State Library of Western Australia

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Alexander Library Building.

The State Library of Western Australia consists of the State Reference Library and the J S Battye Library within the building known as the Alexander Library Building in Northbridge in Western Australia. Like all government authorities, the name changes over time, so the identity was for a long time 'Library and Information Service of Western Australia (LISWA)'. 'State Library of Western Australia' or SLWA is the current form. The library is managed by the state government Department of Culture and Arts.

[edit] The Library Service

The State Library of Western Australia's Public Library Services section supplies books, audio books, DVDs, CD-ROMs, etc, to the 67 metropolitan libraries in the suburbs of Perth and the state's 160 country libraries, all of which are managed by local-government authorities, sometimes in conjunction with other library service providers.

Each local authority is allocated a specific amount for State-Library-supplied items, which is then apportioned between libraries under its control. This funding is expended on adult fiction, adult non-fiction and junior publications listed in the Public Library Services' weekly advance order list (AOL). Local libraries also benefit from ratepayer funds and other income sources.

The new books arrive after having been processed - covering, cataloguing, barcoded etc. every fortnight. This process is called Exchange, because for every Adult Fiction/Adult Non-Fiction/Junior item that is delivered to the library, an Adult Fiction/Adult Non-Fiction/Junior item must be returned to the Public Library Services section. Most libraries use the return exchange to get rid of books that are no longer useful - multiple copies of novels, older non-fiction, books that have been 'read-out' etc. Books that need to be repaired but the library would like to have returned have an orange return slip inserted in them stating which library it came from, and what repairs are required. Damaged audio-visual works have a green slip inserted in them detailing the damage.

When the return exchange items arrive at PLS they are sorted, and if required, repaired. Every fortnight public librarians go to the Alexander Library building to select any useful used books that they require. These are then added to the new books selected and delivered in the next exchange. The return exchange of country libraries is quite prized, as many of the items are in excellent condition - sometimes only having been read 10-15 times, which for metropolitan public libraries qualifies as new.