the ongoing goal of the Library’s ability to increase user accessibility and engagement with the library services. NCL serves to provide safe spaces for communities to freely utilise for a multitude of purposes; including study, meetings, access to clean and warm facilities for homeless groups, local council meetings and services, outreach groups and other collaborative organisations.
If NCL ceased to provide the current facilities and services to its community members, there are many vulnerable groups (including migrant groups, cultural groups, homeless, disability service support groups, and job-seekers) and hundreds of paid staff that operate these facilities, who would markedly suffer as consequence. NCL sustains the community in terms of positive social, cultural and environmental economic value and benefit. The core mission of all public libraries, including Newcastle City Libraries, is to assist community members to elevate, educate and support themselves through the access of information to improve their way and quality of life.
Section 2: Theory into practice
I entered my placement at Newcastle City Libraries with a preconceived idea of what the role of a Librarian in a public library would look like. My understanding of the role of not only the Librarian, but also the role and purpose of a public library, ended up being incredibly naïve and therefore challenged in the most enjoyable way. Having only accessed the NCL facilities previously to quickly pick up ‘Book Club’ kits, I never really understood the true nature and enormity of the NCL services and resources. I assumed that a Librarian at a public library would mostly be consumed with mundane customer service tasks, such as shelving or checking out books and answering the phones. I also assumed that everyone who worked at a public library must be a trained Librarian, which I soon realised to my shock (on my first day in fact) was not the case at all.
My experiences at NCL during my work placement made me reflect on the very beginning of my learning journey as a Teacher Librarian, beginning my Master of Education (Teacher Librarianship) and my first subject: ETL401 Introduction to Teacher Librarianship.
ETL401 was the initial subject I completed at Charles Sturt University as part of my post-graduate study. As a keystone subject to the course, it provided me with the foundational knowledge and understanding of the role of the Teacher Librarian, acting as a conduit between schools and the wider community. But perhaps more importantly, it taught me the knowledge, skills and behaviours of becoming a reflective practitioner.
Through ETL401 I learnt about the importance of the relationships between the information professional and the staff, students, patrons and community members, whilst also reflecting on the misconceptions of the role of a library and information professional. In my first assignment, I noted that one half of the Teacher Librarian role is essentially an information specialist who coordinates, organises and utilises information, much like a librarian in a public or academic library. During my reflections and blog posts, I decided that Teacher Librarians are often perceived in schools by faculty, parents and the community as the person who simply reads picture books, lends out the library resources and may have the knowledge to repair a broken computer. I further discussed the perceived role of the Teacher Librarian and how this presumptive notion can be detrimental to all stakeholders involved, by stating:
“The misperceptions and misinterpretations of the teacher librarian’s role, capabilities and expert knowledge from faculty and parents can become detrimental not only for the library professional, but can hinder productive faculty collaboration, which in turn can affect the wider community.” (Bramble, 2018)
Without realising, I became a hypocrite to my own words, in regards to the role of the information professional and Librarian, by thinking that a Librarian in a public library would simply ‘shelve books and answer the phones’.
ETL401 taught me the importance of understanding what being ‘literate’ in the 21st century entails, the importance of ‘digital literacy’ and how the information landscape is a constantly developing and changing aspect of the information profession. It also taught me that digital literacy involves developing skills that requires the user to not only confidently interact with technology and find information, but to act responsibly and safely online to successfully solve problems and to complete tasks. Throughout my placement at NCL I was amazed by how digitally ‘fluent’ the number of patrons and volunteers were, through their day-to-day interactions with the Library software and hardware. These included:
- Digital self-serve checkout counters
- Interactive digital touch screens (collection access)
- Automatic digital returns shelving
- 3D printers
- An 8m wide Digital Story Wall
- Multimedia ‘Magic Box’
- Digitisation Lab (DigiLab) and preservation equipment
- QR codes
- Podcast and Media Room
During ETL401 I reflected that in schools, it is the role and responsibility of the Teacher Librarian to ensure that students are equipped with the necessary skills to be able to effectively utilise a range of digital technologies, ICT and Web 2.0 tools. Similarly, by utilising digital technologies and educating Library patrons how to navigate and access these, I was able to provide patrons greater access to the Library’s vast collections and supporting users to interpret and utilise digital materials to access and present information in different ways.
During my placement I was under the supervision of Julie Swane, a trained and experienced Teacher Librarian, who was the head of Children’s Service at NCL. Julie led the Children’s Services team at all NCL locations and was responsible for programming workshops, curating exhibitions, collection development and management of early years literature and resources. Julie explained how pivotal the role of a trained Librarian was at the heart of the Library (both in a school and a public library) and that informing the community of the services the Library provided was crucial to the success of the Children’s Services program. Julie heavily relied on her team and others within the Library organisation to effectively communicate and provide the services to the NCL communities, by utilising digital platforms (such as Facebook) and signage within branches. This made me reflect on how I currently inform the school community of my wider role as a Teacher Librarian in a primary school and the services and support I am able to offer to staff, students and the community. I now feel that this is an area I can confidently improve upon to increase the collaboration and communication within my school community.
Section 3: Critical reflection
I found the placement to be of immense value, as it allowed me to broaden my knowledge of the role of a Librarian and public libraries, including the number of valuable facilities, services and programs they provide. As I already worked in a school library, this meant I had to broaden my scope and professional experience of libraries in general by undertaking professional placement at Newcastle City Libraries.
My experience at NCL was fast-paced, diverse and at times quite challenging. My supervisor, Julie Swane, commented on my confidence and ability to be flexible, adaptive and responsive to challenges and last-minute changes, noting that my “experience as a teacher was largely to thank for this” (J. Swane, personal communication, July 8, 2021).
Whilst on placement I was fortunate enough to gain a well-rounded understanding of the NCL services, facilities and roles of the staff, by visiting multiple branches and liaising with the professionals who work there. I was excited to be able to complete a physical placement, especially after completing Virtual Study Visits, however this also meant many rules and restrictions were in place when I commenced my visit, including mandatory mask wearing, physical distancing and QR code check ins. During my time, I was able to visit multiple branches and locations including:
- Newcastle City
- Digital Library
- Wallsend Library
- DigiLab
- Local Studies and,
- Lovett Gallery
Within each of these locations I was able to collaborate with employees who worked there, most of whom were not actually trained or qualified Librarians. When I questioned my supervisor about the lack of Librarians at the Library, she replied that they now hire “whoever is best fit for the job, regardless of their credentials” (J. Swane, personal communication, June 29, 2021). I found this incredibly interesting and so would ask each employee I met with, what their work history and academic background was. The answers I received were surprising, but at the same time, made a lot of sense.
For example, one staff member who was in charge of ‘Customer Relations and Experiences’ had previous experience as a manager at a large and affluent Sydney restaurant. However, they had an absolute passion for increasingly popular genres such as Graphic Novels, Manga and Queer Literature; filling an apparent gap in the staffing structure. I also learned that within the organisation’s set of values, all staff are required to spend approximately one-third of their work load in customer services or ‘on the desk’. I spent several hours most days working in customer services within several branches and completed a range of tasks. This included managing the QR code checking-in of visitors, front desk enquiries (printers, computers, resources etc) shelving, placing holds, organising interlibrary loans and answering calls.
From this valuable experience, I have learnt how incredibly vast and evolving the role of a Librarian is. I feel as though I have just scratched the surface on where this degree can actually take me, certainly beyond the gates of a public school. During my placement at NCL I was fortunate to be able to assist in the facilitation and organisation of children’s school holiday workshops and make professional connections with these hosts, organisations and Australian authors and illustrators, such as Liz Anelli. An incredible experience, and one that I will never forget!
I now recognise through my combined experience of studies at Charles Sturt and my placement, that the role of the Librarian, whether in a school, public or academic library, is one that is defined by the needs of the organisation, community and its patrons. A Librarian must be agile and embrace a variety of roles, with the ability to adapt and engage themselves purposefully into their role in order to facilitate life-long learning.
References
Bramble, L. (2018, March 1). The perceived role of the teacher librarian. Unshelved.
https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/lucyb/2018/03/01/the-perceived-role-of-the-teacher-
librarian/comment-page-1/#comment-3
City of Newcastle. (2020). e-Library expansion puts more digital content at fingertips.
https://newcastle.nsw.gov.au/council/news/latest-news/e-library-expansion-puts-
more-digital-content-at-f