Library takes an innovative approach
When Lynne Makin says fleet management wasn’t in her job description, she could be forgiven for thinking otherwise.
As Chief Executive Officer of Upper Murray Regional Library, books, education and information technology are Lynne’s tools of the trade, however managing trucks has somehow also become part of her responsibilities.
Mobile libraries in the form of trucks are nothing new, in fact they’ve been steadily growing in popularity over the years, however Upper Murray Regional Library boasts three of them. What is innovative about their latest mobile truck is that it takes on a whole new approach to linking with the community, even the corporate world.
Affectionately named “Suzi”, (a re-fitted Isuzu truck) this mobile library more resembles a hi-tech office or meeting room. She boasts 7 laptops, satellite internet, fold down desks that can accommodate 12 to 15 people and most importantly, she’s on wheels, so she can travel anywhere.
While Lynne Makin and her team came up with the concept of Suzi and sought funding, they set some clear goals about what they wanted to achieve.
“Our homework program had been running in Wodonga schools for some time, but I knew there were lots of kids out there who didn’t have the internet at home or wouldn’t go to the library,” said Lynne.
“So our concept was to support the kids who don’t have access to internet technology. Primary age is the focus, because if you don’t get them in that early age, it’s very hard to get them later on and some simply fall through the cracks,” she said.
By working with Upper Murray Community Health and their neighbourhood centres, Upper Murray Regional Library could effectively target needy children after school. From Monday to Thursday, Suzi spends afternoons in West Wodonga and West Albury, giving children access to learning on the internet.
“They get on and do homework, but at the end if they’ve finished there are structured games that we monitor carefully and other fun learning they can do with laptops as a type of a reward,” said Lynne.
The response to the program has been overwhelming.
“With Suzi, we don’t go out in the school holidays, and our co-ordinator tells us the kids have been here during the school holidays wanting Suzi back, so it means we’ve touched something, we’ve found a nerve out there.”
The other direction Suzi is about to embark on is connecting with older residents who don’t have internet skills and may be daunted about visiting a library or trying to teach themselves.
“We’re missing a whole lot of people in our community because we expect people to come to libraries. There are a lot of people either through education or just have never been familiar with libraries, older people with mobility issues, who are not getting access to a whole range of things that we can offer, so we come to them, so we’re quite innovative,” said Lynne.
Suzi is proving to be extremely multi-skilled, as she’s also being offered to the corporate world.
“Suzi might be ideal for training organisations or businesses, on a commercial basis, who might like to travel to wherever they’re delivering the training. They don’t need to hire a room and the people don’t have to go anywhere, so that’s another direction for Suzi.”
As much as Lynne and her team may not have planned a career in fleet management, they’re bracing themselves for further additions to their fleet.
“We’ve not really marketed Suzi, but she’s at a point we could probably end up with another truck. I even did a presentation in New Zealand recently and now I’ve got somebody coming in about a month’s time to have a look at how Suzi works because they’re really interested, so who knows, she might have been the spark for something to take off.”
