East Gippsland Shire Council has released interim data collected during the first nine months of the service centres and library 12-month trial.
The trial started on 3 January 2023 and followed the decision by Council in November 2022 to make a minor change to opening hours, add a second mobile service and continue to collect data on when and how the community was using each service.
Councillors were last week provided with an interim data report on the activities and services delivered by Council’s service centres and libraries from January to September2023.
Mayor Cr Tom Crook said this first nine months of data starts to paint a picture of how our services are being used across all locations.
“We acknowledge there had been community interest in the data. By releasing this interim data now for the first nine months of the trial, the community can see the usage trends at each site,” Cr Crook said.
“We know all sites are used for a range of services and this interim data provides a great insight.”
Cr Crook emphasised the release of this data is not a recommendation or a decision on future use or opening hours.
“Throughout the service review and trial we have been clear that a report will be presented to Council within four months of the trial ending. The 12-month trial ends in January 2024. Trial hours will remain in place after that date until Council formally considers the review of the trial,” Cr Crook said.
“There will be more data to consider when the trial concludes, and the community will be kept informed of dates around when those considerations will be made by Council in 2024. We will also continue to gather data ongoing.”
The data is available here and has also been provided directly to local library ‘Friends’ groups.
