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Learning on the job: collection management, and aspects of cross-cultural provision.

Article Excerpt
What does a newcomer to the library industry bring, at nearly fifty? What does she find? Reflecting on her experience and a recent study tour, the author describes the barely-skilled-although-nominally-qualified challenge; and discusses current cross-cultural provision. She muses on the interplay between a new librarian's fresh eyes, experience and strong commitments; racism; possible sources of prejudice; organisational focus; and place, in shaping provision. That public libraries have a strategic and comprehensive approach to cross-cultural provision is a particular concern. Where Indigenous knowledge collections have unrestricted access, effort should be put into building non-Indigenous engagement with the riches in these collections. This will serve to strengthen the library's position in the community and, in expanding non-Indigenous patrons' knowledge of their community, build cross-cultural understanding.

The first year and what went before

'I look like a librarian so I may as well be one.' I cracked that joke frequently when studying. You know the image: female, bespectacled, grey hair worn up, tattoos concealed from the public gaze. I was no longer interested in health, community development, fundraising, publishing or the state public service; in fact I intensely disliked a couple of those options, which incorporated the most miserable years of my working life. I enrolled in a Graduate Diploma of Information Management, making a swift decision on pretty bad advice.

Three years after qualifying, two years after abandoning the job search for awhile, I moved thousands of miles to Alice Springs, to the centre of Australia and of a desert, to work in the public library as the Special Collections Librarian. To that point I had spent very little time in libraries, beyond the requirements of school, tertiary study and bursts of recreational reading. Working in a library became an aspiration while I studied, after realising that the course would not teach me what I wanted to learn (1) and quixotically deciding to persevere.

Fortunately the job suits me. I am delighted to be working in the community again while learning the many aspects of library work at which the qualification hinted but in no way equipped me for. There is room in the job (just) for me to contribute experience and ideas gleaned from nearly thirty years' employment in other industries. The desert is subtle and beautiful, heart-liftingly so, although the weather and the social climate can be harsh. At nearly fifty, I am enthusiastic about my job, something missing from my employment for years.

Alice Springs Public Library (ASPL) serves a huge area, from Barrow Creek to Coober Pedy and out to the borders, actually spilling into Western Australia a little through its Country Borrower program. Much is made of the iconic size of Northern Territory pastoral stations but ASPL's 550,000 square kilometre service region puts them in the shade, when there is shade.

When I began work in 2007, ASPL had two Special Collections: the Alice Springs Collection and the Akaltye Antheme Collection. The Alice Springs Collection is a 'record of change', documenting the economic development, geography, history and cultures of Central Australia. This is no small aim but the Collection's origin as the Central Australian reference branch of the then Northern Territory Library and Information Service (2) and my predecessors' effectiveness mean that researchers from all over Australia use it.

The Akaltye Antheme Collection was established in 2002 as part of an initiative to enhance Indigenous people's experience of the library. Indigenous people have always used ASPL: surveys in 2002 and 2003 found that Indigenous people were up to 30% of the library's clientele, depending on factors like the time of year and the number of tourists in town. So this Collection was not intended to boost numbers. The intention is to provide material of interest to, by and about Indigenous library users; and to showcase local Indigenous culture to non-indigenous patrons and visitors. 'Akaltye Antheme' is Arrernte for 'Giving Knowledge'; the name was contributed by the region's traditional owners. The knowledge being given is for Indigenous and non-indigenous alike. ASPL does hold culturally sensitive materials, which are potentially troublesome for some Indigenous people. They were identified in collaboration with traditional owners and are held in a locked Sensitive Items Cabinet, available on request to anyone but out of the way of people for whom seeing them unintentionally would be culturally inappropriate or distressing.

My primary focus during 2007-2008 was learning how to manage the Akaltye Antheme Collection, including how the Indigenous Services Officer and I would work together. Reading project evaluation reports, browsing the shelves and watching how the items were used, learning the particular end-processing methods for this Collection, thorough-going discussions with the Indigenous Services Officer, reading the ATSILIRN Protocols all gave me the history of the Collection, organisational aspirations for it and its day-to-day operation. Discussion with the Senior Librarian who instigated its establishment and with the first project officer was also informative.

With regard to the Alice Springs Collection, I performed the first duty of anyone with a budget, i.e. I spent it. Through selecting resources I learned about the...

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