26-07-2025
After-hours Open Library Access program winning users over for flexibility and convenience
It has just gone dark in Tasmania's north-west and library lovers are starting to enter their local library.
"It is like a secret library club," Sam McFarlane said.
Mr McFarlane is using his library card to access the library after-hours.
The library, in Penguin, is unstaffed, and he is one of only a few people inside now the doors have officially closed and are locked to the general public.
"It's very thrilling," Mr McFarlane said.
Mr McFarlane is one of 130 Tasmanians who have signed up to be Libraries Tasmania Open Library Access members.
The Open Library Access program is being trialled at the Penguin and Devonport libraries, with members able to let themselves in after-hours to check out books and use the library's facilities when staff aren't around.
"Once you're in the library, you can access all of the same services you do during normal hours," Libraries Tasmania service and program delivery coordinator Kerrie Grgurevic said
"You could be using the computer or printing, you can borrow books. You can access the free wi-fi, or just sit and read the paper."
The trial started at Penguin early in the year and expanded to Devonport in May.
Ms Grgurevic said the self-service initiative was already happening elsewhere around the world.
"We know how important libraries are to our communities, but the reality is that normal business hours don't suit everybody because life is busy," she said.
"In our annual client surveys, there's certainly been lots of comments that clients want extra access, particularly on weekends.
"We've looked to what other libraries nationally and internationally have been doing to address that challenge and there are examples of successful self-access libraries already, so we thought it made sense for us to investigate it for us."
To become an Open Library Access member, Tasmanians need to be aged 18 and over and complete a 50-minute induction at their chosen library.
Ms Grgurevic said during the induction, library staff take prospective members through their conditions of use, safety and emergency information, how to self-check out a book and a walk-through of the building.
Members then sign contractual agreements.
Once inducted, members are able to access the library they have been inducted at seven days a week, any time between 7am and 9pm.
For author Jodi Wilson, the open access trial allows her to escape the chaos of writing and editing her books at home with four children.
"Writing four books in the corner of my family home has been pretty chaotic, so open libraries is essentially a publicly-funded writing space for me," Wilson said.
"It offers me that separation between work and home, and studies show that really is meaningful for a sustainable creative life."
Rebecca Hodgkinson usually visits the Penguin Library with her four-year-old son Xavier and baby daughter Maisie.
"With kids, things don't always go to plan, especially timeframes and opening hours and nap times, so for us it was about convenience and flexibility," Ms Hodgkinson said.
Libraries Tasmania hopes to one day roll out the open access program at other libraries across the state and make it part of its "normal service".
But the Community and Public Sector Union, which represents library workers, is concerned that unmanned library hours will result in eroded services in smaller communities and reduced work hours for staff.
"The Liberal government will say there is support for this trial, but really the support is for libraries to be open longer, not for unstaffed libraries," the union's general secretary Thirza White said.
"We're really worried that this is the thin edge of the wedge, and that what we'll see is that library workers will lose shifts on weekends and public holidays and we will see services eroded in some of our smallest communities.
"Just last year the Liberal government tried to cut regional libraries' opening hours and only backtracked after community pressure."
Ms White said the union would prefer to see more investment in libraries.
"What we'd like to see is that library staff have more resources to run more programs and services, to increase participation in libraries," she said.
"We want to make sure that when someone comes to the library, there's a friendly face there. Libraries aren't just about the buildings and the books, they're about librarians.
"We know that many people are struggling with loneliness and libraries are an important solution to that, but not if they don't have staff."
The union said questions asked about security and safety also had not been answered.
The state government said security systems at the trial libraries had been upgraded to include more CCTV, security alarms, duress alarms and sensor lights.
Mr McFarlane said even though staff were not present in the library outside of normal operating hours, he felt safe.
"The way the program has been put together, and the process of the inductions and the way the staff familiarise you with the building and make you aware of the facilities and how to use them and to be safe in the library, is really comprehensive and reassuring," he said
He said he would love to see more libraries open longer.
You can find more information on the Open Library Access program on the Libraries Tasmania website
