Library opening hours

Please note that the opening hours community consultation closed on 29 February; this page provides updates and background information around the opening hours project.

The new opening hours will come into effect from Monday 6 July 2020, apart from at Barwon Heads Library, where temporary shorter opening hours will continue until 26 July 2020, with opening hours for Barwon Heads Library during and after the school holidays to be communicated when further advice is received from the school.

Quick links

• See the final opening hours
• See the opening hours proposal: final report

Summary of changes arising from the consultation process

Background

Every four years, the Geelong Regional Library Corporation creates a Library Plan including a vision, mission, goals and values to help guide us as we move ahead. One of our values is ‘Equity and Access’; promoting and delivering free, accessible and universal access to information, ideas, the Internet and works of the imagination. 

A review of opening hours across the network was a key action of the Library Plan (2017-2020). The review was carried out in late 2019 and was based on data demonstrating how and when people use their libraries, community feedback provided via the biennial Library Survey and the goals stated in our Library Plan.

The purpose of the review was to ensure that opening hours are allocated equitably across the library network and where they provide the most community benefit.

The community was invited to have their say on the proposal over a six week period (20 January to 29 February 2020). Geelong Regional Libraries staff provided input before the proposal was shared with the community.

The opening hours are now finalised and will come into effect from Monday  6 July 2020.

See the final opening hours.

What we heard from the community

Community consultation has now closed.

Community feedback was a key part of this process, and significantly shaped the final opening hours. Our ‘Opening hours proposal: final report’ includes insights from our community engagement and the final opening hours for each branch, accompanied by a ‘What we heard & what we did’ section.

Your suggestions informed our decision about what specific arrangements need to be made for each branch. They were taken into consideration alongside the fact that the final proposal had to be budget-neutral (no increase in operational costs), address equity and access to library services, and standardise opening and closing hours across the library network. Not all requests could be implemented within our resources, however we were able to take on much of the feedback and adapt the proposed hours in response to what we heard from the community.

See the Opening hours proposal: final report.

Engagement timeline

* Barwon Heads Library will continue temporary opening hours until 26 June 2020. Opening hours during and after the school holidays will be communicated when further advice is received from the school.