Chapter closes

By Shaun Inguanzo
A FORMER mobile librarian has slammed the City of Greater Dandenong for abolishing its mobile library service.
Keysborough Ward councillor Roz Blades tried saving the defunct service, which was axed last December, with a notice of motion at Monday night’s council meeting.
The notice of motion requested that the council reinstate the mobile library after two months of community campaigning including a 600-signature petition urging the council to save the service.
But the motion was lost in a tight five to six vote, dividing the council and upsetting residents in the council gallery.
As reported in Star early this month, Casey council will now look at buying the truck and trailer to use a mobile library for its remote coastal townships.
Casey councillor Wayne Smith was at Monday night’s meeting and described Greater Dandenong’s loss as ‘a shame’ for residents, but a ‘great opportunity’ for Casey.
He is expected to raise the matter at next week’s Casey council meeting.
Meanwhile, former mobile library driver and Keysborough resident Diana Thurbon has written a letter to Greater Dandenong CEO John Bennie criticising the council’s decision.
“Mobile libraries create new library users,” Ms Thurbon wrote.
“Disadvantaged adults including those from other cultures such as newly arrived Sudanese people have urgent information needs but with limited time for information seeking due to time consuming jobs and family responsibilities.
“Due to their low incomes, they have less access to computers, the internet, books and reliable free information.”
In her letter Ms Thurbon said the expansion of the council’s outreach in place of the mobile library would be inadequate to service an entire city’s library needs.
“This is wonderful for those who are unable to leave their homes,” she wrote.
“This service, however, cannot replace a mobile library which caters for residents from zero to 99 (years old), for the moderately disabled, for people who don’t have a car, don’t drive, or just don’t want to drive.”
Ms Thurbon also beat down a council report claiming just 55 people were using the service prior to its December axing.
Figures obtained from the State Government by Cr Blades show that as recently as the 2005-06 financial year the mobile library had attracted 49,000 users – not the 55 reported by council officers.
Ms Thurbon said she was not sure which figures were correct but believed the council’s figure was not accurate.
“When I was librarian we usually saw between 100 and 200 people a day. When sites weren’t performing we changed location or times to accommodate usage patterns – we didn’t, as has been the case recently, cut back the service and reduce exposure – that would have been counter productive.”
The mobile library was axed by councillors in late November and it had its last day of operation on 20 December.
Keysborough Ward councillor Roz Blades made a last-ditch attempt to save the service by putting forward a notice of motion to reinstate it at Monday night’s council meeting.
But that motion was lost in a vote of five to six, with councillors John Kelly, Yvonne Herring, Sue Walton, Alan Gordon, Paul Donovan and Maria Sampey voting against it to deliver the service its deathblow.
Cr Gordon said most people lived within four kilometres of a static library and that many of the mobile library users also visited those branches, based in Springvale and Dandenong.
The council has not revealed a price tag for the truck and trailer combo.
Engineering services director Tim Tamlin said they would be taken to auction.
“As is normal practice for the sale of council vehicles, the prime mover will go to a third party auction house and council will be guided by industry professionals on an appropriate sale price.”