In what is thought to be an Australian first, the Charles Sturt Library Service has replaced its old traditional library cards with a new Community Card. All library members and users of community centre programs have been issued with the card.
The City of Charles Sturt is located west of Adelaide’s CBD and covers an area of approximately 55 square kilometres. With a population of just over 104,000 people, the City is one of South Australia’s largest Councils.
Council’s Coordinator Knowledge Network, Julie Gardner, said the Community Card concept was developed to rebrand the library as a community asset and to provide the potential for other Council services to value add using the same card.
“The Community Card can be used to borrow material from the library, for booking computers, photocopying and printing,” she said.
Julie Gardner said that the card was first implemented in August 2005, but has only been used to its full potential in the last month.
“Participants can now use their cards in a variety of community programs run throughout Council,” she said. “Information obtained from the use of this card will now enable Council to capture information about program participation. Information patterns of use and users of various programs provided by libraries and community centres will be captured with software designed for the purpose. The knowledge gained will result in better targeted and planned programs.”
This initiative was made possible by the integration of two previously separate client bases – libraries and community centres. It will lead to an increased emphasis between libraries and community centres working in a coordinated way.
Julie Gardner said such integration ensures marketing of library and community services is integrated under the Council wide ‘Community Card’ banner and ensures efficient and effective service delivery.
For further information contact Julie Gardner on (08) 8408 1323.
