A Library Planet post by Rob Lee

There are approximately 360 public libraries in New South Wales and 285 in Victoria.¹ If you visited one library each day, five days each week, it would take two and a half years to see every municipal book space across these two regions (and this does not count the mobile libraries and other community library outlets operating in these States).

In March 2023, I visited four of these libraries in four days: the Barham Branch Library, the Swan Hill Regional Library, the Robinvale Learning and Community Hub, and the Moulamein Library. The trip was not the start of a world record attempt. The tour’s purpose was to photograph each library for the BookSpaces project.

It was an opportunity to visit interesting towns and explore their extraordinary information spaces. In Barham, for instance, library volunteers prepared Easter reading and craft activities for local children. The Swan Hill Library staff created displays and developed activities for upcoming Harmony Day celebrations. At the Robinvale library, a class from the co-located Secondary College used the space for an English lesson. In Moulamein, the librarian hosted a social club for students from the local public school. These library spaces are so intimately connected to their communities that it is hard to separate information services from their social, educational, governmental, and local history activities. In this sense, they may be no different to their city cousins. Still, in the bush, even in the twenty-first century, a degree of isolation makes a library self-reliant and functionally diversified.

Barham Library is located within the Community Centre in the middle of town. The library is operated by the Murray River Council and is part of the Swan Hill Regional Library Service. The facility is modest by most standards, but it is a place that immediately appeals to anyone with a love for beautiful book spaces. It is welcoming, engaging, and fun. The children’s zone and the research area are well-designed and appointed. The collection is tailored to meet the needs of patrons with an emphasis on fiction, books for young readers and local history. The library runs regular programs and events, including social book chats, author talks, children’s reading sessions and a home delivery service for residents. The library is a busy place where patrons browse the shelves while in animated conversations about local politics. If you visit, take the time to sit on one of the appropriately upholstered chairs, read a book and look out across the park to the Murray River. You would be most welcome.

The Swan Hill Library is a modern public library located on the town’s main street. As with most regional library hubs, Swan Hill has an extensive collection and is a centre for community learning, research, and social activities. This book space also has some hidden gems. The library has substantial areas devoted to local history, including a significant collection of oral histories. It also displays artworks celebrating the sister city relationship between Swan Hill and Yamagata in Japan and a sizable model of the Qantas Boeing 747 ‘City of Swan Hill’ (VH-ECB) in its 1979 livery. This library is a formidable resource directly targeted on matters affecting the community. It actively supports the Swan Hill region’s traditions, diversity, and future. It is not an ornate library. It is an efficient, practical information space for pragmatic people.

Moulamein is a small township in New South Wales’s Riverina region. It is situated on the banks of the Edward River and is approximately 80 kilometres north of Swan Hill. The town’s public library is unassuming in its size and architecture. However, there is an energy emanating from this place. The door is genuinely a threshold to information, assistance, and social connection. The librarian (there is only one) maintains an immaculate space, providing information and municipal services, drives the region’s mobile library, and hosts regular activities for young readers. I was photographing the library during an after-school session for students. With the support and guidance of the librarian, the photoshoot became an impromptu photography class and photo-taking experience for the group. The Moulamein Library is an example of how small community information spaces successfully serve their patrons – the young, the learners, the unconnected and the curious.

The Robinvale Community Library, located in the Robinvale Learning and Community Hub, was the last stop on this tour of libraries. It is a modern facility situated within the grounds of Robinvale College. The library is designed to meet the needs of both the school and the local township. It is an impressive, open space with a diverse print collection, meeting spaces, good internet access and areas for study and quiet reading. Library staff have created an engaging space for young readers and are working with local teenagers to create an environment to also meet their needs. This book space is multi-dimensional. Classes from the college come to study literature and language, while local residents browse the fiction collection or do research. The collection, the facilities and the staff must accommodate this considerable range of functions – it all happens with courtesy and good humour. This library is an impressive facility and a welcoming space.

The libraries that I visited during this trip may not be grand or architecturally significant facilities. They are not ‘shrines for books’ (Norman Cousins). They are good examples of how information and the written word can form the basis of significant community institutions. Thanks to all, I had a wonderful time with the people and in the places I visited. I strongly suggest that you visit a library on your next trip away.

The BookSpaces project aims to create a visual record of libraries and other spaces dedicated to using, organising, storing, and protecting printed documents. Images from the project can be found at www.frame49.photography.

1. Australian Public Libraries Statistical Report (2021-22).