New chapter begins as Wagga's Agile Library vans hit the road with thousands of books

Wagga Wagga City Library’s vans finally hit the road after 12 months of planning and preparing to offer the service to the community.

The library launched two custom-designed colour vans as part of its Agile Library Service to connect with more residents across the city.

The vans will travel to 18 sites that cover nine villages and nine suburbs in the Local Government Area: Collingullie, Currawarna, Galore, Humula, Mangoplah, Ladysmith, Oura, Tarcutta, Uranquinty, Ashmont, Boorooma, Estella, Glenfield, Kooringal, Lake Albert, Mount Austin, Tolland and Turvey Park.

The vans feature outward-facing shelves and can carry over 3000 books, 1500 on each side, with internal space for more.

The mobile units are also equipped with solar roof panels, which will charge the power for lighting and a free Wi-Fi service.

Wagga City library services acting manager Christine Bolton it was “terrific” to officially launch the service to the community on Wednesday, 7 September.

“We’ve been out on the road for just about a week now, but it’s so wonderful to have the Agile vehicles with us,” Ms Bolton said.

“Now the vans have arrived, we will be able to provide a complete service to residents in our villages and suburbs, with access to a significant collection of library items.

“The service is the gateway to the main library, so if someone wants to reserve something and have it delivered out to their village or suburb, we will be able to do that with the Agile Library.”

Ms Bolton said the mobile service was an important step to providing equity and access across the city and the surrounding community, particularly for those who faced transport barriers to visiting the library at the Civic Centre.

Wagga City Library said the service was initially launched with the click-and-collect model in July (2022) as part of the move to a standalone library service.

In September 2021, Wagga Wagga City Council decided to become a standalone library service.

This decision was made after the extensive feedback received from the community during the 2019/20 library review and follow-up village consultation process.

The library said only five villages had the fortnightly mobile service before the standalone one.

Along with regular visits to 18 sites across the Wagga LGA, the Agile Library will include services to locations requested by the community.

Friends of the Wagga Wagga City Library president Professor Annemaree Lloyd said the library’s reach had been extended through the Agile service.

“It creates opportunities for people who are not able to visit the main library site to access resources, the expertise of librarians and library staff, and participate in outreach activities,” Professor Lloyd said.

“In doing so, the program addresses important issues within the Wagga Wagga community related to inequality and social inclusion.

“The Agile Library program will create a new space for social connection and help reduce social and educational barriers, encourage literacy, and support continued lifelong learning opportunities.”