Dear Members of the SMSA

This week (22-28 May 2017) is Library and Information Week! At first I thought it would be a good idea to use this opportunity to promote our super library and its resources. Then I thought again and wondered if it wasn’t more an opportunity to highlight to you, the members, how great our staff are and to talk about the changes that have happened in the library in the last year.

Since I have been at the SMSA I feel the library has come a long way. A lot of things have stayed the same but a few things have also changed.

We have now got 4 members’ computers, as we have noticed that the demand for this has grown. All the staff are able to help you if you have any technology issues, but I may just take this point to remind you ALWAYS to sign out of your email accounts, and not save passwords on these computers !

Speaking of technology, we also have 4 ipads which are available for borrowing. I do want to remind members that they are extremely simple to use, they don’t have a manual because they don’t need one and if I can use one, anyone can! With the ipad there is the opportunity to do anything you can do on the computer – including reading the SMH, the Australian and the Financial Review. You can read your emails, play games, check the weather, and of course read from our ebook and emagazine collections. Again, Erika, Stephen and I are more than happy to help you with the ipads if you need help.

We have done rather a lot of re-shelving this last year – I know it has caused some confusion, but at the end of the day, we hope it makes it easier for you to navigate the library. In a nutshell, we have relocated the nonfiction section and it now includes the travel and Australiana sections that we previously had. The paperbacks have been assimilated into our general novel collection and the mystery paperbacks have their own room! We are still working on other relocations, but our ultimate aim is to make the library more usable for you.

Staff wise, we have a great Library team – myself, Erika and Stephen are all permanent staff, along with Venettia who works alternate Saturdays. We are all library technician trained and so we can help you with many, many things! We also have our very capable casuals, whom I am sure you have also met – Marlene, Kathleen, Lisa and Phil.

Things we can help with, for example, are :

Helping with your technology issues in the library (as above)
Help locating items and using our catalogue
Researching where to find items if we do not have them in the library
Help you expand your reading repertoire via our displays and reviews
Take on your book and magazine suggestions, read and review books that are relevant to our library members

We have a new set of library guidelines which are available for you to take a copy on the display table, which is worth a quick read – you will note that borrowing books from the Tom Kenneally Centre is now 4 weeks instead of 2, which is great. You can also find a copy of the guidelines on our website.

Effective 1 July 2017, the annual membership subscription rates for the SMSA will change as shown below, following a review by the Board.

Ordinary Membership — $20
Concession Membership — $15
Reader’ Ticket — $15 (no voting rights)
Additional Subscription(s) — $5 flat fee

Fees have not been increased for a long time, and it is STILL the best value in town!

And of course, we are always more than happy to listen and have a chat. And help out with the crossword…! I know that you have met us all, but I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know how much we have to offer and we hope that you enjoy coming in to see us too!

The number of members we have has grown, which we are very happy about and thank you for your referrals of friends and colleagues. We have a lot of support from the rest of the staff at the SMSA and the Board for which we are grateful, and with this support, we hope to continue to provide you with the best service that we can.

So thank you for supporting our library!