Developing partnerships to deliver Learning programs: the Moonee Valley experience.

• Author: Watson, Troy
• Position: Moonee Valley City, Melbourne, Australia - Report

Moonee Valley City Council Library and Learning provides a flexible, contemporary service appropriate to the changing needs of residents. With the development of the Avondale Heights Library and Learning Centre, and the library and learning strategy 2012-16, this provided opportunities for developing partnerships with local training providers to deliver learning programs to meet the needs of the community. This collaboration has delivered formal and informal programs to the community that would not have been possible using existing financial and human resources. Edited version of a paper presented at the conference 'Learning for all: public libraries in Australia and New Zealand Melbourne 13-14 September 2012'.

**********

Since the opening of the Avondale Heights Library and Learning Centre in September 2010, Moonee Valley city council, through its library and learning department, has developed strategic partnerships to enable the delivery of services and programs to the community. This has resulted in a significant increase in the variety and scope of informal programs and formal courses that meet community needs. Further to this, the development of a library and learning strategy in 2011 provided a clear vision and focus for the delivery of library services and learning programs across the next four years.

This paper focuses specifically on the Avondale Heights Library and Learning Centre approach; case studies of the partnerships that have been developed to date and the outcomes; and outline council's aims for extending this approach across the municipality.

Background

The city of Moonee Valley is a mostly residential area covering 43 square kilometres, located between 4 and 13 kilometres from Melbourne's CBD. Around 114,500 residents or 46,000 households call Moonee Valley home. The community is culturally and linguistically diverse, with more than a quarter of the population born overseas.

Moonee Valley City Council has libraries in Ascot Vale, Avondale Heights (Library and Learning Centre), Flemington, Moonee Ponds (Sam Merrifield Library) and Niddrie. Moonee Valley libraries provide a return on investment of $4.29 for every dollar invested, compared with the Victorian average of $3.56. (1) Rfid will be introduced across the library service in 2012, providing further operating efficiencies and benefits to library users. There are currently 58,681 library members, which equates to more than half the population of the municipality. Visits average 2,500 a day, with 746,000 visits in 2011/12, and 1.1 million items a year are borrowed. As is the case for most libraries, the increasing demand for technology and online services is evident with over 85,000 computer bookings across the branches in 2011/12 (an increase of 12% from the previous year), and 24,000 user logins to wireless internet during the same period (an increase of 56% from the previous year).

In 2009, a corporate restructure led to the library services department being renamed library and learning, which provided the impetus to move from what was a more traditional library service approach to a far greater community learning focus. The library and learning department, within the citizens services and information management directorate, delivers a range of services to support the needs of the community for learning, information and recreation.

Avondale Heights Library and Learning Centre The Avondale Heights Library and Learning Centre provided the opportunity to reconsider the learning role that libraries play within Moonee Valley. In 2008 a memorandum of understanding between Skills Victoria (Diird) and Moonee Valley Council was executed, which included the construction of a new Avondale Heights Community Learning Centre (Ahcl) with council to manage the facility. (2) In 2009 council adopted the Avondale Heights Community Learning Centre vision and strategic use framework to guide the development of the centre. It was around this time that the lease arrangements for Milleara Library (located in East Keilor) expired and a commercial rent proposed (replacing existing peppercorn rental arrangements). Council resolved to move Milleara Library to the community learning centre. In September 2010, the renamed Avondale Heights Library and Learning Centre opened to the public.

Main elements of council's vision for the centre included

* developing a core set of uses based around lifelong learning, skills development and community engagement

* fostering key partnerships which enable the facility to grow and evolve

* being responsive to community needs

* contributing to the community's social, cultural and economic fabric. (3)

This provided the vision to drive the development of informal and formal training programs, a priority given the involvement of Skills Victoria in the project. It also presented a significant change in direction for the library service, from what was previously a shop front library to a facility focused on learning, engagement and partnerships. A major outcome of this was a new range of tasks for staff in providing learning centre support and program delivery, but also an impetus to bring to life the vision for the learning centre.

In June 2012 council adopted the Avondale Heights Community Precinct vision and master plan. This provides a vision for further development of the Avondale Heights site, to create a community hub with a neighbourhood focus, fostering local connections and consolidating and enhancing the existing cluster of community facilities and services. This will include the library and learning centre as the cornerstone use of the precinct, and see further development including a library extension, early years centre, multipurpose community facility, piazza and outdoor youth space. (4)

Library and learning strategy

A key strategic action for council in 2011/12 was to develop a strategy to guide the delivery and development of library and learning services for the next four years. Adopted on 20 December 2011, the library and learning strategy 2012-16 provides a comprehensive framework to guide the development of services. The strategy describes a vision for Moonee Valley Libraries as

* visibly supporting and adding value to the work of council

* providing a flexible, contemporary service, appropriate to the changing needs of Moonee Valley residents

* making a positive contribution to the advancement of public libraries. (5)

The strategy sets out a framework for building the library service around five themes: access, connection, leisure, information, and...