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The National Library Reading Rooms: Sharing Opinions

The Main Reading Room
Photo courtesy Loui Seselja, National Library

The next few years will be an exciting time, as the National Library plans to renovate its public spaces, creating a new ‘Treasures’ exhibition gallery and upgrading the reading rooms.

As a first step in the planning process, the Library held a number of focus groups in November 2007 to hear directly from readers about how the reading rooms are used and how onsite services could be improved. We had an excellent response from the 32 participants, most of whom are regular visitors. The sessions focused on the physical environment rather than library services more broadly, and participants were asked:

  • What makes the National Library special?
  • What characteristics about the reading rooms do you value?
  • What ‘zones’ for different activities would you like to see in the reading rooms, e.g. group work, quiet study, multimedia, family history, etc.?
  • Would you like to see a special collections ‘zone’ to access a variety of materials—manuscripts, oral histories, music, pictures, etc.—simultaneously?

The Library received very useful feedback from these sessions, most of which confirmed our anecdotal evidence and impressions. There were many positive comments about the ambience in the Library: people feel welcome, and place a high premium on access to the lake views and natural light. They find the building a pleasant environment in which to work, using phrases such as ‘the library is a second home’ and ‘love the high ceilings’. The one exception to this is the Newspapers and Microforms Reading Room, which was described as ‘stuffy’ and ‘crowded’.

One of the things we wanted to test through these focus groups was the idea of creating zones for different activities in the reading rooms. This concept was well received, with the participants agreeing that designated zones could address issues such as noise levels, group study space, and access to multimedia. We were surprised to realise the level of importance readers place on perusing current journals and new books, and intend to enhance these displays in the Main Reading Room as a consequence.

The idea of a special collections zone was met with some ambivalence. Participants recognised deficiencies in the current set-up and could see benefits in being able to use a variety of collection materials concurrently, but were cautious about the implications on the high level of service and access to expertise they currently experience in the special collections reading rooms. The importance placed on access to knowledgeable, service-oriented staff came across strongly.

All sessions made the point that a centralised special collections reading room with longer opening hours would be a clear advantage. In general, there were positive comments about using the collection, with participants contrasting the willingness to facilitate access to the collection at the National Library with an attitude of ‘protecting the collection at all costs’ at other institutions.

The complete report on these focus groups is available at www.nla.gov.au/infoserv/documents/Focus_group_report.pdf, and we are encouraging anyone who uses the Library to provide us with additional comments through our blog at http://natlibaustralia.blogspot.com. The Library intends to invite more input from users as our renovation plans progress, and based on the success of this experience, conducting more focus groups will be one of the techniques we employ.

Aileen Weir
Manager, Service Development