Mobile Libraries and Access review
Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland | 2021
Community Think engaged in a process of discovery and meaning making with the Mobile Library and Access Service team, a wider Thinking Group from Auckland Council and people who live in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland to help understand how a future mobile outreach library could best serve communities in the context of COVID-19. This process involved working together to find out how the current resources could best be distributed to reach communities experiencing systemic barriers to Participation.
Through talking with Aucklanders, MaS staff and engaging in ride-alongs it became clear that the key was to strengthen local connections specific to local places. The findings of this process suggested:
The need to work across Auckland Council, community organisations and with communities in a collaborative way.
A need for customisation of the current infrastructure (vans and buses). Including the idea of place-based vans.
The relationship building and collaboration of the MAS team in an area will determine the needs and wants of the community, and which communities are experiencing inequity and barriers to participation.
The main outcomes from this project are included in a report:
A framework (the 4 c’s—criteria; collaboration; community connection and customisation) that could be used by the team to filter and assess how the current resources could best be distributed to reach communities experiencing barriers to participation and make the most impact.
Practical scenarios to assist with thinking through this framework.
A roadmap to visualise changes that could happen now, next and in the future.
