Central Coast libraries evolve with new services

Council library services are continuing to evolve with extended services now including the introduction of new self-service lockers.

These allow customers to collect their online reservations at a time that suits them from Erina, Tuggerah and Umina Beach library branches and also from Wyong at the front of the Council building.

Central Coast Council Libraries and Education Unit Manager, Beth Burgess, said the new lockers were funded through the NSW State Government’s Public Library Infrastructure Grant program.

“The new lockers allow library members the convenience of reserving items from our extensive online catalogue and selecting one of the four book locker locations to collect them from,” she said. 

“Library members will receive a notification when their reservation is ready to collect, along with a code for the locker which is accessible 24/7. 

 “The lockers at each of these locations can also be used to return items.

“If people are enthusiastic about the new locker service, we will look at providing more locations in the future.

“Since the successful trial of Library@YourTime, at Council’s Toukley branch, library members are also now enjoying the extended service at Bateau Bay and Kariong.

“To respond to the demand, we have recently increased the hours of Library@yourtime to allow access from 6am to 9pm, seven days per week.”

Council Administrator Rik Hart said this was a great example of how Council was utilising technology to connect people, build capacity and create local solutions and initiatives that better serve the needs of the community. 

“Extended library services are creating more opportunities for Council to continue to offer an inclusive library service with flexible and co-located community facilities,” Hart said.  

 “This ensures people with different needs can participate and get more value out of their library service, especially commuters and students.

“Council libraries are continually reviewing their services and facilities to meet the changing needs of library users, including how people want to visit, borrow items and enjoy their library experience.”

To see what’s available to borrow from the Central Coast library catalogue visit libraries.centralcoast.nsw.gov.au

Source:
Central Coast Council