About The Story Bank
Once upon a time, a baby girl was born in the upstairs bedroom at the Australian Joint Stock Bank, Kent Street in Maryborough, Queensland. Her name was Helen Lyndon Goff, but she became known to the world as P.L. Travers, author of the Mary Poppins stories.
Transformed, The Story Bank – a bank that trades in stories. As you cross the threshold, you enter a world where fantasy and fact intertwine. Tales and yarns, myths and legends, memories and stories – share in their retelling and their creation.
Discover Maryborough’s unique connection with P.L. Travers – the story of her life, her family, the influences on her writings and the retelling of her stories.
Inside there are stories from our earliest storytellers, the Butchulla people, in the Yarning Circle.
‘The Legends of Moonie Jarl’ was first published in 1964 and is the first Australian children’s book of Aboriginal stories to be written and illustrated by Aboriginal people: Butchulla siblings Moonie Jarl (Wilf Reeves) and Wandi (Olga Miller).
Accessibility Information
Disabled parking is available in the Kent Street public car park. The building has ramped access from Richmond Street. Entry to the gift shop and ticket office is through wide double doors. The entry to the lower level of the museum is through wide double self opening doors. Inside the museum the spaces and wide and easily navigated by people using mobility aids and wheelchairs. A lift services the second level of the museum where there is a theatre room. The short movie is subtitled. Within the museum is a quiet space. The museum has an accessible toilet on the lower level.
Assistance
Actively welcomes people with access needs.
Offer multiple options for booking - web, email, phone
Offer a range of contact methods for receiving complaints
Accept the Companion Card
Train your staff in disability awareness
Have accessibility information and photos, including of a bathroom, room and/or floor plan on your website (can be emailed on request)
Ask all visitors if there are any specific needs to be met
Communication
Welcomes and assists people who have challenges with learning, communication, understanding and behaviour. (includes people with autism, intellectual disability, Down syndrome, acquired brain injury (ABI), dyslexia and dementia)
Train your staff in communicating with people with learning or behavioural challenges
Use Plain English / easy read signage and information (includes menus and emergency information)
Wheelchair
Caters for people who use a wheelchair.
Have step free outdoor pathways (includes picnic areas, barbecues and shelters)
Have a step free main entrance to the building and/or reception area (includes ramps or slopes with a maximum gradient of 1:14, otherwise are too steep for wheelchairs)
Have an accessible public toilet which is unlocked
Have a wheelchair accessible toilet / shower and change room
Ambulant
Caters for people with sufficient mobility to climb a few steps but who would benefit from fixtures to aid balance. (This includes people using walking frames and mobility aids)
Use floors/coverings which are slip resistant, firm and smooth
Have grab rails in the bathroom
Provide seating in common areas including reception area
Visionimpair
Caters for people who are blind or have vision loss.
Provide digital communication materials (hard copy information is also available on line)
Have raised tactile buttons in your lifts
Have handrails on all your stairways
Hearimpair
Caters for people who are deaf or have hearing loss.
Staff are trained in Auslan
Caption all entertainment (TVs, live shows, performances)
Have TVs with captioning option
Have a low noise reception areas with hearing loss friendly acoustics and adequate lighting for viewing facial expressions (includes common areas which are free of background noise, background music)
