The Society of Chief Librarians are in an ideal position to stand up against the deprofessionalisation and downgrading of the UK’s public library service through reliance on a voluntary workforce. At the same seminar Ed Vaizey stated that he will be maintaining close communications with the SCL. They have the opportunity to make use of the power they have as public library service leaders and champions and can set the agenda, rather than having it set for them.

If the SCL do decide that their member organisations are happy to go down the volunteer libraries route, what message does this give their staff about the SCL’s opinion of their worth, of the library professions worth and are they the right people to be leading the profession in this sector?

Library Love (c) Justgrimes/Flickr

Public libraries have an important role to play in getting older people online (image c/o splorp on Flickr).

Katherine Stephan is a Community Librarian in Norwich for Norfolk Library and Information Service.  During her maternity leave she is based in Liverpool.   She’s particularly interested in other public library projects that encourage older people to get online.  Here she explains the important role public libraries play in getting older people online.

In the recent (and ongoing) debate surrounding library cuts and closures, it is even more important to demonstrate how public libraries are providing a useful and needed service, sometimes beyond reading and literacy.  This can also be extended to the role of libraries in the digital divide, both with regards to providing computer and internet skills but also access to broadband.  My research project, “‘The Whole World is Stopping at WWW’ An analysis of how Norfolk Library and Information Services’ Surf’s Up can help close the digital divide amongst older people” hoped to discover how libraries might help bridge and possibly close the digital divide, particularly for older people.

Much digital divide research focuses on government policies or statistical data surrounding physical access to computers and the internet.  My thesis, as part of my MScEcon at Aberystwyth University, sought to understand and highlight the potential importance of public libraries in bridging the digital divide.  It particularly sought to gather qualitative data from people over 65, representing the voices of those often impacted by the lack of computer skills and the internet.

In 2010, Norfolk Library and Information Service (NLIS) was successful in securing a six-figure funding bid to run Surf’s Up, a series of computer skills courses for older people aged over 65, over a four year period. The course is run twice-yearly in all of Norfolk’s forty-seven branch libraries, and potentially more often if staffing and yearly underspend in funding allows. Participants meet for two hours a week for six weeks, led by a Community Librarian and an additional person, usually a library assistant.

As part of my research I held four focus groups in libraries of different sizes and locations: Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library, currently the busiest in the United Kingdom, North Walsham, a large market town, Aylsham, a smaller market town and Stalham, a small village. In addition to the focus groups, I gathered a small amount of biographical data and information on their computer skills via a short questionnaire.

Some main themes:

1. It’s costly to gather and time-consuming to transcribe and analyse but qualitative data is an incredibly rich and valuable resource.  The same participants that said on a questionnaire that they felt confident being independent online would admit in a focus group that they really only felt ‘sure’ with the assistance of a family member or when at the course.
2. Physical access to computers isn’t enough-so many participants have a skills deficit that is often not overcome by self-learning or via friends and family.  And this isn’t just a lack of skills in getting on the internet, for example.  Many users did not know how to use a mouse, or even the different between an email address and a web address.
3. Twelve hours of tuition is incredibly useful and at times life-changing, but for every participant that took part, not enough to overcome all of the issues with confidence, questions of internet security and various other issues.
4. Libraries are well-suited to run/host computer courses; they are generally open multiple days a week, they already have computers and internet access and they have trained staff.  But with library closures and opening hours cut, there is a real and profound skills gap that might not be addressed.  People that have missed out on sufficient or any computer training in their workplace or school will have limited opportunities to get free help.  Although campaigns like Go On Online are earnest and useful at times, dependence on volunteers or young people helping on an ad hoc basis will not solve this problem.  Moreover, most libraries provide access to broadband in areas where this is not widely available or the cost is prohibitive.  As a recent article in the Guardian suggests, broadband access in the United Kingdom is not as pervasive as many think.
5. There is so much more to learn and do.  Surf’s Up is just one small programme in one library service.  I found the participants candid and happy to express their joys and frustrations with learning, we just needed to have a forum in which they felt comfortable sharing.

When people bemoan about the prevalence and relevance of computers in libraries, they forget that providing both computer skills and computer and internet access for library users is part of (to me) the general ethos of libraries: reading and learning for everyone.  The skills gained in a course like Surf’s Up run the whole gamut of fantastic outcomes: from being able to use a mouse, write an email, independence when someone is housebound, getting to watch EastEnders back on the iplayer, or a widower who finally feels enabled to do her banking online.  These all happened with the power of the internet. And they all happened because of public libraries.

What should a 21st century public library service look like? (Image c/o Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart on Flickr).

Voices for the Library needs your help.  We want to create a manifesto for public libraries, a clear vision for what we believe a 21st Century library service should look like and how it should be delivered.  We have been fighting library closures across the country for a long time. When we formed Voices For The Library our intention was to highlight the positive aspects of public libraries, but our energy has been focused on fighting the immediate threat to them. Consequently we haven’t had time to build a picture of what libraries should be.  It is time to express a clear vision, so that when politicians and the media ask the question we can clearly articulate what a library service should deliver.

Until now there has been no attempt to communicate a strong statement about the basic standards we expect of our libraries in the UK, or a clear vision for the future for public libraries.  We want you, everybody who uses, loves, works in, or needs libraries, to share your ideas and tell us your vision for public libraries.  What services should they provide?  How should they be provided?  Who should run libraries? How should they be staffed?  We want you to help us to devise and communicate this vision to the media and government.

If you have any ideas that you would like to share, why not post them in the comments below (click comments at the top of this post)? If you are on Twitter use the hashtag #libfesto or join our Facebook group to share your thoughts.  So tell us: what do you think a 21st century public library service should look like?

Vote for libraries on May 3rd (image c/o Alan Cleaver on Flickr).

Thursday May 3rd sees local elections once more taking place across the UK.  Once more, this is a chance to hold to account those politicians who have been behind moves to close libraries or forcing communities into running them themselves.  This is a chance to send a strong message to politicians who have not listened to library users and hold them to account for their refusal to engage or listen to the concerns of library users.

Take, for example, Bolton Council leader Cllr Cliff Morris.  As a result of his leadership, five libraries were closed across the town, including Oxford Grove library in his own ward of Halliwell.  Secretary of the local Save Bolton Libraries campaign, Ian McHugh, will be standing against Cllr Morris representing the Green Party.  We wish Ian the best of luck in his efforts.

In Doncaster, a referendum will be held to decide whether Doncaster will be run by a mayor or by a leader of the council.  This is an opportunity for the people of Doncaster to reject their mayor, who has wreaked havoc across the borough and seriously undermined the principles of democratic accountability.  In the past couple of months, Mayor Davies has defended his decision to veto £380,000 worth of investment in libraries and has overruled a majority council decision to reopen libraries at Denaby and Carcroft.  We very much hope that the people of Doncaster reject their existing system and choose one that is more democratic, backing the clear will of the people of Doncaster to provide a properly funded library service.

Campaigners in London also have an opportunity to remove those that have been hostile to public library provision.  Voters in Barnet and Camden, for example, have an opportunity to reject Brian Coleman as their representative in the London Assembly.  Coleman has been a key inspiration behind attempts to close libraries within the borough, despite being a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.  In Croydon and Sutton, library users will be alarmed to know that candidate Steve O’Connell recently claimed that he “does not care who runs public libraries…All that matters is that they are kept open.”  So replacing paid staff with volunteers seems to be very much on the table as far as O’Connell is concerned.  Furthermore, campaigners in Brent will be looking very carefully at the record of their current representative Navin Shah, who has done little to support campaigners in the fight against their local authority, supporting Brent’s claims that the authority was in an “impossible” position and had no choice.

Come May 3rd those concerned about library closures have a clear choice.  Now is the time to vote for libraries and make sure your local authorities get the message loud and clear: Save Our Libraries.

Children campaigning for libraries in Gloucestershire last year (image c/o FOGLibraries on Flickr)

Voices for the Library are delighted to hear that Surrey campaigners successfully challenged the decision of Surrey County Council to remove all paid staff from 10 community libraries at the High Court.  Mr Justice Wilkie judged that the council had fallen “substantially short” in giving due regard to the “obvious equality issue” that was apparent in handing over libraries to untrained volunteers.  As a result, the council’s decision of 27^th September 2011 was ruled unlawful.

This judgement, following that of the Gloucestershire case in November last year, demonstrates the inequality created by so-called community libraries.  They are simply unable to meet the needs of local communities to the same extent as a service managed and delivered by paid, suitably trained staff supported by professionals.  Replacing professional services and replacing them with a service delivered by unwitting volunteers does a great disservice to the communities in which they operate, effectively creating a two tier system of service delivery.  Whilst one community has access to a fully funded service delivered by fully trained staff, others receive a lesser service, with less support available, at the same cost.

Whilst the Society of Chief Librarians appeared to be happy to endorse community libraries on the Today programme this morning, at Voices for the Library we argue that this is an unacceptable alternative to paid staff supported by professionals.   No community should be forced to accept a second class service on the premise that it is better than no service at all.  Community libraries are not a sustainable alternative and those that do see them as a solution need to be aware that it is not a long-term answer and will simply result in a slower, more painful death of the service in the community.

Councils across the country should see this, and the ruling in Gloucestershire, as a stark warning.  Volunteer run libraries do not meet equalities obligations.  They are not a suitable replacement for a library service delivered by trained (and remunerated) library staff supported by professionals.  And library campaigners everywhere should fight their local authorities to protect their services against such erosion.

The rally will take place from 12 noon, at Central Hall Westminster, Storey’s Gate Westminster, London SW1H 9NH. The lobby of Parliament will start at 2.30pm. Prior to the rally and lobby, Ed Vaizey’s evidence session for the Inquiry into library closures will be screened live from 10.30am in Central Hall Westminster.

The lobby has been organised by the Speak Up For Libraries coalition, an alliance of organisations and campaigners working to protect libraries and library staff. Voices For The Library are part of this coalition.

Since forming Voices For The Library, we have constantly had to defend public libraries against those in power who do not seem to understand their value. We’ve seen local campaigns emerge throughout the country in response to these cuts – campaigners fighting for their own local libraries against authorities who do not understand the purpose of libraries, and do not understand how libraries and trained library staff benefit library users, the local community, local economy and the UK as a whole. Many of these campaigners have been put into a position where they are effectively acting as superintendent to their own library service, despite this being the responsibility of Jeremy Hunt & Ed Vaizey. Local authorities have not listened to local campaigners concerns. Neither have Jeremy Hunt, Ed Vaizey or the DCMS. So now, as part of Speak Up For Libraries, we must take this to Parliament to ask MP’s to make a stand and help protect the future of the nation’s threatened public libraries.

We feel it’s important to attend tomorrow to show those who dismiss public libraries as irrelevant just how important they are and why they are essential. We would urge you to attend if you can – the more people there are there, the louder our voices will be and the clearer the message will be that we will continue to fight and Speak Up For Libraries. If you are coming please sign up on the Speak Up For Libraries site.

However, if you can’t attend, you can still show your support by doing the following:

• Email or write to your MP asking them to support libraries.
• Let others know about it.
• Distribute event flyers.
• Encourage your MP to sign the Early Day Motion in support of libraries .
• Follow Speak Up For Libraries on Facebook.
• Follow @SpeakUp4Libs on Twitter & tweet using the #librarieslobby hashtag, especially during the rally and lobby.

The Committee will hear evidence from representatives of Arts Council England, Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), Isle of Wight Council, Leicestershire Library Services and the Local Government Association.

Further details of the session can be found here.

The session will be screened on the internet via Parliament.tv

The first session saw Abby Barker (Voices for The Library),  Sue Charteris (author of the report on Wirral library closures), Andrew Coburn (The Library Campaign) and Miranda McKearney (The Reading Agency) give evidence.

Below are some of the comments and points raised during that session (paraphrased).

• Miranda McKearney: The passionate work of campaigners over the past 18 months has started to shift the debate about what libraries mean to us all.
• Abby Barker: A lot of people making these cuts don’t understand what a library is, or what it does, or what librarians can offer.
• Andrew Coburn: In local areas libraries offer a social place to build communities, based around services they provide.
• Abby Barker: Local libraries are important. Not all people can get to the central library branch. There is room for both large ‘destination’ libraries and small libraries to provide services. They complement each other.
•  Abby Barker: The cuts are focused on books & buildings. Librarians aren’t just there to stamp books. Librarians are there to enhance your experience of the library.
• Andrew Coburn: A lot of what library staff do is about direction, mediation & assistance. The fewer library staff there are in the system the more difficult it is to get an answer from anywhere in that system.
•  Miranda McKearney: Even though ‘you clearly have access to the things you need to live your life. Lots of people don’t’. (Response to MP about why libraries are needed)
• Abby Barker: If comprehensive & efficient could be more clearly defined, local authorities may be able to make better decisions.
• Abby Barker: Library consultations are being run from the top down and local authorities are not listening to or taking into account users needs.
• Andrew Coburn: What’s the point of the Secretary of State having powers of intervention if they aren’t used? He needs to “grasp the nettle.”
• Andrew Coburn: How will volunteer run libraries affect the statutory duties?
• Abby Barker: Volunteers can add value to a library service, but they shouldn’t be seen as a replacement service.
• Miranda McKearney: Partnership working on a national level with librarians is difficult because there aren’t enough of them.
• Miranda McKearney: There are some things you can only do nationally to improve library services – we need a national strategy!
• Sue Charteris: Local authorities need to look at equalities assessment of local needs.
• Sue Charteris: Isn’t keen on having more regulations, but feels local authorities need guidance from Secretary of State & Arts Council England.
• Sue Charteris: Library services need proper communications teams to sell their benefits.
• Sue Charteris: There has to be a prominent role for librarians in providing public library services. They are key.
• Sue Charteris: Volunteers are well-placed to do certain things in libraries, but a sound policy on volunteering by local authorities is key.
• Sue Charteris: The Secretary of State role needs to be more pro-active nationally.
• Sue Charteris: Current public library legislation needs to be looked at, because it is “cumbersome” and out-of-date.
• Sue Charteris: Believes that some kind of peer review would be useful to ensure library services are heading in the right direction.

The rally will take place from 11.30am at Central Hall Westminster, Storey’s Gate, Westminster, London SW1H 9NH. The lobby of Parliament will start at 2.30pm.

We urge everyone to find out more and sign up to attend via the Speak Up For Libraries website.

You can also follow Speak Up For Libraries on Twitter and on Facebook.

Speak Up For Libraries are a coalition of organisations and campaigners working to protect libraries and library staff, now and in the future.

Residents in Kent resorted to doing their own thing to support National Libraries Day,

Earlier this month library authorities and library users celebrated the very first National Libraries Day.  Events took place across the country and it was great to hear so many people went out and celebrated their local library service (some photos are available here).  The extent of the celebrations showed that there is still a lot of support out there for the public library service, despite claims of its demise and irrelevance.  Amidst a background of library closures, it was great to see so many people and organisations come together in celebration.

However,whilst many authorities across the country threw their support behind National Libraries Day, some were reluctant to join in the celebrations.  One of several councils who refused to support the event was Kent.  What made this particularly concerning was that not only is Kent one of the largest authorities in the country, it is also headed by the Secretary for the Society of Chief Librarians – one of the supporters of the event.

In advance of the event, Voices for the Library lodged a Freedom of Information request to find out why the authority refused to put on any events under the National Libraries Day banner, or to even mention it on their website or Facebook Page.  The following was disclosed as a result of the request:

There were 130 written responses in total from a wide range of individuals and organisations with an interest in libraries. These included:

• Library user and campaign groups
• Public library authorities, councils and councillors
• Library workers, librarians and representative organisations
• Publishers and booksellers
• National organisations such as Women’s Institute and UNISON who have been supportive of libraries
• Charities
• Individuals
• Authors
• Private companies

It is interesting to note the balance of responses from these different groups of respondents, especially from public library authorities. Only approximately 16 authorities or their representatives responded to the Inquiry. Considering that there are over 140 public library authorities in England this is a very low response rate. Compare this to 33 recognisable library user and campaign groups who responded, plus further individuals whose names we recognise as local campaigners.

We look forward to both reading these written responses to the Inquiry and following the oral evidence sessions which start tomorrow morning and can be viewed live here.