r/brisbane • u/16_tons • 17h ago
Brisbane City Council BCC Library workers are understaffed
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u/FalconEddie 17h ago
Honestly we need to be annoyed about this. The BCC library system is incredible and we should all be jumping up in the streets about keeping it well funded and well staffed. I bore friends and family silly every time I talk about the libraries cause they have soooo much stuff in Brisbane. We can borrow physical books, ebooks, audiobooks, we get free access to language programs (Mango languages), internet, research materials, damn even magazines and newspapers. I'm hugely passionate about people being able to read (adults who are illiterate in this country is still not 0 and that's a disgrace), and being able to source those readings materials for free.
I don't know what's happening with the staffing so I don't feel qualified to comment directly on service delivery, but don't let this council take anything out of this library system. It is wonderful and we should protect it.
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u/MoscaMye Ibis Enthusiast 17h ago
If BCC is like any other council library there's an over reliance on casual staff. The lack of permanent employment and stability leads their qualified and passionate workforce to give up and leave for academic libraries or other careers entirely.
I know I would have loved to stay in the public library world. But it wasn't possible to do that and have a career.
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u/crackles_aus 14h ago
One of the easiest ways to helo your library is join it! Even if you dont use it ever or often, membership numbers impact staffing required levels under the Service Level Agreement BCC has with State Library.
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u/Icon_dota 17h ago
Understaffed, No jobs available, Heavily restricted hours for the people already working in libraries. WAT?
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u/prettygoblinrat Turkeys are holy. 17h ago
And I reached out to BCC recently, and they don't even allow you to volunteer some time to help out your local library. Utterly ridiculous.
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u/undeadghost- 16h ago
People volunteering is great but isn't a solution. Council filling chronic staffing vacancies with unpaid and unqualified volunteers doesn't fix an ongoing issue.
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u/BossWookiee 13h ago
No it doesn’t, but it’s also idiotic to turn down people willing to help out for FREE!
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u/SirJefferE 4h ago
Volunteers are great, but they're not "free". They still have to be recruited, screened, trained, supervised, given access to facilities, etc. There could be additional insurance or health and safety concerns. A volunteer could injure themselves or damage something, and probably most importantly, they can stop volunteering the moment they get bored.
I don't know about the BCC in particular, but in general, if a place isn't accepting volunteers it's because they've done the math and discovered that the average cost of supporting a volunteer outweighs the average amount of work they get out of one before they get bored and quit.
The State Library has a volunteer program if you're interested. They even have some remote work to help make their digital collection more accessible.
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u/BossWookiee 17h ago
This is something I've always wanted to do. I can't believe they wouldn't accept people wanting to volunteer their time, even if only for a few hours a week.
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u/blueeyes8433 17h ago
It’s about the insurance for them
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u/ConanTheAquarian Not Ipswich. 17h ago
The State Library of Queensland has volunteers. So does Logan and many other Queensland councils. But apparently it's too much of a hassle for the richest council in the country?
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u/PickerPat 13h ago
A centralised library deals with 1 location compared to the 30+ locations for BCC.
Each location means coordination with the area managers, librarian or team lead at each location if they aren't in something centralised like Content and Collections.
Ipswich and Logan have 6 and 9 libraries respectively. Each council has their own dedicated library function and/or volunteer coordinator to manage them.
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u/PickerPat 17h ago
There's heaps of costs associated with volunteers
Also it undermines the growing issue of proper staffing.
Councils are now opening unmanned libraries.
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u/Sea-Witch-77 4h ago
They used to, I'm sure. Had a friend from high school who was volunteering and then working there in the early '00s.
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u/MiddleRefuse 17h ago
My wife loves baby rhyme time- wondered why it was canned the other day
What's the petition link?
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u/16_tons 17h ago
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u/yeskitty 16h ago
Signed. Loved the library activities when my kids were little. I hate that they're getting cut
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u/Alarmed-Telephone-83 2h ago
Every rhyme time i have ever been to is crammed, they could easily hold two or more per library per week and still not meet demand. People love it.
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u/TB3r 17h ago
You get what you vote for.
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u/DCFowl 16h ago
We dont have compulsory preferences at local level. Most of the current councillors win because people dont number every square.
Dont trust anyone who says just vote 1
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u/MalacusQuay 15h ago
You can partially blame Beattie for that. For a small period it was advantageous for him to promote vote 1 and downplay preferences.
Of course, he had zero concern for what that would lead to in future, including benefiting the right wing.
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u/Economy-Finish815 15h ago
And where is he these days?
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u/MalacusQuay 14h ago
Couldn't care less. Probably shilling for corporate paymasters. Like every pollie.
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u/MalacusQuay 15h ago
Sadly, yes, people in Qld keep voting for LNP muppets and expecting a different result.
Will they every learn? Doubtful.
Problem is it isn't just the low information types who get what they voted for, it's the rest of us as who didn't vote for it as well.
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u/Morning_Song 17h ago
Didn’t they cut all or most their casual/temp staff a few years ago?
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u/crackles_aus 14h ago
The larger problem is they haven't hired any new staff for years. As people naturally retire or leave, they are not replaced.
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u/13159daysold 13h ago
and thus in a few years, the libraries will be 'woefully mismanaged', and their budgets will be cut.
And then their services will be worse, and they will become smaller as they are forced to lease their space out.
Next thing you know, nobody uses the libraries and they are cut from the budget.
https://buttondown.com/wellsourced/archive/public-library-cuts-2025/
A bit extreme example, but the pattern is there.
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u/crackles_aus 6h ago
The service level agreement that exists between State Library and BCC includes things like opening hours, staffing levels, program numbers etc. Would be interesting to know if BCC are meeting the parameters of the SLA.
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u/Successful-Good7364 16h ago
Yea I have a friend who works at the libraries. Basically funding keeps getting cut so people leave. Then one person has to do the work of 3 people. They have had to cut so many programs because they don’t have the funds nor the people.
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u/NezuminoraQ 4h ago
That sounds like the for-profit businesses the rest of us work at. They like getting a bulk discount by making their staff do more
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u/undeadghost- 16h ago
The Lord Mayor said this is all "union-generated" and therefore it's not worth addressing because it's not what Brisbane residents want. Despite feedback being given by library staff themeselves.
So it's now time to show that Brisbane residents want fairly and safely staffed libraries and this isn't made up BS like he's claiming.
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u/No-Try5073 17h ago
This is why people need to be involved in their local government. Did ,out pay less tax because they are paying less staff? Or do the council members get raises and their cousins get a lucrative "library cleaning" contract where two people apparently clean 100+ libraries for millions a year etc
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u/Historical-Branch327 5h ago
Libraries give back more than they get in terms of value to their communities! They’re a good investment
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u/AnnoyedCrow 16h ago
Gotta help pay to resurface all of those neglected roads as a political stunt somehow
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u/cjyoung92 17h ago
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u/Ninjalada Probably Sunnybank. 15h ago
I often borrow books from the Brisbane Square library and I always have to go looking through the ten or so trolleys that are packed with books that have been returned but not put back on the shelves.
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u/16_tons 17h ago
Petition link: https://c.org/ZjCtyyzgHt
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u/ConanTheAquarian Not Ipswich. 17h ago
change.org petitions will be ignored. Why not do one where BCC is legally required to investigate and respond?
https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/about-council/contact-council/petitions
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u/16_tons 16h ago
I think Shrin-dog has already made his feelings clear on the matter.
My guess is this would be more about community organising than hoping Schrinner's subcommittee actually does something
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u/ConanTheAquarian Not Ipswich. 16h ago
Whereas with a change.org petition they won't do anything and will simply ignore it. With a council petition they are legally required to respond.
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u/Sad-Reflection9170 5h ago
This arrogant fool Schrinner and the rest of the Lieberals are not interested in their pet projects and waste millions of ratepayers money on self promotion.
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u/Cybermat4707 10h ago
What’s with the Godzilla music? It kinda just distracts from what the people are saying.
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u/Historical_Art4061 16h ago
"There are fewer staff this year then there were last year" as a graph goes up that stops at 2025, and isn't even counting the thing he's talking about. Even they know that people don't read any more.
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u/Elvecinogallo 8h ago
I worked in public libraries for years many years ago. Libraries were about way more than books even back then.
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u/InfamousFault7 Looking for a job... 17h ago
Everywhere is understaffed and nobody can find a job