Social Stories

These social stories are designed to help neurodiverse people, and their families, carers and teachers prepare for their visit to our libraries. These stories show you what you may encounter during a visit to Georges River Libraries.

• Going to Story Time at the library ^{(PDF, 1.8MB)}
• Borrowing and Returning Items ^{(PDF, 2.7MB)}

• Borrowing items at the library ^{(PDF, 2.5MB)}

Hurstville Library Sensory Map

Use our Hurstville Library Sensory Map of high and low sensory spaces to plan a visit to suit your needs.

• Hurstville Library Sensory Map - Portrait ^{(PDF, 1MB)}
• Hurstville Library Sensory Map - Lanscape ^{(PDF, 5.9MB)}

Low sensory spaces, coloured blue on the map, are quieter areas and may have fewer people (depending on time of day).
High sensory spaces, coloured pink on the map, are busy and louder areas, with a mix of multimedia and loud noises.

A few things to note:

• Depending on the day of the week and the time of the day, the library can be quiet or noisy and busy with lots of activity.
• The quieter times are usually between 12 - 3pm on weekdays during school term time.
• Hurstville Library is the busiest of Georges River Libraries and on weekdays from 3pm onwards it is full of high school students studying and socialising in the main space of the library and in the Library Exhibition Area (LEA), located at the front of the library, to the left as you enter.
• The area just outside the library entrance facing Queens Road can be busy, noisy, dirty, and windy. Near the entrance you might smell things that are outside.
• The lights are bright within the library space.
• The Media Lab and Sound Booth can be somewhat dimmer, and the Sound Booth does have dimmable lights.
• The library can often have strong smells (including food smells) in various areas, including seated areas.
• The Library of Things area can often be quite busy and loud, as families often use this space, but also after children’s events and programs.

If you require any assistance, or would like to provide some feedback, please speak with our friendly library staff or fill-in our feedback survey.

Plan what you want to see

Create a collage of what you want to see and do while at Hurstville Library.

This activity helps visitors who may experience anxiety when visiting an unfamiliar space to know what to expect. They are able to create a visual collage of what they will see, do, and experience.

• Plan what you want to see ^{(PDF, 3.1MB)}

Quiet Study Area

There is a quiet study area which is located at the back right of the library. This area must be accessed by walking through the main section of the library past the computers and printing stations towards the Media Lab and to the right.

The area is available for quiet study use only. This means no phone or video calls, group conversations or other noisy activities.

Our libraries are not silent spaces and conversation is welcome! However, we ask that in the Quiet Study Area, noise is kept to a minimum and if you would like to chat, you do so elsewhere in the library.

Earmuff kits available for loan

A limited number of earmuff kits are currently available for in-house loan at Hurstville Library. If you would like to borrow earmuffs please speak to one of our staff members at the concierge desk.

The earmuffs will be available for children who are sensitive to noise and may feel overwhelmed in the library.

Feedback

We value and encourage community feedback from individuals and organisations to share their thoughts and experiences with us as to how the Library can be more accessible and inclusive.

This will inform the continued improvement of Accessibility and Inclusion measures at our libraries.

Any feedback or suggestions is welcome and can be submitted using this feedback form.