Anne Parisianne
The Altona North temporary tent library, which is now shut, sparked residents’ concerns last week over the librarians’ work conditions.
The temporary library operated from July 15 to July 19 in the car park at Altona North Library.
Altona North resident Alexandra Damasoliotis said the librarians were working under a tent with cafe-style heaters on windy winter days.
Ms Damasoliotis said she didn’t think the weather situation was safe for the three librarians working at the time, so she expressed her concerns to the councillors.
“I couldn’t even last five minutes talking to the staff. It was freezing,” Ms Damasoliotis said.
“If they were planning on renovating, perhaps looking at the warmer months.”
Ms Damasoliotis also queried if renovations are necessary, considering the library is only 14 years old.
Yarraville resident Anthony Warren, who went to the library often before the renovations, said the community and librarians should have never been put in that position to rent books and work in “10-degree Celsius winter weather”.
Councillor Daria Kellander said she didn’t endorse the arrangement.
“In questioning, I asked about the job safety and security of librarians, and while I was assured their jobs were safe, I felt that these conditions contradicted that statement,” she said.
Hobsons Bay council spokesperson said the tent library was temporarily closed on Friday.
“Staff were working in warm, dry conditions in short shifts outside, while continuing to move through the building for breaks and to help with the pack-up of the library,” the spokesperson said.
“Our librarians regularly work outdoors for outreach programs such as children’s story time at the botanic gardens and most recently at Winter in Williamstown. Other outreach programs include the Wayapa Wuurk series in Logan Reserve and Big Summer Read at the beach. The staff supported the mobile library because they believed it was important to have a presence onsite rather than require our community to go to other sites, particularly disadvantaged customers who need to use computers and Wi-Fi.
When asked why the pop-up library was shut last Friday afternoon, the spokesperson said it was because staff were reporting being harassed by some community members who were taking photos of them while they were working.
“All appropriate steps to ensure the health and safety of our staff were in place and council rejects the notion that there is anything unsafe about the temporary set-up,” the spokesperson said.
“The team is disappointed that the actions of a few community members resulted in the broader community being disadvantaged, but we take staff safety very seriously.
“We anticipate having the longer-term pop-up library in place by the end of the week.”
