Dedication of public swimming pool and library staff recognised (with photos)
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    Staff of public swimming pools and libraries who have made significant improvements to services for the general public received awards at a prize presentation ceremony today (June 27).

     Speaking at the Work Improvement Team (WIT) Awards for the swimming pools and the Library Work Improvement Competition of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Ms Anissa Wong, said the award schemes were set up to boost staff morale and nurture a good service culture among the staff by recognising teams excelling in work improvement.

     While the themes in the past few years were related to leisure venues, the LCSD has extended the scope to cover the cultural venues by setting a new award scheme for the libraries.

     "A characteristic of this year's WIT Award for the swimming pools is that we invited other professionals to join the assessment team, so we can learn how they manage swimming pools of non-governmental bodies," Ms Wong said.

     "As you may know, the library section has won prizes in various competitions organised by the Civil Service Bureau and other organisations. It is encouraging that library staff have not grown complacent but have continued to upgrade their service quality."

     In the swimming pool category, the overall champion of the WIT Awards went to Tai Wan Shan Swimming Pool which showed remarkable achievement in improving the pool cleanliness and demonstrating team spirit.

     In the library category, the Circulation Unit (1) of the Hong Kong Central Library was the overall champion for its betterment of work-flow by applying information technology.

     Results of the "WIT Awards for Swimming Pools" are as follows:

Work Improvement Grand Award
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Gold Award: Tai Wan Shan Swimming Pool
Silver Award: Hammer Hill Road Swimming Pool
Bronze Award: Ma On Shan Swimming Pool

The Best Staff Image and Service Attitude Award
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Champion: Ma On Shan Swimming Pool
Merit Award: Sheung Shui Swimming Pool

The Best Equipped Life-saving Services Award
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Champion: Hammer Hill Road Swimming Pool
Merit Award: Ma On Shan Swimming Pool

The Best Cleanliness and Environment Improvement Award
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Champion: Tai Wan Shan Swimming Pool
Merit Award: Tuen Mun Swimming Pool

The Best Teamwork Award
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Champion: Tai Wan Shan Swimming Pool
Merit Award: Hammer Hill Road Swimming Pool

Results of the "Library Work Improvement Competition" are as follows:

Work Improvement Grand Award
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Champion: Hong Kong Central Library, Circulation Unit (1)

The Most Cost Effective Award
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Champion: Hong Kong Central Library, Circulation Unit (1)
Merit Award: Hong Kong Central Library, Circulation Unit (2)
Outstanding Award: Hong Kong Central Library, Central Reference Library

The Best Application Award
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Champion: Hong Kong Central Library, Circulation Unit (1)
Merit Award: Hong Kong Central Library, Circulation Unit (2)
Outstanding Award: Ap Lei Chau Public Library

     Ms Wong also presented Long and Meritorious Service Awards to 109 LCSD staff members in recognition of their dedicated service to the department. More than 100 have worked in the department for more than 30 years and six have worked there for 40 years.

Ends/Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Issued at HKT 19:22

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