Shelf improvement: Tea Tree Gully Library's new look
Published on 19 May 2023
From Monday 5 June, the Tea Tree Gully Library will begin their new shelving replacement project.
This $302,000 project will see an upgrade to over 80% of the library’s shelving - which is at end of life - to contemporary, modern shelving displays that are lower in height, making them accessible for more of the Tea Tree Gully community.
Offering an enhanced customer experience, the library's thousands of weekly visitors will benefit from a more accessible, versatile and adaptable shelving layout with more private and quiet spaces to study, work or read.
Light-weight and portable, the new shelving also allows for improved layout flexibility - creating larger spaces to increase capacity for community events.
As a progressive and innovative industry leader, the Tea Tree Gully Library has also become the first South Australian public library to organise their entire adult non-fiction collection by genre instead of the traditional Dewey Decimal System - a practice called ‘genrefication’.
Manager Library Services, Kim Ritter said, “As our customers change, our organisational systems must follow and become friendlier and more intuitive.”
This means South Australia’s largest single-site non-fiction collection will be categorised and displayed in 16 defined genres, similar to the existing fiction collection, and include user-friendly way-finding signage reminiscent of a large book shop.
Customers will see fast improvements to their browsing experience, with Kim saying it will “make navigating the collection easier for customers, helping them to find exactly what they’re looking for and improving the discoverability of similar titles to make casual browsing a breeze.”
On how the new layout will improve and help shape future library collections and programs, Team Leader, Collections & Access, Benjamin Wheal said, “This new layout allows library staff to see the genres the community is loving and is easily adapted or expanded based on community reading patterns. It also means library staff will be able to give more helpful recommendations to customers and host larger community events in our space.”
The shelving replacement is expected to be completed Wednesday 14 June 2023.
Closure information:
There will be a partial closure to the western end of the library from Monday 5 June until Friday 9 June at 12noon. The library will be fully closed from Friday 9 June at 12noon and reopen on Wednesday 14 June at 9am.
More information about impacts to your library visit