About 40 people thoroughly enjoyed the User Group meeting at the RACV Club Library on October 13.  This library was set up from scratch when the Club moved into their new premises in 2004. Lisa Sukkel, who has been the librarian from the start, hosted us and gave us a good history of how it came to be what it is, and the unique challenges they face, as a library in a hospitality environment.

The physical space is inviting and has the feeling you would associate with a “club” – including big comfy armchairs in which the odd member has been known to snooze, complete with newspaper. It is spacious and allows for a variety of activities, including a long table and computers (although the architects obviously got their way with shelves which go all the way to a very high ceiling, necessitating a set of stairs to reach some books on the higher shelves).

Given the history of the club as a motoring organisation, and even the demographic which you may expect to go with that, it is not surprising that the library is very strong in travel books (I know because I raided, oops I mean borrowed, their considerable collection just on Croatia, earlier in the year). They also have a large music collection (and have conducted guided introduction to music course) and a popular children’s collection. Their motoring antecedents are also well catered for and Lisa commented that one of their staff is a whizz on marques (an emblem or nameplate used to identify a car).

From an Inmagic perspective, Lisa demonstrated how she has developed about 18 databases to do a range of tasks from the catalogue to event management. She has tailored most of these to be able to provide statistics and other information which she needs to demonstrate the value of the library to club management.

Although the library is only available to members of the Club, you can read more about what they do in their latest newsletter.

Thanks Lisa and team for an entertaining and informative evening.

Althea Ward, KM Resources Manager, DLA Piper Australia   and Inmagic Melbourne Users Committee member