About Libraries ACT
Libraries ACT delivers public library services to the ACT community. It is the only public library service in Canberra, which is Australia's capital city, and serves a population of over 350,000 people.
Libraries ACT is also responsible for the ACT Heritage Library, which helps tell the stories of Canberra and its people. It collects, preserves, promotes and provides access to documents that record the lives of Canberra's residents.
Vision
Inspiring lifelong learning and community engagement in the ACT.
We will:
- Inspire Canberrans to discover the world around them, delve into ideas, and learn as a way of life.
- Celebrate literacy, learning, the pleasure of reading and the richness of many cultures.
- Connect people to each other, their community, their government, and communities of interest, worldwide.
- Engage the community with the history of the region, innovative ideas, creative people and a wealth of knowledge.
- Be recognised as the cornerstone of democratic, cultural, educational and economic life in the ACT.
A Few Facts and Figures
- The library welcomed almost 1.9 million visitors in 2011.
- Over 2.9 million items were borrowed and then returned to the library in 2011, an 11% increase on the previous year.
- That's the equivalent of more than 1,350 tonnes handled by library staff, which is is over 3 tonnes per day (the average elephant weighs up to 8 and a half tonnes).
- More than half a million items were requested by library members in 2010, which is approximately 19% of the total items loaned.
- The most requested books in 2011 were Jamie's 30 Minute Meals by Jamie Oliver, The Hare With Amber Eyes by Edmund De Waal, All That I Am by Anna Funder, Sideshow: Dumbing Down Democracy by Lindsay Tanner, Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks, and Before I Go To Sleep by S. J. Watson.
- The most requested DVDs in 2011 were Valentine's Day, Salt, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency: The complete first season, and The King's Speech.
- The most borrowed books in the library over the last eight years are Mills and Boon titles, Grandpa and Thomas by Pamela Allen, The Turning by Tim Winton, Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest), Hunwick's Egg by Mem Fox, Daisy All-Sorts by Pamela Allen, Where Is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek, and Be Gentle by Virginia Miller.
- The most borrowed DVDs in the library over the last eight years are Lost: The Complete First Season, The Persuaders Collection 2, Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Stargate SG 1 Season 2, and The Day After Tomorrow.
Organisation
Libraries ACT is a business unit within the Territory Services Division of the Department of Territory and Municipal Services (TAMS). TAMS, formerly known as Urban Services, is a Department of the ACT Government.
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