By the book: Geelong mayor and Surf Coast councillor defend library CEO

GEELONG’S mayor and a Surf Coast councillor have spoken up in support of overseas travel by Geelong Regional Libraries Corporation staff, particularly chief executive officer Patti Manolis.

There has been recent media coverage of trips by GRLC staff to events and conferences in other countries, including Ms Manolis’ travel to Germany last month and Denmark last year.

At the start of the September 25 Surf Coast Shire council meeting, Cr Margot Smith – a deputy chair of the GRLC board – made a personal statement to impress upon the community “the strong support we have in the shire for the board of the Geelong Regional Library Corporation and its CEO”.

She listed some of Ms Manolis’ awards and achievements, such as her inclusion on the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2016.

“She has done exceptional work in public libraries across local, state, national and international,” Cr Smith said.

“Our employees at the library have been sought out for advice and participation in local and international programs and that’s something we should be very proud of.”

At last week’s Word For Word launch at the Geelong Library and Heritage Centre, City of Greater Geelong mayor Bruce Harwood echoed Cr Smith’s earlier sentiments, receiving a round of applause from the crowd.

“They do great work and they bring that knowledge and experience back to us – in this case, back to Geelong, to our home town – and we are the benefactors of that,” he said.

“You cannot just sit by the phone and wait for it to ring; you cannot just sit on the computer and think you’re better educated.

“There is no better education than travelling the world, talking to others who are in the same or similar space and learning from what they’ve done.”