Townsville Citylibraries is reminding residents of the importance of taking care of library resources so they can be borrowed and enjoyed by the community for years to come.
Citylibraries Townsville has more than 160,000 physical items available to loan, including fiction and non-fiction books. By following a few tips and tricks, Citylibraries members will be able to keep these items in good condition to prevent them from being taken off our shelves early.
Acting Mayor Ann-Maree Greaney said the Citylibraries collection was well-loved by the community.
"There's a lot to love about our library collection. Items are free to borrow, they're full of exciting stories and useful information, and they're shared by the whole community. But when they're damaged our team unfortunately has to take them off the shelf," Cr Greaney said.
"Citylibraries proudly loans more than 500,000 items out to the community each year, which includes a significant number of books from our extensive collection. We want to see these loan numbers grow, which is why it's so important to take care of our resources.
"Books don't like being wet, so make sure your borrowed books are kept away from water bottles, swimming pools and out of rainy weather.
"Food and books don't mix. If you have food like melted chocolate or grease from chips on your fingers when you're turning book pages, you'll be encouraging insects to damage the book.
"Lots of people like to read in their cars, but books left in hot cars for long periods can cause mould and affect the binding of the books.
"Ultimately, we want all of our Citylibraries members to take care of our books so the next person can enjoy them just as much."
Townsville Citylibraries has three branches at Flinders Street in the city centre, Aitkenvale and Riverway, as well as a mobile library service. Books, CDs, DVDs, magazines and items from the Library of Things can all be borrowed physically from Citylibraries, while a Citylibraries membership also gives members access to more than 94,000 digital books, magazines and audiobooks online or through the Townsville Citylibraries app.
