Libraries are one of the great community resources available to the public courtesy of Councils around Australia. The Town of Claremont in Western Australia has developed its library service to also make it a great staff training resource.
Through the Services to Staff Program, library staff give strong consideration when purchasing items for their collection to staff training and development. This includes books, videos, cassettes, CD ROMs and journals. Regular monthly training sessions use videos made available through the library service.
During Library Week in May this year, all Council staff were invited to a breakfast at the library. This included a hands on demonstration of a recently installed comprehensive multi media and Internet service at the library.
Emphasis was placed on how this service could assist staff professionally and personally. A number of Internet Bookmarks were created for future training sessions. In addition, a continuous service using email advises staff of new titles relevant to their work, including subjects such as time management, marketing and customer service.
Promotion of the library as a training resource has enabled staff to assume responsibility for much of their own professional development. It has also fostered information sharing between colleagues resulting in a general upskilling of the workforce.
For further information contact Suzanne McLeod, telephone (08) 9384 0588.
