25 Francis Street
Perth Cultural Centre
Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 9427 3111
http://www.slwa.wa.gov.au/
Hours:
Mon-Thu 9:00 - 20:00
Fri 9:00 - 17:30
Sat-Sun 10:00 - 17:30
Revamped in the last years, the State Library has become an open public space to lay and professionals, students and researchers, yummy mamies and homeless people. The Library offers what you can expect from a State Library: an ample collection of books, rare documents, private archives material, an important collection of maps, music-related material, an impressive photographic collection, sources for Family history and WA History, the daily newspaper and most of the State newspapers microfilmed from their first issue. The 3rd floor, formerly known as Battye Library, holds material specifically related to the History of Western Australia, the microfilms area, and reproduction machines. Borrowing books from the library has become one of the improvements in the last years, formerly not allowed, and makes things even easier for book lovers.
The Library's ground is both a source of relax and free Internet for backpackers from around the world, while the 1st and 2nd floors are also places to unwind, read a novel, checking your fav travel guides or technical books, or finding a nice quite place to use your computer or study, with plenty of study desks for students.
The Place, on the mezzanine floor, is a colourful and fun area devoted to children. Check my other review.
The Library holds yearly concerts, movie shows, and small exhibitions at the foyer and theatre areas, as well as corporate/academic privately arranged functions, and plenty of cultural activities all around the year. It is a place where you meet people in the city, have a coffee at the Aroma Cafeteria or use the toilets, which seem to be very popular!
The Library being such a welcoming place, is often crowded with people with mental and/or anger problems, smelly homeless and the occasional petty thieve and drug dealer. Beware, if you leave your computer unattended it can be stolen. Really? Yes, really. The same apply to the lockers: make sure you introduce your pin when people are not watching, as there are petty thieves who, at seeing you leaving fancy stuff in the lockers, will pay attention to the pin you are using, then open your locker and steal your things. This info is not to scare anybody, just to let you know that there are nasty people everywhere, the Library included, and that you have to be cautious, because these happen quite often. Having said so, I have never ever had a problem of the sort here, ever.
The staff are all w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l.
25 Francis St
Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 9427 3211
http://www.slwa.wa.gov.au
Hours:
Mon-Thu 9:00 - 20:00
Fri-Sun 9:00 - 17:30
The Place, located on the mezzanine floor in the State Library, is a colourful and fun area devoted to children, which has become increasingly popular among the little ones and their parents because of the free activities it hosts, like book readings, story telling, painting and drawing and other activities that children love. In fact, any child going to the Place will tell you that loves the place.
Some people are using The Place as free day-care leaving some children then unsupervised and unattended, which is like WOW! Which sort of parents are they? Most of the children, though, are supervised, however their parents/carers do not supervise them and the kids run wildly, shout wildly, and cry wildly during part of the day. Please, parents, put into practice some of your parenting skills. The fact that The Place is a free place for children doesn't mean that they can act wildly.
Level 1, 140 Hay St
access via Murray St
Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 9461 3500
perth.library@cityofperth.wa.gov.au
http://www.perth.wa.gov.au/web/Living/City-of-Perth-Library/
Hours:
Mon-Fri 9:00 - 18:00
Sat 9:00 - 12:00
Did you know that there is a library in the heart of the city? No, no no. It is not the State Library. This is a small-not-so-small borrowing library with thousands of books, CDs, DVDs, talking books, foreign-languages learning material, and local history material (books and oral history material) in English and several other languages.
I have been using this library for years and I know they have a good collection of English literature (fiction and non fiction), a nice small selection of books in other languages, a decent collection of films on DVD, which is bigger than it looks as most of them are in other borrowers' hands, a small collection of music CDs and CD-ROM, and a decent collection of talking books. They also have large-print books, which are perfect for people with poor sight or impaired vision.
The cool thing is that you can borrow up to 8 items at a time with a 3-week return period. You can renew the loan for another 3 weeks if nobody else asks for the item/s you have; this can be a problem with new released DVDs, CDs and books. Through their online catalogue, you can reserve borrowed books, renew your loan, request interlibrary loans, suggest new purchases, and check out newly-arrived material. Visit: http://203.27.5.65/amlibweb/ and use you library card for in-depth use. The catalogue web is ugly-looking and not very modern, but still functional and very useful.
If you don't like borrowing or free stuff (a fact that would turn you into a weirdo, sorry!), you can go there to read the newspaper or your favourite book, listen to recorded material, use their free metered Internet, take your kids to their many children activities they organise, or take your grandparents to read the newspaper, learn computer skills or play Mahjong. They offer free individual tutoring lessons, for 45 minutes, for seniors to use the Internet on Thursdays (10am, 11am, 12.30pm and 1.15pm; to book your spot ring 9461 3503, or go to the information desk. Another added bonus is that, if you are are elderly, or are temporary or permanently disabled, or know anybody who is, they still can borrow books, as the Library offers regular Housebound Delivery Services, free of charge, to residents of the city of Perth; to organise things ring Karen at 9461 3500.
Most of the staff are efficient and very friendly, some of them quite passionate about their work, which always translates into the way they treat customers. There is also the usual rude staff person who diminishes the value of the library, but that happens everywhere. They need to implement and be firmer on their prohibition on mobiles, and get a better and comfier seating area.
The new temporary location is a great improvement with regards to the old one in the Commerce Chambers' underground. The current location of the library, although temporary, will be valid for a couple of years, at least until 2014, when the new purpose-built building is expected to be finished on their former location. Hopefully, the final location will be the modern library that old customers have always been dreaming of
To access the library at its current location, head to the escalator placed between the Coffee Club cafeteria and Forever New shop, and follow the corridor. The Library is located at the end of the same.
Run to the City of Perth Library, and get your home entertainment without getting into any dangerous money liaison. Whohoo!
25 Francis Street
The Library holds yearly concerts, movie shows, and small exhibitions at the foyer and theatre areas, as well as corporate/academic privately arranged functions, and plenty of cultural activities all around the year. It is a place where you meet people in the city, have a coffee at the Aroma Cafeteria or use the toilets, which seem to be very popular!
