State Library of NSW

DiverseWerks - Community Needs Analysis

REVIEW OF NSW MULTICULTURAL LIBRARY SERVICES

Issue: 

The State Library of NSW (State Library) and NSW public libraries are undertaking a formal review of service delivery to establish the level of capacity in public libraries in meeting the needs of their local culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities.

Solution: 

The aim of this project is to determine the extent to which public library services in NSW are evolving to meet the changes in local demographics, service expectations, community needs and access to technology for non-English speaking members of their local communities. The project will review multicultural library services provided by NSW public libraries including identifying client needs, canvassing opinions on existing multicultural services already provided by public libraries, identify the gaps in service provision and possible future multicultural services.

Results: 

Through various recommendations presented by DiverseWerks, the State Library has been able to adopt the recommendations including training for up to 140 staff members and upgrading the community benchmarks to meet the outcome. There has also been a remarkable level of advocacy for community outreach for local library services.