Empower, Inform, Enrich

Our aim is to improve the quality of life for all through cultural and sporting activities, support the pursuit of excellence, and champion the tourism, creative and leisure industries. The public library service has a vital role in a democratic society. Libraries help to promote equality of opportunity and intellectual freedom and public libraries embody a commitment to open access to information and education for all. Libraries contribute to a wide range of National and Local Government [...]

In developing this document we asked a range of thinkers, commentators and leaders in library services, as well as individuals working in retail, digital media, education, publishing and local government to write a think piece about how we might make libraries fit for the 21st century. We are greatful to all the contributors for their essays which provide a collection of opinions, ideas and perspectives as a back drop for this consultation. Contributors Margaret Hodge Dame Lynne Brindley [...]

Public libraries have a beloved status in UK democratic life. They provide a universal opportunity for enriching experiences, for learning, studying and informing individuals in their local area and for coming together in a place valued by the community. They enable everyone to read and enjoy great literature, research family history and study a multitude of subjects. There are more library branches in the UK than branches of McDonalds or Boots. Ten times more people visit libraries than go to f [...]

Public libraries hold a special place in the minds of many people of all ages and social backgrounds, and could and should sit at the heart of every community. Their appeal to such a broad spectrum of people offers enormous potential to provide a range of services and information, although the first challenge is to ensure that everyone has the opportunity open to them, through raised awareness, encouragement, tailored opening hours (late, early, Sunday etc). This ‘think piece’ aims to ma [...]

Old Town Library is the focal point of our community. It is much used by young mums and their children, by older children to support their homework, by the three local primary schools, by the elderly, the unemployed and the disadvantaged. Volunteers working with our library staff regularly select and take books to several retired people’s homes nearby and children’s special facilities. The library is also a unique point of contact for local information and a safe place for young and old to m [...]

1. Too much time has been spent thinking about ‘libraries of the future’ .The reason for falling use is that too little attention has been given to what people have wanted in libraries of today. The balance of resources has swung too far away from the obvious daily need. The reason why use has declined is not because people have lost their desire or need for reading or what books contain or because technologies have changed, but because public libraries haven’t got what they want. And in t [...]

Libraries have always been valued as sources of entertainment and information, and will doubtless continue to be so. Until relatively recently, most library users expected to get what they wanted from books, which formed the backbone of the library service. Now, however, people increasingly find information online, and entertainment away from library books. Though they still read plenty – after all, the internet is full of words, and the publishing industry has not gone out of business – exp [...]

Entitlement and opportunity People are entitled to local public library services delivering to local needs, free at the point of delivery, as part of a national network. A network fit for modern consumers – fulfilling the democratic right to books, information and personalised advice in a digital age. Everyone is entitled to be a customer of public libraries. The habit of reading and learning starts early and extends throughout life. Libraries create and develop a love of reading an [...]

Compelling experiences are those that human beings wish to return to again and again. For a product or service to be compelling, it needs to be well-defined, fresh, accessible, immersive, significant and transformative. These factors underpin sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, and are well understood by businesses such as The London Eye and Disneyland. Without wishing libraries to become like theme parks, I believe we can usefully apply this checklist to make libraries more attractive – compell [...]

We need to acknowledge two things. The need for significant and urgent improvement in how public libraries deliver and present their services, and the fact that many of England’s library services already provide fit for purpose services for the 21st century, (with some striving to exceed this). Perpetuating the myth that all is poor will hinder overall modernisation. We need to promote and celebrate the best, and use this best practice to challenge the others to improve. But will it be pos [...]

When Margaret Hodge suggested, at the Public Library Authorities Conference in October, that libraries begin selling books, there was dismay amongst booksellers and a forthright response from The Booksellers Association. But there is one vital and underprivileged sector of the community, the visually impaired, where being able to buy large print books at the library would be warmly welcomed. Historically, libraries are where you go for large print books. Very few bookshops stock large pr [...]

I am not a librarian. I have been a book retailer (and prior to that worked with PriceWaterhouse), so my input might be a bit different to the feedback DCMS has been receiving from the library world. But it seems to me that the library service has to go back to the basics. In my view, you have to have: The right books that the people want to borrow. The library situated where the borrowers can have easy access. The library in premises that borrowers really want to enter. The libr [...]

For the past decade we have been discussing the role of the public library service as if it were a single organisation. But we do not have a single public library service. In England alone we have 151 services, an increase of over 50% from the number of services in the mid 1990’s.The number of services, separately provided by local Councils with their own goals for their service, inhibits clarity of purpose and the setting of shared objectives. It also means we are spending more on management [...]

Libraries of the 21st Century must review their function and fully utilise their key role of integrating and supporting the whole community. Translating world changes, functions and information into a local setting that is understandable and accessible by the local community. Libraries have a key role in promoting change and presenting the friendly face of political rhetoric on such things as social cohesion and the economy, they are the focal point for cohesion in action. Libraries should n [...]

I have many thoughts on generic issues that would help libraries move forward including: Uniting responsibility for policy and finance at national government level and changing the National Indicator for libraries to include children’s use But I can be most useful in concentrating on my specialism, reading. Clear vision We’re lacking a clear vision for libraries; that’s a real problem. Libraries were set up to create a nation of learners and readers by giving everyone free ac [...]

We know that good libraries – animated by a good mix of library staff – can benefit people and strengthen communities. The CILIP Guidelines, What makes a good library service? outline what is required and what can be achieved. Modern times make the core purpose of libraries more important than ever, as is shown by the upturn in library use during the current economic downturn. Libraries reach into every neighbourhood and every family, giving free access for everyone to all of the world� [...]

Once upon a time books were made of parchment and carried around in buckets. Then came the codex, designed by early Christians as a means to fix the canon and make sure no one glued extra bits onto the end of scrolls. The first books, hand written by teams of monks, cost a fortune. Gutenberg invented the printing press but went bankrupt when his invention failed to catch on. It took the Reformation to make publishing commercially viable, when every faction going was producing new tracts and pamp [...]

I am unapologetic in my advocacy of libraries. For a large county such as my own, they offer the dream ticket: local delivery of services tailored to community needs, coupled with a strong contribution to strategic and partnership priorities. The Local Area Agreement recognises that delivering high standards across the public services in challenging times depends on effective partnerships. Whether or not local partnerships have adopted National Indicator 9, experience shows that libraries gi [...]

Who would want to be a librarian today, caught in the middle of a jumble of seemingly irreconcilable demands; • How to retain books at the heart of all they do but at the same time embrace the landscape and behaviours of the digital world; • How to stay true to local needs but also find ways to build integrated national services; • How to resist surrender to market forces but still find new and financially sustainable models of partnership? Yet anyone who was fortunate enough [...]

My research group, CIBER , has been chronicling the rise and rise of the digital information consumer and the demise of bricks and mortar information institutions and hard-copy publications over the past seven years. We have done this by means of a pioneering methodology called deep log analysis which enables us to visualise what goes on in cyberspace in respect to the viewing and using behaviour of millions of people. The massive and robust evidence base accumulated opens out a world to us not [...]

There is talk of a crisis in public libraries (although from the inside of a Discovery Centre or Idea Store it is perhaps harder to see what this crisis is), and the all-party parliamentary review originated by Lyn Brown MP recently proposed a National Development Agency as a possible solution to the need for national leadership. I would wholly support this idea but it is, of course, not new. It was first suggested by Charles Leadbeater and Demos in the April 2003 report “Overdue – how to cr [...]

If popular TV shows are a good barometer of public opinion then it is heartening to see that two of the most watched programmes, Who Do You Think You Are? and Secret Millionaire both feature several weekly trips to libraries. They reinforce that libraries are places to go in every neighbourhood, contain a wealth of material to help people understand where they have come from and help people play a more active role in their community. Place shapers, community glue, street corner universities; [...]

Reading and free access to books are fundamental rights and our libraries act as the democratic gateways to knowledge for all: no matter what your circumstance, your reading ability, your ambition or your taste. A society which values the public library, values books and their capacity to amuse, entertain, educate and maybe even change lives. Free access to all is the guiding principle and the only criterion for entry is interest. But libraries cannot afford to stand still. The modern lib [...]

Of course libraries have a huge cultural and social significance and should be ‘protected’. Of course they offer services that contribute to a whole range of Government priorities and should receive the appropriate taxpayer investment. But these reasons alone are not enough to justify the endless hand-wringing, inquiries, reviews and reports. Libraries need to engage more effectively with their consumers who will become their greatest advocates. Once consumers understand – through pers [...]

My main concern is the relationship that libraries have with schools – but also with museums, galleries, heritage sites and National Trust properties. At the moment this is an extremely patchy landscape and I think there is a desperate need for this to be improved across the board in every locality and for it to be formalised as policy attached to receipt of public funding. The very best provision I have seen either already involves most of the following or if not, should: Regular meetings [...]

At ‘v’, through our work with hundreds of thousands of young volunteers, I see everyday how young people want to learn, want to help others, want to make a difference. I’m excited about how libraries are already engaging young people in volunteering and about how we can do more to unleash this potential even further. Building on good foundations Attending the recent Public Library Authorities Conference, I was fascinated to learn about all the great work that libraries are doing [...]

Our Vision: “A creative service at the heart of Hampshire communities which prides itself on meeting their evolving needs for reading, information, learning and enjoyment.” Introduction Hampshire is a large county with a population of 1.3 million living in a mix of large cities, market towns, coastal areas and rural communities. Our Library Service is one of the biggest in the country with 53 libraries and Discovery Centres and 24 mobile library vehicles. Nearly 7 million pe [...]

The core purpose of libraries has always been reading, information and enlightenment. But people now no longer collect piano-duet scores from their library so as to enjoy music at home: rather they take out music CDs. They no longer collect sets of play texts: rather they take out DVDs. Evidently public libraries have adapted to changes in the world around them. My vision maintains this core purpose but recognises that too many public libraries have been too slow to adapt to changing user ne [...]

Information, unedited, unrationed, is the foundation of a free society. The libraries service councils provide is therefore an essential part of democracy. Where it is healthiest, the service adapts dynamically to reflect the changing society it serves. In John Henry Newman’s words, “to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often”: if national policy is to foster a living, thriving libraries service, it must be a policy that helps change happen. So a review of librari [...]

The core purpose of public libraries, providing knowledge and information, has not changed. However, the way public libraries deliver this purpose has always and will always change as they shift to accommodate the ways people want to access information and knowledge. Members of the Society of Chief Librarians consistently deliver these changes on behalf of local people. SCL would propose that public libraries are already making themselves fit for the 21st century. They are making themselves [...]

How much time do you spend buying your coffee at Starbucks in the morning? Maybe it’s just a few impatient minutes, before you jump back into the car or catch the train to work. But if you spent a whole day there – like our baristas do, you would notice something different. There’s a group of customers who stay a lot longer, concentrating hard with hefty chemistry textbooks open in front of them. Others are ploughing their way through Dickens or Austen. Sometimes they’re alone and someti [...]

East Riding of Yorkshire When a prize winning new mobile library brought modern library services to residents in predominantly rural communities in the East Riding user satisfaction improved significantly. To meet the needs of residents in both agricultural communities and commuter areas, evening and Saturday visits were introduced and the new service brought free computer and internet access as well as a selection of high quality book stock. By providing a broad range of services within the [...]

London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham The new £2 million Shepherds Bush Library and Workzone was built and fitted out at zero cost to the taxpayer thanks to an innovative partnership between the Council and Westfield Ltd which was designed to deliver key community gains from the Section 106 planning agreement for the new Westfield Shopping Centre. The new library is proving popular with local residents with an astonishing 700% increase in membership compared with the previous year, a 50% [...]

Norwich The Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library is the busiest library in the country. Visitors have remained at over 1.5m, and issues at over 1.1m since 2005/06. Some of this has to do with the library being in the centre of Norwich, in a landmark building, but largely its success is due to Norfolk Library and Information Service’s approach to marketing. The Service focuses specifically on the questions: who is using and not using the library, what do they want, and what does the li [...]

The Government believes that the public library service is vital to a democratic society, which offers equality of opportunity and intellectual freedom. Each local authority has a duty to provide a user responsive library service and the variety of demand across the country is currently met with a mixture of complementary services in different areas: Providing books, learning, information and entertainment to customers: All libraries provide a range of books and written material, often in a [...]

Library services are delivered by local authorities who have a large amount of flexibility around which services are delivered to the community and the allocation of funding from LA budgets. Central Government has a leadership role (the Secretary of State for Culture has a duty of oversight under the Public Libraries & Museums Act 1964) and provides funding to Local Authorities (this money is distributed by the Department for Communities & Local Government). National programmes rolled ou [...]

Funding for libraries is provided by the Department for Communities and Local Government and policy responsibility for public libraries rests with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. However, many other departments have an interest in ensuring that libraries continue to contribute to a number of national and local government priorities – health, literacy & learning, business support and entrepreneurship, job hunting and employability, community cohesion, citizenship and digital in [...]

For libraries to remain useful and usable they must be responsive to changing circumstances. The internet revolutionalises the opportunities for how libraries make their content available to the public and there is now a growing demand for 24/7 access to libraries with people wanting to access what they want, when and where they want it. The popularity of the download shows how libraries will have to adapt and the arrival of e-book readers will no doubt stimulate a market for books in new format [...]

The Government believes that the public library service should continue to be a local service which is shaped by the characteristics of its community. We know that the services libraries offer vary across the country from opening hours to e-books to other community services. We know that there is a striking variation in the use of libraries across authorities. This must be linked to the services on offer and the responsiveness to customer demand. If we want the library service to flourish in [...]

Research shows that over 80% of library services already operate a procurement partnership; over 60% are co-located with another service and over 30% have developed shared services. While there are excellent examples across the country of partnership working – as illustrated by our case studies – sometimes library services remain risk averse and unwilling to drive change. Q13 Commercial partnerships through libraries are not common. How might we bring more private funding into the pub [...]

In 2006 estimates prepared for MLA identified a need for £760m to make the library estate fit for purpose and Disability Discrimination Act compliant. But how many buildings and in which locations are needed to deliver a modern public library service? Q15 What are the circumstances in which a Local Authority would be justified in closing a library? Q16 Co-location of libraries with other public services, schools and colleges or business is becoming increasingly prevalent. Whe [...]

Library services need a flexible and user responsive workforce to offer the level of customer experience that the public expects, but while we have discovered excellent best practice while preparing this paper, we know that many services remain unable to meet this challenge. Traditional information skills – such as good understanding of information resources – remain important to the delivery of library services, but other skills are becoming increasingly critical for their future success [...]

Local Authorities have a statutory responsibility to provide a ‘comprehensive and efficient’ library service under the 1964 Act and the Secretary of State has a power to intervene if a Local Authority is in breach of that responsibility but ‘comprehensive & efficient’ is not defined in statute or guidance. Contributors to the initial stages of this review questioned whether introducing such a definition would discourage excellence by incentivising library services to work to the defi [...]

This image is taken from the original consultation document. Click to view the full-size image