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The Wimmera Regional Library Corporation is situated in the northwest of Victoria, Australia. It covers an area of approximately 36,800 km2. and serves six local government bodies - Buloke Shire Council, Hindmarsh Shire Council, Horsham Rural City Council, Northern Grampians Shire Council, West Wimmera Shire Council and Yarriambiack Shire Council. The Shires have a combined population of approximately 52,000. As these figures indicate, its clientele is predominantly rural-based and often has considerable distances between centres. The Wimmera Regional Library operates 11 static branches and one Mobile library. The Mobile library visits 17 sites over a two-week roster period. == History == In the 1860s the first library was located in the Mechanics Institute in Horsham on the corner of Firebrace and Wilson streets, then in a building in Firebrace Street. In 1872 it moved to a timber building between Pynsent Street and Roberts Avenue, where it lost many books and records in a fire in 1908. When the library re-opened in 1909 it was in a new building in Pynsent street. In 1937 the name was changed from institute library to Horsham Public Library (the Horsham Mechanics Institute being the first in country Victoria to become a public library). It was called a “free library” although only subscribers could borrow, non-subscribers were allowed to read on the premises. World War II postponed plans to consign the library to the Council as a municipal project, but in April 1949 the Horsham City Council took over control of the Mechanics Institute. They financed the library, and conducted it as a municipal free library – "City of Horsham Free Library" under a liberal subsidy from the State Government. The Institute building became Council property and was renovated and extended. In 1951 the Wimmera Shire joined the Horsham City Council in financing the Library. An approach was made to the State Government Library Board in 1955 and in 1957 the Horsham Public Library was established, and The Wimmera & Dunmunkle Shires joined – the Library was then known as “The Horsham & Dunmunkle Municipal Libraries”. (Wimmera Shire residents used the City resources until the introduction of the Bookmobile in 1967) In 1962 Lowan and Kaniva Shires joined. After many meetings and discussions between the Shires and the Library Board, the inaugural meeting of the Wimmera Regional Library Service was held in June 1966 and the WRLS formed. From October 1966 it included the Shires of Arapiles, Birchip, Donald, Dunmunkle, Kaniva, Karkarooc, Lowan, Wimmera & Warracknabeal and Horsham City Council. With the joining of Birchip, Donald, Karkarooc & Warracknabeal Shires, the Library Service now covered a total of 10 municipalities, with an area of 7,871 square miles (18,000sq km) and a population of 40,694 people. Branches were at Horsham, Kaniva, Minyip, Murtoa, Nhill & Rupanyup. The Bookmobile opened in June 1967 operating in Birchip, Donald & Karkarooc Shires, and sites were at Birchip town & schools, Watchupga, Donald town & schools, Watchem, Hopetoun town & schools, Beulah town & schools, Lascelles, Patchewollock, Speed, Tempy & Woomelang. At this time the Addressograph Libromatic Scheme replaced the Browne System, this involved new book & borrower cards and complete borrower re-registration. In March 1968 the bookmobile began service in Arapiles Shire. An offer of bookmobile service to Dunmunkle was rejected in 1969-70, however early in 1977 it was trialled, and this time the offer was accepted and the Minyip & Murtoa branches were closed in March 1981 and their stock transferred to Rupanyup. In January 1975 a Library Council report into the Stawell Library joining the Wimmera Regional Library Service was released, but no further action was taken. Further discussions in March 1976 also stalled due to a lack of financial support from the Library Council. Discussions began with the Shires of Kowree and Kara Kara and the Town of St Arnaud in June 1983 about the possibility of them joining the library service. Following their decision to join, service began on 1 October 1984 to St Arnaud Town and the Kara Kara Shire. The Kowree Shire Library amalgamated with the WRLS in March 1986. A Mobile service was provided to Goroke with branches in Edenhope, Harrow and a joint-use facility in Apsley (Apsley closed on 13 April 1987). Computerisation of the library’s collection was first discussed in March 1972, and conversion of the card catalogue to microfiche had begun September 1980. In 1988 as part of the introduction of a computerised library management system renovations were made to disused toilets at the rear of the Mibus Centre building to create a computer room, and storage area for the Mobile Library. A committee chose Stowe Computing on 1 December 1988, and the first AS400 computer was installed on 2 February 1989. In April 1989 computerisation of stock began, the first branch to offer automated service was Horsham on 25 September 1989. Stawell Regional Library finally amalgamated with WRLS in October 1993, and the Mobile library began to visit Stawell Shire sites on 31 January 1994. Local government re-structure began in January 1995, this led to WRLS member council changing from 15 to 6 (Buloke, Hindmarsh, Horsham, Northern Grampians, West Wimmera & Yarriambiack), the size of the region increased to 36,800 km2. The new Library Corporation was gazetted in April 1996 as the Wimmera Regional Library Corporation. Local Government elections were held in March 1997, and councillors returned to office. The new Wimmera Regional Library Board first met 17 April 1997. On 12 January 1996 Horsham was the first branch of the WRLC to log onto the Internet via local service provider WimmeraNet. Other branches started offering Internet access from December 1996. Also in 1996 the Library provided its first “Food for thought” program on community 3HHH radio. WRLC joined the Murraylink consortia in 1998 - a group of public libraries initially based along the Murray River in Victoria. Murraylink programs included a joint materials tender and roving collections of materials. The Library Management System changed from Stowe’s BookPlus to Geac’s Libs+ in June–July 1999. MacroPlan/PractiCo undertook a library review into different service delivery methods in 2000. This was followed in April 2001 by John Liddle of J.L. Management Services being employed by the State Government to assess the future direction of the library service & to develop a model which could be used for other library services. The Project extended from May 2001 to March 2002 and led to Service & Funding Agreements – a “fee for service” arrangement, rationalisation of service sites and opening hours. Satellite Internet access was provided at Horsham branch & Headquarters as part of a Rural Libraries Online project 2000/01, designed to help rural libraries move to faster Internet access. In July 2003 the first ADSL Internet connections were established at Horsham & Stawell. In 2005 discussion began about the purchase of a new Library Management System, and the decision was made to join the Swift Consortium, which was planning for a joint system purchase, in early 2006. The new Library Management System – Sirsi-Dynix’s Unicorn system went live on 3 April 2007. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wimmera Regional Library Corporation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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