Busy taking notes, here’s Baroness Sanderson on a fact-finding tour. She is, you’ll remember, chair of a panel working on “a new public libraries strategy”, as we reported on this website on 5 September.
https://librarycampaign.com/surprise-a-new-library-strategy
We gather that the library sector was keen to get this set up before any big changes took place in the political world. How right they were!
“As someone from outside the sector,” she says, “I have a lot to learn and a lot of people to meet but my first priority was to visit frontline library staff and volunteers – to see for myself the work that they do and to understand the challenges they face.”
Her first tour included Wimbledon, Woodford, Yeovil, Taunton, Sutton and Deepings volunteer-run library in Lincs.
“Readiness to adapt, while working with the local community to address their specific needs, has been central to every library branch I’ve visited,” she reports, “whatever their size, location or management
structure…
“They should be recognised as one of the most valuable community assets we have… I feel privileged to work with the sector to help develop ideas as to how we may protect them into the future and widen
the understanding of what they do – across government departments and more widely through society.”
Hear hear to that! For her full report, go to: https://dcmslibraries.blog.gov.uk/2022/10/13/stamford-to-sutton-and-beyond-visiting-library-branches-across-england
