Mobile library Mornington Peninsula: Service may be replaced with ‘click and deliver’
It’s been almost a year since a popular mobile library service visited Mornington Peninsula readers. See how local bookworms are filling the void.
South East
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Kind-hearted strangers are filling the void left by the suspension of Mornington Peninsula’s mobile library.
Book exchanges and street libraries are popping up across the region as locals seek new ways to connect.
Some are little more than a random collection of cardboard boxes filled with paperbacks and piled on a bench at Balnarring Shopping Centre or a corner at Shoreham Post Office devoted to second hand stories.
Others, such as the Balnarring Beach Street Library outside Tulum Store, are more permanent.
The blue wooden bookcase was donated by Balnarring Community Association in honour of the late Jock Williamson.
Tulum Store owner Cath Haycock said the community library was popular and a more secure example of the trend.
“There used to be one right down by the beach but people kept leaving the top open and the books were often ruined by rain,” Ms Haycock said.
Mornington Peninsula Shire Cr David Gill said the growing popularity of book swapping was a reflection of community need.
He said Red Hill Ward – which makes up 50 per cent of the entire shire – was starved of community facilities and he feared the mobile library would be permanently replaced with a ‘click and deliver’ model introduced during lockdown.
“Council should be providing a full service in Red Hill and other parts of the Shire, disadvantaged by being long distances from a library,” Cr Gill said.
“The already known problems of isolation and a need for social engagement are being ignored in large parts of the Shire.”
Mornington Peninsula director of communities Pauline Gordon said a review of both the click and deliver service and the mobile library was underway.
“The surge in popularity of the (click and deliver) service – over 1700 homes within the first three weeks – and positive community feedback has prompted us to review the best delivery library services to our community,” Ms Gordon said.
She said cost, accessibility, outreach, convenience and social interaction would be considered in the review.
“We are aware that the pandemic has resulted in the community finding different ways to remain connected in their interests across the Shire,” Ms Gordon said.
“Our intent is to get a better understanding of community needs first before we can work out how we can support them.”
The Peninsula Writers Club president Andrea Rowe said mobile libraries were a “critical service” that provided access to literacy, creativity, community and knowledge.
“While a Click and Collect service is a terrific way to ensure readers access books, the personal connection of browsing books and maintaining a highly visual presence in the community is just as important for library interaction,” she said.
