The Brisbane Library and Special Interest Groups

The Brisbane Public library does not participate in any specific interest group, however the Library does allow local organizations to rent library space and put up posters, but the type of organization is varied although it seems to be more about mothers, children, and the local school. The Library does not attend local city council meetings unless the Library it's self will be a topic of discussion and even then they only send one person to speak on their behalf if at all. The library's lack of direct interaction with interest groups I believe comes from the need to not alienate any possible people who will use the library. The community is small to begin with and any sort of downturn of community use could become a serious problem. The library also attempts to bring as many community members through it's doors by creating a free space for political or other special interests groups can put posters and flyers as long as they are not too extreme or vulgar. The fact that the Library is not vocal at local town meetings was astonishing to me as it could help to produce solutions to better the involvement of the library in the community and gauge the opinions on the people they service. For example if they went to the meeting and discovered that most of those involved are left leaning they might want to stock up on books that reflect that trend.