AUTUMN 2023 PRICE £2.00

No. 105 ISSN 0266-6065

The Library Campaign

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Registered charity (England & Wales) No. 1102634

Elected Officers

Laura Swaffield London

Andrew Coburn Essex

Members of the Executive Committee

Geoffrey Dron Bolton, Bob Goodrick London, Barney Allan Middlesex,
James Fish Wigan, Isadore Auerbach George London

The following organisations send representatives to attend steering group meetings:

Unison,

Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals (CILIP).

Good news, bad news

This issue is bursting with good news! The focus is mostly on the main reason people (still) use libraries – BOOKS. The very agreeable message is that enjoyment is key.

It all starts in childhood. For children, reading should above all be for pleasure. That’s what gets them into books. That’s what gets them reading more and more. It’s common sense.

Evidence is pouring in that the benefits are spectacular. Kids who read for pleasure are happier, healthier and do much better at school – and beyond. It’s more powerful than any other factor, including socio-economic class.

Just don’t tell the kids! Don’t tell them reading is good for them. Don’t tell them what is proper reading, or that some things they like don’t count.

We are charmed by S F Said’s personal story. His family encouraged him to read just what interested him – so he hardly realised he was ‘reading’ at all! A long spell of nothing but comics also helped make him the award-winning author he is today.

Now he is thrilled to see publishers at last providing one thing he couldn’t find as a child – books about kids from all backgrounds.

It’s very good news to see the way all the agencies that cover libraries are working to the same end. The Reading Agency, BookTrust, Libraries Connected, National Literacy Trust (NLT) all have the same message about reading for pleasure.

The sting comes from NLT (pp 29-30). Reading for pleasure is actually in decline among children. We can speculate about the causes, including a deadly school curriculum. But NLT indicates some of the remedies. And so do many other articles in this issue.

Public libraries are central. Here kids have a free choice from all kinds of reading material. They can take anything they fancy. Money is no object. Books can be sampled and rejected. They won’t have to write a report about it. Their ‘reading skills’ won’t be tested. It’s so simple. And so very cheap to provide.

So – in further good news, yet another report (pp 10-11) now shows exactly what a bargain libraries are. In hard cash terms. Economists can analyse the very personal experience of library users and express this in bean-counter language. That’s important, these days.

And so to hard-pressed local councils. We applaud those that are still managing to invest in their libraries.

And the others? Friends groups have a crucial role to play. We know you are out there supporting your local libraries, bringing in new users and new activities, making libraries relevant – and fun.

Where councils go wrong, Friends groups make all the difference. They publicise the issues, demonstrate the public’s huge support for libraries, get councils to cough up proper information and propose alternative solutions. It doesn’t always work, alas. But it works often enough to be well worthwhile.

So we applaud YOU!

T It all started in childhood…

THE LIBRARY CAMPAIGNER
AUTUMN 2023, No.105

EDITOR: Laura Swaffield DESIGN & PRODUCTION: Owain Hammonds
CONTRIBUTORS: Andrew Coburn, Pete Inkpen, Roly Keating, Debbie Rolls, S F Said, Laura Swaffield, BookTrust, Cambridge University, Good Things Foundation, Libraries Connected, National Literacy Trust, Suffolk Library Service, The Reading Agency.
COVER PHOTO: Yaroslav Shuraev/ Pexels

4 NEWS

6 CAMPAIGN CATCH-UP
The latest local campaigns – many successful!

9 GOOD NEWS
Library services that have done good things

10 LIBRARIES’ £3bn BONANZA
Amazing new evidence that public libraries pay back what they cost – six-fold!

12 TRUSTED DIGITAL PARTNERS
Libraries have a special role in fighting digital exclusion, but they need support…

14 SANDERSON SO FAR… WHAT WE TOLD HER
The DCMS libraries strategy is on its way. Here’s what we told information collector Baroness Sanderson.

18 THE BENEFITS OF READING
A mass of information, neatly set out by BookTrust.

FOCUS ON READING FOR PLEASURE

20 LET THEM READ WHAT THEY LOVE!
Award-winning author S F Said says that his own childhood shows how all reading is valuable…

21 ALL SORTS OF IDENTITIES
… and that books should be about all kinds of people.

22 LIBRARIES: THE PLACE FOR LEARNING TO LOVE BOOKS
Debbie Rolls found that library users agree that loving books starts in libraries.

23 STARTING THEM EARLY
Families know that reading is important from an early age – but they need support.

25 READY FOR SCHOOL
Libraries do a lot to get children ready to enjoy school and learn.

27 GOOD NEWS FROM THE READING CHALLENGE!
The Summer Reading Challenge is building on its success through working with partners.

28 STILL A WINNER FOR TEENS
Early reading for pleasure pays off right into adolescence.

29 NOW THE BAD NEWS…
Latest research shows that children’s reading for pleasure is in decline

31 EVERYONE WELCOME
A new book by Debbie Rolls looks at Tees Valley libraries past and present…

33 BIG CHANGES FOR CHILDREN
… and finds that welcoming small children is a surprisingly recent development.

34 BRITISH LIBRARY – THE FUTURE
The BL is 50 years old! It eyes a challenging future.

36 JOIN US! The more TLC grows, the stronger we get.

LUCKY 27, BUT…

27 library services are celebrating! Why? They are sharing £4.9m from DCMS (Department for Culture, Media & Sport) for special projects – to be administered via ACE (Arts Council England). No space to describe all 27… so instead we’ll step back and look at the overall picture. This is Round 2 of a Libraries Improvement Fund. Round 1 got a similar allocation of £5m, and there’s a total of £20m to be finally polished off in Round 3.

This is part of a £200m Cultural Investment Fund – frankly, rather a small part. The lion’s share goes to museums and ‘culture’ in general. And this, in turn, is just one of a bewildering collection of pots of money available to local councils for this or that. All have a ‘levelling up’ label, all have to be won via competitive bids (and many could logically go to libraries).

Local government organisations have long argued that these pots are fragmented, cause confusion and duplication, while bidding wastes precious core funding. Especially for the losers!

Nick Poole of CILIP (the librarians’ association) said: ‘Competitive funding for public libraries just accelerates the postcode lottery that has arisen in the last decade. Libraries will, of course, do fantastic things with it, but wouldn’t it be better for them all to be appropriately funded in the first place?’

Isobel Hunter of Libraries Connected (chief librarians) said: ‘While competitive funds can make a huge difference for recipients, without a more secure long-term financial settlement many councils will have no option but to consider making cuts to frontline public services, including libraries. We need government to take decisive action now to avoid a crisis in our libraries over the coming years.’

One-man library website Ian Anstice said: ‘This is to be welcomed, but it’s worth pointing out that (a) this is likely to be much less than overall funding cuts to libraries this year and (b) is for stuff that library services can’t now afford normally, but in any well-funded service would have been able to.

‘Plus also it’s sometimes for additional stuff when the core service is being cut.’

One-man information whiz Libraries Hacked says it’s a bit like ‘watching a house burning down and asking for money to install a bouncy castle in the garden’.

TLC agrees with all of this. And competing against each other is absolutely not what any public service should be all about.

WARM FEELINGS

One huge success this year has been libraries’ provision of ‘warm spaces’ for people who can’t afford heating at home. Libraries were not the only providers. But they were the obvious option for the many councils that invested in this shamefully necessary support.

It all helps to prove to councils how much they need libraries! But there’s more. Much more. A survey by the Warm Welcome campaign finds that poverty relief mattered – but what people valued far more was the sense of community, and tackling loneliness.

They wanted community events and things to do ‘in an accessible, non-judgemental space’. If they were just offered ‘a place where the poor came to huddle together in winter’, they didn’t come. Frequent visitors reported ‘improvements in their mental health, social wellbeing, and sense of purpose’. This is what libraries are all about.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023 /apr/26/warm-rooms-winter-loneliness

HOW TO SPOT SPIN

A treasure from the House of Commons Library – how to spot disinformation in statistics. It’s full of tips – doubtless too long to catch the attention of the Instantly Outraged. But even they might think about the Library’s brisk introduction: ‘This briefing sets out some common ways in which statistics are used inappropriately or spun, and gives some tips to help spot this… The three essential questions to ask yourself when looking at statistics are: Compared to what? Since when? Says who?

‘General questions to ask when looking at a statistic:

• What product or point of view is the author trying to “sell”?
• Are there any statistics or background that is obviously missing?
• Do the author’s conclusions logically follow from the statistics?
• Are comparisons made like-for-like?
• If there is any doubt about the original source of the statistic: Who created them and how, why and when were they created?’

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn04446

TLC AGM

The Library Campaign meeting on 25 March was a very useful chance to talk to Isobel Hunter (Chief Executive of Libraries Connected) about her own view of the future of public libraries. This was the closest we could get to a context for the review by Baroness Sanderson (see page 14), which will in turn inform a new government public library strategy.

Isobel had a list of 10 issues which she saw as reasons for optimism. These included increased footfall and borrowing (maybe not back to pre-pandemic levels but on the way); better government understanding of libraries as social infrastructure – evidenced by work during the pandemic on supporting local communities; the increase in co-location (when done right, even if sometimes done to save money); and an increase in turn-out at library events.

The discussion, after a diversion about the unhelpfulness of some library catalogues, moved on to what might be said at Baroness Sanderson’s ‘Round Table’ discussion in April, to which TLC had been invited. Two well versed and respected participants warned that the review and resultant strategy are likely to be window dressing for not much actual change or improvement – but agreed with us that it’s better to be inside and commenting than not.

We moved on to the AGM, where new trustees were nominated (in addition to the sitting tenants). More of this in future. The trustees have already met three times since March. We still have two vacancies (one is technically for the Secretary’s post). It would be good to have some more diversity – at present there is only one woman and everyone is white. Get in touch if you are interested.

We are grateful to those who turned up, both in person and online. We should single out Alison Richards from Northants, who agreed to chair the AGM at short notice!

Campaign catch-up
from our current case files ...

FOLKESTONE

In Folkestone, Kent, the 135-year-old listed Grace Hill library closed last December ‘due to flood damage’. Kent County Council then decided it can’t afford the £1.8m needed to fix it. Not ever.

‘KCC has to be realistic that in the current challenging financial climate, any spend has to be prioritised,’ said the council’s leader. Furious crowds took to the streets.

A protest campaign was set up, went on Facebook – and informed TLC so we could add it to our national list. Council opposition demanded an explanation ‘in a public forum, open to questioning, rather than in press releases’. And with proper consultation.

Locals pointed out that half the children around the library live in poverty: ‘It’s one of the last warm, free spaces in the town.’ Others pointed to assorted KCC pet projects that have cost far more, and done far less for locals, than the library.

Perhaps most galling of all, came the complaint that KCC has made botched stop-gap repairs to the library’s roof for years, instead of fixing it properly. Plus warnings that other KCC libraries could be suffering in the same way…

Finally someone took the bold step of judicial review. We at TLC never advise such a move lightly. It’s financially risky and – well, you never know with judges…

However, the case was taken by Public Interest Law Centre. PILC has had success with library JRs in the past. And in fact things didn’t need to go beyond PILC’s initial letter to KCC.

This questioned the original decision not to repair and reopen the library, ‘a much needed and valued community asset’.

It also argued that KCC failed to follow Key Decision making policy, including non-disclosure of information material to its decision, failed to adequately consult with stakeholders, failed to comply with its Public Sector Equality Duty and mismanaged the building ‘resulting in disrepair and high refurbishment costs which may have been avoidable’.

Some of these points will look pretty familiar to many of us…

KCC soon declared itself ‘willing to work with the claimant and the local community on exploring short, medium and long term arrangements for the library service’. Including detailed financial info, as requested.

The local campaign said: ‘The exchange has produced clarity on how this situation has evolved and where the responsibilities lie. It is also possible for the first time to see a glimmer of possibility that we can find a way forward by engaging in a more constructive dialogue.’

The library’s future is still far from assured. But this is certainly a better way forward. What a pity it took legal threats to get KCC to realise it!

ABERDEEN

We do not formally operate as a charity in Scotland. But we cannot ignore the decision of Aberdeen City Council to close six of its 17 library branches. This will save just £280,000. The services will be moved to community hubs and schools. This does not sound like a solution. We wish the best to the Save Aberdeen Libraries campaign. As we go to press, a special council meeting has been called ‘requesting that the public be updated on the decision-making process that led to closing six libraries’, among other things. Good idea…

DUDLEY

Dudley council announced a plan to cut a full 30% from their libraries and archive budget over the next three years. This meant any or all of: closing branches, cutting opening hours, sacking staff. The local UNISON branch set up a Save Dudley Libraries Facebook page and campaigned to stop the proposals (with a bit of help from us – and from local hero Lenny Henry).

Long story short: after months of hard grind – and lots of public support – Dudley has dropped the plan. Apparently a major factor was a report that showed just what good value the libraries are!

WIRRAL

Democracy, local authority style, continues to need close watching. In the Wirral, a plan to abandon several libraries to ‘the community’ was – everyone thought – overturned this year after huge protests. But hold on… the council has now decided to sell off 23 ‘assets’ to pay off a £12m government emergency loan. And that includes TWO libraries, at Bromborough and Seacombe, despite community efforts – especially at Bromborough. The decision was made at a part of a meeting where press and public were excluded. Opposition councillors are crying foul. The council says it has no choice…

HENDON

In Hendon, Barnet, a huge campaign saved the famous listed library from being given to Middlesex University (MDX) for a business centre. Or so people thought. It was part of a massive ‘hub’ plan that would transform a whole town centre into a MDX campus of lecture halls and student accommodation.

Locals opposed the planning application 100%. So did all the Labour councillors, in opposition at the time.

Come the local elections, with the ‘hub’ a key issue. Labour took over. It had a clear mandate, you’d think. It promised to reconsider and consult. It promised to keep the original library for full public use. The outcome? A ‘hub’ as big and ugly as ever – with the 1930s library and town hall no longer proudly free-standing but lumped together with glassy fill-in stuff and annexed to MDX! Plus big lumps of the library building given to… MDX.

Ah, says Labour Barnet, we only promised to save the original library. Only the 1970s extensions are to be given away, although they were long used by the library. Civic centre: 0. MDX: big win. The fight (wearily) goes on.

DEVON

Friends of Great Torrington Library are leading a spirited campaign to save Devon’s mobile libraries. Such services often have Cinderella status. But high-profile support has come from Michael Rosen and Stephen Fry, who says: ‘Mobile libraries are lifelines for rural communities.

‘I know. I grew up in the remote Norfolk countryside. The arrival every other Thursday of our mobile library quite literally changed my life. The idea that such a vital, beautiful, simple service should be denied to future generations is heart-breaking.’

Campaigners make several persuasive points. Among them: financial claims are questionable, replacement plans don’t make sense and Devon, they say, has claimed reduced usage by ignoring key factors – including the fact that the mobile fleet has been halved.

Plus: ‘One of the things that has come to light during this process is the number of people who didn’t realise that there was a mobile library coming to their area and have signed up to join it. More publicity would obviously help increase the users.’ Familiar, anyone?

The council’s decision has been called in for scrutiny, so all is delayed until October. Maybe Devon could use the time to consider the alternative ideas suggested by the Friends.

Read the full argument at the petition site: https://www.change.org/p/save-our-mobile-library-service/u/31856824

T Grace Hill library: now, at least, the council has agreed to share and discuss the full financial facts.

T Hendon’s free-standing, iconic listed building – now to become part of a bland, glassy modern ‘hub’?

T Devon’s mobile service: the council claims it’s under-used, but Friends tell a different story.

PEACEHAVEN

In Peacehaven, Sussex, matters have rumbled on for years as ideas circulated to revamp the Meridian shopping centre – which contains a library. Back in 2021 a planning application to East Sussex County Council (ESCC) suggested cramming it into the local youth centre in a ‘significantly smaller’ space.

This would wreck both library and youth centre in a growing town, said furious locals. The idea was shot down in flames. Things looked up when the local Morrisons took over the Meridian and its development. They have been doing all the right things. They consulted ESCC – which is the library authority for the area – about what size of library was needed. The current library measures 1,182 sq m, including some unused space. But ESCC would be happy with a library of just 300 sq m.

Morrisons ran a big public consultation (ESCC didn’t) and got a very different answer. The size of the library emerged as a key issue. People didn’t want to be crammed into a tiny library suitable only for a town half Peacehaven’s size and not growing…

The planning application has now gone through. Morrisons seem to be bending over backwards to meet the public’s wishes. It provides for a 302 sq m library – but with an extra building attached to it that would double the size if used. ESCC is unmoved.

Friends of Peacehaven & Telscombe Library have carried out a wealth of detailed research about the area and its growing needs. Other nearby libraries, with smaller catchment populations, are between 450 and 800 sq m. It sees no sense in singling out Peacehaven to suddenly become the smallest library for miles. We are used to stories about big, bad developers threatening libraries. In this case, it seems the library authority’s attitude is the threat.

REDDITCH

Redditch Borough Council (RBC) in Worcs has its eye on its big, popular library. It’s almost the busiest in the county, second only to the much better funded county library (the Hive) in Worcester. It far exceeds the Hive in the huge number of clubs it runs (from films to local history to Dungeons & Dragons), plus events and exhibitions that regularly attract 1,000 people. Lots of footfall.

It stands between the rather outmoded, part-empty Kingfisher Shopping Centre and the pretty Church Green area, again under-occupied, which locals want to see revived. How to draw footfall between the two? Demolish the library, of course! And replace it with, er… a big, empty square, which people would have to trek across in all weathers, offering little to do but spend money in cafes. The library service would be moved down to the bottom of the hill.

The decision is for the library authority, Worcs County Council. Its consultation on the demolition was hard to find: almost 100% online, publicised only through emails, social media (and some notices in bus stops). Paper copies were kept in the library – but out of sight, with no publicity at all, and with staff forbidden to mention them unless asked a direct question. Oh – and ‘leave the library as it is’ was not even given as a possible option!

Despite all this, 1,467 locals managed to answer – and a massive 72.3% oppose demolition. And a wealth of withering comments questioned the whole logic of an empty ‘town square’ as a way to… er, tempt in footfall. In previous RBC consultations (which didn’t make it clear that creating a town square actually meant demolishing the library), people had requested more cultural activities at this spot, and things for young people to do.

Most respondents also complained that there wasn’t enough information to judge if the relocated library service would be suitable. That’s a particularly serious fault. 

But not to worry: RBC had a prepared response – it would say that the consultees were not a majority of the entire population. It has used this previously to push through planning applications that were strongly opposed. Ominously, RBC’s council leader stated at a public meeting that the library will not be demolished if ‘a majority of the population of Redditch opposes it’.

Now WCC is happy to twist the argument in a different way. The number of replies, it argues, actually does make the consultation fully representative of Redditch’s population. But that is no reason to respect the result! The people who didn’t reply must be taken into account, and must be assumed to be pro-demolition!

Mental gymnastics worthy of an Olympic medal.

T Redditch: thousands use this lively library, but the council claims they’d rather have an empty square.

Good news

Scarborough

Congratulations to North Yorkshire – Scarborough library has just re-opened after a £450,000 revamp! Improvements include brighter decor, new carpets, a new IT area, community and exhibition space, new shelving and furniture, a better children’s area – and new books!
The money came from one of those ‘improvement’ funds you have to bid for (£200,000), plus an admirable £250,000 from North Yorkshire County Council.

Southwark

In Southwark, south London, the flagship (award winning) Peckham library has just re-opened with £1.5m’s worth of repairs, new low-carbon lighting and heating, refurbished kitchens and toilets, new decor and flooring, faster computers, new children’s and teen areas – and more. The ‘green’ elements are part of a borough-wide retrofit of public buildings.

We’re equally happy to see a more modest branch library restored on the Kingswood housing estate. Lockdown saw it moved from its home in a splendid castle-like building and reduced to a barely-open ‘click and collect’. TLC wrote to support residents, who worried when the castle was transferred to an arts organisation… but the library is now being expanded and re-equipped, with extra space for youth services.

Nottingham

The central library in Nottingham closed a couple of years ago. There was no temporary replacement, meaning that all the stock was unreachable, except by ordering. The plan was to open a newly-built central library, but this hit a number of road blocks and a date was never given for it to open. Costs mounted…

There followed a hugely unpopular proposal to save £233,000 by closing three branches. In the event all but £79,000 of this was saved by other means. An excellent local campaign saw this off (and got us involved to help).

Now the council says the central library will open ‘towards the end of this year’.

Staffordshire

Kudos to Staffordshire County Council, which has just opened its revamped library in Tamworth. It’s the fifth new or “heavily refurbished” library in recent years.

Rotherham

Rotherham council has approved plans to redevelop the town centre with a new complex, including a new central library. The existing library was a little away from the centre of town and showing its age.

The library will be relocated to a site on the central Markets complex, and will include a café, meeting rooms, flexible gallery space, and a maker’s space.

The Markets complex as a whole will get a serious makeover, particularly with a view to connecting it to nearby residential communities and the 3,000+ student and academic population immediately adjacent to it.

Cheshire East

At least two cheers for Cheshire East, which has actually revised its plans for library cuts after listening to local communities!

In July the council launched a public consultation on proposals to reduce opening hours across the borough, so that all branches would close for at least 1.5 days a week.

Having considered the feedback, the council now proposes to: deliver the half day closure by smaller changes four days a week, based on individual site usage data; and reinstate 31 hours per week across the borough, targeted where demand is greatest.

So libraries which are currently open each weekday will continue to be, with one half-day closing. For most this still means eight-10 hour reductions, but all will still be accessible on all the days they currently open. (Ironically, one of the two libraries with no effective change is Alderley Edge, where a campaign to stop closure was successful five or six years ago. Just saying.)

Oxfordshire

Amanda Epps is a long-time supporter and a member of the Friends of Charlbury Library in Oxfordshire. She has written to let us know that a 20 year Friends campaign to get a new library finally bore fruit in 2017!

Amanda wrote: ‘It had been decided that the best location would be in the new community centre. By 2007, we had raised the £10,000 towards the cost agreed with the county council. We had also made donations towards library stock.

‘And then it finally happened. The centre also has a sports hall and a multi-function room. The library is in an open space, shared with the reception desk, tables and chairs.

‘As there’s a self-service machine it’s open un-staffed whenever the building is open. It is staffed for about 18 hours by a librarian and volunteers.

‘I know a parent of three children who takes one to a sports session and values the access to the library for the others. Some pre-school sessions take place. We never imagined such an useful space would be the outcome of the Friends efforts.’

This may not be ’news’, but it’s proof that persistence pays!

The Connecting Place at Barnsley Lightbox

Libraries’ £3bn bonanza

England’s public libraries generate value of at least £3.4 billion each year, according to a landmark analysis by economists from the University of East Anglia (UEA).

The research – published in a report titled Libraries for living, and for living better – was commissioned by Libraries Connected East, the eastern regional network of Libraries Connected. It was funded by its library services: Bedford Borough, Cambridgeshire, Central Bedfordshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Luton, Norfolk, Peterborough, Southend, Suffolk, and Thurrock. ACE (Arts Council England) chipped in £30,000.

Case studies

Academics from CreativeUEA and UEA Health Economics Consulting were tasked with estimating the economic value of libraries in the region. The team, led by Professor John Gordon, developed a new tool that ascribes monetary value to various library activities. This is based on their equivalent commercial rates, the savings they create for taxpayers and their projected financial impact on individuals.

The research focused on just three service areas:

• digital inclusion
• children’s literacy
• health and wellbeing.

Through extensive library visits, user interviews and statistical analysis, the authors estimated that a branch library typically provides £1 million a year in value. They then extrapolated the findings to all of England’s 3,000+ libraries, giving a national total of £3.4 billion. Using spending data from CIPFA (Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy) for the year 2021–22, this represents a return on investment of at least six times the cost.

The report includes a range of case studies, including:

• A falls prevention scheme in Hertfordshire with 10 participants, which produced over £8,000 in value each year through savings to health and social care.
• A men’s mental health project in Norfolk that generated value of £60,000 per participant.
• A ‘Knit and Natter’ group in Clacton that generated over £30,000 of value by reducing the impact of loneliness on healthcare, productivity and wellbeing.
• Cambridgeshire’s mobile library service, which produced value of over £300,000 each year for more than 6,000 users.
• A literacy programme for teenagers in Suffolk that generated over £300,000 in value for 650 participants.

Evidence

Professor Gordon says: ‘Our holistic methods demonstrate the very significant economic value of library services, even with a conservative figure. We also identify their benefits for health and wellbeing, digital inclusion and children’s literacy – and the links between them.

‘The innovative tools were developed by UEA researchers in health economics, health sciences, education and computing sciences. They can now help others to gauge and express the value of libraries in precise terms, for investment and to support the many impacts that benefit us all.’

Isobel Hunter, chief executive of Libraries Connected, comments: ‘This should be a game-changer for public libraries and how they are viewed by local and national decision-makers. The evidence is clear: investing in libraries brings huge returns for local communities and the public purse.’

Luke Burton, Director Libraries, Arts Council England says: ‘Rigorous independent research like this is critical in speaking a language that is understood outside the sector.

‘We hope it can help make the case to potential partners and funders locally, regionally and nationally to support libraries in improving the lives of people in the communities they serve and shine a light on the services modern library services provide.’

https://www.librariesconnected.org.uk/news/new-research-reveals-englands-public-libraries-generate-value-%C2%A334-billion-year

From the report…

We have attempted to value the outputs of libraries and their associated activities in monetary terms. There is no single method to measure the value of every output of libraries in how they respond to community needs… We adopted a pragmatic approach to finding the best economic data we could.

The model ascribes financial value to library services based on their commercial rates, the savings created for taxpayers and the projected monetary impact on library users:

• A branch library – £1m worth of value (£600,000-£1.5m, depending on volumes and activities undertaken). These figures are gross, before operating costs, but include only the three domains identified by this report.
• Digital inclusion – benefit value £379 per participant, assuming they continue to secure employment within two years of using these services.
• Health – benefit value £244-£60,000, depending on the intervention.
• Literacy programmes – £279 per participant in any programme.
• Mobile library services – £49.70 per participant, and high total value due to high participation.

From the report…

Participants in our research commented on the intrinsic value of libraries. They felt and recognised that library services evolve to meet the needs of their communities. They articulated many qualities for which they valued library services, including:

• their flexibility and responsiveness to local needs and circumstances
• the variety of services on offer, presented in different modes and formats
• their contributions to partnerships with other services, organisations and community groups, including leadership and innovation
• their provision of space and material resources for voluntary and community-led
  activities which may not otherwise be resourced
• their contribution to learning and building skills, for leisure, education
  and employment
• their outreach activities to engage difficult-to-reach groups in public life and
  social connection

In many ways, and for many people, libraries provide services and resources for living and for living better.

The Library Campaign says…

The full report is a job of work. An enthralling read it is not. It spells out in detail all the things libraries do, what that means, what people think of them. We know all that. It writes up case histories of 10 varied branches (none of them perfect). Familiar to us, again.

The point is that many decision-makers don’t know all that. What they want to know above all is whether libraries are worth the money.

The report includes a mass of information and comments from staff and service users. These cover everything from ‘the intrinsic value’ of libraries as such, to individual activities that find a home in them.

It claims a spectacular pay-back from investment. And it has developed a multi-faceted methodology to prove its case. Reading about it is very hard work.

The exciting thing is that this methodology has been turned into an interactive evaluation tool, in spreadsheet form. It can now be filled in by any library service – to value what it does, and even to predict the benefits of imaginary new elements!

The Economic Valuation of Library Services (EVOLS) tool aims to be simple to use, and flexible. ‘No prior knowledge is assumed,’ the researchers promise. Librarians can use the already worked-out values and costs, customise for their own, add different areas of practice beyond the basic three, put in updates, run different versions for comparison.

Libraries Connected will act as a gatekeeper for access to EVOLS, so that a body of evidence can be built over time. Let’s hope library services find it as easy to use as is claimed. It could be a great working tool. And a great way to argue for proper funding.

Trusted digital partners

New research has found that libraries in England play a vital role in tackling digital exclusion, both as an individual service and – more importantly – as part of a wider ecosystem in communities. 

The research is a collaboration between Good Things Foundation and Libraries Connected, supported by an ACE (Arts Council England) grant of £85,065.

It found that library services are described as positive, trusted, universal and free. And they are playing an essential role in fixing the digital divide, alongside community organisations and others in communities.

Participants talked about libraries being places that people trust and see as places of safety, where they are treated with respect, and therefore more inclined to seek help. They don’t expect to be made to feel stupid, or judged for finding it difficult to navigate information or welfare applications online. Libraries are trusted partners.

Hooks

Libraries have always been places of learning. Participants pointed out that digital inclusion
is no different. Libraries (like other community organisations) are good at finding the ‘hooks’, or reasons to engage with digital, that aren’t to do with accredited learning (although that has its place) but with lifelong learning.

Provision varies between and within library services. Some support is delivered directly; some through partners. Collaboration is key. Partnerships are commonly with the voluntary and community sector, to reach communities or meet specific needs.

Over 80% of library services are ‘at least partly confident’ that they are meeting the right needs. Not everyone feels comfortable using a library; some needs may be hidden.

All have free public wifi, either for everyone or for members only. Three in 10 are early adopters of digital inclusion innovations. Examples from Good Things Foundation include our National Databank (providing free mobile data connectivity for people in need) and Learn My Way (the free digital learning platform to help people learn basic digital skills, used by seven out of 10 services).

Every October, Good Things Foundation runs Get Online Week, with a mass of resources to plan and publicise local digital inclusion services.

There is a strong appetite to evolve further provision. Around 60% of services are developing (or want to develop) schemes to give devices to people for use outside the library or provide free mobile data connectivity.   

Some libraries have seen a growing demand for help with things like online form-filling for health, benefits or council services. 

Limited staff, volunteers, funding and – for some – outdated IT infrastructure were found to limit what libraries can offer.

Yet enabling libraries to play their best role in supporting digital inclusion is vital. In the UK today, around 10 million adults lack foundation-level digital skills; two million households have no home internet access; and at least two million households struggle to afford broadband or mobile data connectivity.

These findings challenge government and local authorities to do more to recognise and resource the essential work carried out by libraries, community organisations and others in supporting digitally excluded people.

Good Things Foundation and Libraries Connected are calling on the government to develop a new digital inclusion strategy for England which recognises, values and funds this critical work.

Isobel Hunter, Chief Executive of Libraries Connected, says: ‘Public libraries are ideally placed to provide the skills, connectivity and equipment that we all need to make the most of our online world.

‘It showcases the really innovative work that libraries are doing – often in partnership with other organisations – to help people access digital services, experiment with new technology and stay safe online.

‘If libraries are to continue closing the digital divide, however, they will need more specialist staff, upgraded infrastructure and more strategic thinking from local and national government.’

Framework

The project has developed a ‘Framework for Digital Inclusion in Libraries’, which they can use to identify whether and how to evolve their offer. It includes a list of resources already available through Good Things Foundation.

Libraries should have a clear digital inclusion strategy, and actively partner with community organisations and others – locally and nationally – to co-ordinate efforts, playing to respective strengths.

Luke Burton, Director, Libraries at ACE said: ‘Digital inclusion has long been a priority across library services. It has come even more to the fore with the increased need to access services and information online, as was highlighted during the Covid pandemic.

‘ACE was keen to fund this research in order to give concrete evidence and recommendations to all sectors. The examples of best practice and the Framework should give practical support and advocacy for public libraries in England.’

Sanderson, so far ...
what we told her

THE LIBRARY CAMPAIGN

The Library Campaign (TLC), established in 1984, is the national charity that aims to advance the education of the public by the promotion, support, assistance and improvement of public libraries through the activities of Friends and user groups. www.thelibrarycampaign.com

THIS PAPER CONSISTS OF…

1. Observations on the current situation, based on our experience.

2. Suggestions for action, based on the principles that

(a) many excellent resources exist already, so the priority should be to get them better known and used

(b) the library sector should have the necessary knowledge, skills and ethos of co-operation to organise this, with some material backing from government.

RATIONALE

We welcome the decision to build on the work of the Taskforce, rather than start from scratch.

We do not expect – or want – fundamental reorganisation, or a re-think of public libraries’ role.

Certain long-standing issues – such as diffused leadership, fragmentation, poor management, poor marketing, staff skills/diversity, declining usage, the need to improve discovery and the online offer – are being steadily addressed. This must continue.

However, the current basic model – national concept, local delivery – has been flexible enough to take on everything from the emergence of the internet to a sudden pandemic.

It is right for local libraries to offer services tailored to their area such as local history, community languages, input from local authors, artists and performers, outreach to special groups. But it is equally important to ensure that ALL services offer a good overall standard in key areas.

The potential of national-level policies, expertise and back-up is a strength (though diluted by CMLs) which should be better exploited.

The development model used by the Taskforce should be maintained: a large and comprehensive advisory group, a small working team or teams and a coherent framework, within which development tasks are allotted to the various library bodies. The advisory group should be expanded to represent library users, for obvious reasons, and Unison, which shares a public service ethos and could contribute much.

FRIENDS/USER GROUPS

These vary. They may support a thriving local service (as in Suffolk), or be set up specially to oppose a threat. They often switch from the first to the second role, and back again, according to circumstance.

The library sector needs to recognise that such groups must be independent. That they do, or may at some future point, disagree with council decisions must not be seen as a reason for not supporting them.

Indeed, it is wholly beneficial to identify any opposition early, so that plans can be explained – or changed – without a damaging political row.

(NB: Many library staff/managers are grateful when the public express opposition to council plans that they are themselves barred from criticising. Our experience shows that council “consultations” are frequently tendentious. Higher standards are needed.)

Local campaigns regularly contribute high-quality research, alternative ideas, publicity, useful skills and strong local support. All these could be harnessed to fortify the local service, instead of being left to emerge only if unpopular decisions are made.

In happier times, Friends/users are good for: local knowledge, contacts & resources; finding local partners; outreach; hyper-local publicity, from putting up posters/delivering leaflets to face-to-face contacts; “stories” for advocacy; clubs and events; help with extras such as gardens, decorations, catering; expertise; feedback; community languages; funding for extras; a starting point/bridge for consultation.

Some services need a decided culture change to see service users as partners rather than passive recipients, and to see co-operating with Friends/user groups as an investment rather than just an extra task.

Proper research is needed to identify the extent and activities of these groups (TLC’s online list is the best available); ways to encourage more to form; ways to support and advance their contribution; sharing of knowledge and resources; possible training – especially for library staff. And funding is needed, of course, to implement the findings.

COMMUNITY MANAGED LIBRARIES (CMLs)

TLC must stress that co-working with the community should NOT extend to handing entire branches to volunteers to run.

TLC in no way blames people who have been forced by local authorities to run libraries, as the only way to save a public building and some kind of service. This has been all too common. But it constitutes a massive, uncontrolled experiment that has never been properly evaluated.

These 500-odd (real total unknown) “libraries” differ wildly in the degree of council support they get, what they offer, how they are financed, whether they can be sustained, the nature of the buildings, the skills of the volunteers, availability of IT etc. Most national research has effectively concluded: “They are all different. We can’t draw any overall conclusions.”

Questions not asked include: Do CMLs really save money, as they are so complex to set up and – experience shows – need support in perpetuity? How do they affect full-service libraries in the same area?

Is the public aware of any difference, and that full-service libraries (should) offer more? What is the experience of librarians who have the job of supporting them? What lessons can be learned? Above all, are CMLs effective as library services, as opposed to community centres?

Overall, CMLs have badly damaged what used to be a major strength of public libraries – a national network, where anyone can walk into any library and be sure of a certain level of service, with professional expertise, professional standards and links to national offers such as the British Library, interlibrary loans and multiple online resources. Now a “library” can be almost anything.

It is difficult to imagine how this damage can be undone, as many local people may have come to value doing certain things their own way.

To reduce confusion, one possibility might be a simple checklist – displayed by both CMLs and council-run libraries – to note what is available, where (more on this later).

Nevertheless, we need to learn from this experience. Some council-run libraries, for instance, may not offer a good level of activities, a sense of ownership or ways for the public to get involved.

ALTERNATIVE DELIVERY MODELS

We have some similar concerns about the proliferation of alternative delivery models, with a number of different structures, delivering whole services on behalf of local authorities.

We have no doubt that much good work has been done. Overall, however, this adds to the fragmentation of the national service and general confusion.

Choosing a model and setting it up is a huge job of work, causing disruption, and demanding special skills and sophisticated decision-making that may not be within the competence of all library managers. Natural links to local councils and local public services have to be re-created.

Some of the benefits – faster, more ‘agile’ working, freedom from council bureaucracy, control of any surplus funding, community involvement – might well be achieved by putting an equal amount of work into changing the culture within the council and the library service.

Access to extra funds not available to local councils, including charity funding, could more easily be achieved by working closely with strong local Friends groups and, where necessary, supporting them in becoming charities themselves.

SUGGESTED APPROACH

The easiest way forward, in current circumstances, is simply to ensure better use of work already done and resources already available.

The library sector could do more to build relevant provision on a national scale. There is a bewildering amount of work by reader development agencies (e.g. BookTrust, The Reading Agency). Intensive use/promotion of a selected list would benefit them and libraries equally.

Established successes include Bookstart, the Summer Reading Challenge, nationally-evaluated Books on Prescription collections. Local library services benefit by sharing high-quality resources at minimal cost, and can forge useful relationships with other public services (health visitors, child care, schools, GPs etc).

There is a case for expanding universal provision of other, already available, schemes and sharing publicity, based on an agreed list of target populations e.g. Chatterbooks, Easy Reads, World Book Day/Night, etc.

NB: National Library Week would be more effective if celebrated by all services. However, many do not join in because they have other priorities in October. If it were re-focused on a single National Library Day, it would be reasonable to ask all services to join in (with those who choose, still free to mount a full week).

PUBLICITY

1. Libraries are of huge value (at low cost) to priorities such as levelling up, family support, digital inclusion, literacy, numeracy, employability, adult education, health information, countering disinformation, community cohesion, preventing social isolation. In particular, the DWP depends heavily on libraries to provide internet access (and costly support) to benefits claimants.

All this is acknowledged only intermittently in national policies, and almost never in material support.

The libraries strategy should send this message loud and clear to the relevant government departments.

A similar message should go to local authorities.

2. Common publicity at national level is badly needed. It should not be left to individual services, creating extra work for them and fragmenting the message. Of course, the more it could be claimed that such and such a service is available at ALL libraries, the better.

It would reach decision-makers and journalists as well as the general public.

This is not the place to design such a campaign, but we note that successful national campaigns have been run by the National Literacy Trust (twice) and The Reading Agency – and then dropped. Retrieving information on these would be a fund of useful, tested ideas.

Elements have included, at different times, major features in the national press, celebrity support, multiple social media, posters, mugs, t-shirts, national awards, a website. LibraryON could be a good foundation, but as just one part of a multi-media national campaign.

NB: Sporadic efforts are also made by CILIP and Libraries Connected – including celebrity posters, a collaboration with the BBC, and campaigns on specific issues such as election information. But these are not coordinated.

Other ideas:

Shared branding – ?a universal logo like the NHS has

A national library card (issued to all adults joining a library and to all children at certain stages (e.g. birth registration, contact with Bookstart, starting school)

CHECKLIST

“Comprehensive & efficient” is as good a phrase as any to describe what a public library service should be. However, the service has suffered greatly by the lack of any legal definition of this term.

The loss of the Public Library Service Standards is much regretted by library users. Wales and Scotland make good use of national standards, with no apparent problems and many benefits.

The problem has become progressively worse as judgements made in judicial reviews have made further decisions on details, creating a jumble of case law. At the very least, this needs to be tidied into a single up-to-date statement.

Faute de mieux, we suggest a common checklist of all that a public library service should offer – so both volunteer and public libraries can tick off what they have, identify gaps and keep alive awareness of libraries’ full potential.

It could state a minimum acceptable level in agreed areas, plus one or two stretch levels, with some kind of kite mark for each. This could be tied in with our other suggestions for a co-ordinated national offer (above).

This is similar to the pattern already proposed by LC for “accreditation”. However, the LC draft is very elaborate, and requires a lot of work. It over-emphasises qualitative and subjective data. It relies on self-assessment, which may not convince anyone outside the circle.

Instead, the proposed checklist would simply gather information on provision. This would be far cheaper, far easier to do using LMS etc, would be far more meaningful to service users and would be a useful tool to define, improve and publicise a coherent national library offer. The LC scheme is currently becalmed for lack of funding. It is a a good time to reconsider its immediate relevance.

NB: we have carried out some research into users’ views of the proposed accreditation scheme, and would be happy to provide this.

The real issue is – how can any agreed conclusions be enforced – or irresistibly encouraged to happen?

A new interactive resource from BookTrust is a simple, accessible way to set out all the benefits that reading can bring to children.

And there are plenty! Not just the obvious ones. BookTrust says: ‘Whilst the evidence base to support the benefits of reading is extensive and growing, wider society often focuses on how reading can improve children’s literacy and academic performance.’

But, it says, ‘supporting children to read [also] has the potential to transform children’s life chances and give them the best start in life. The evidence also highlights how children from disadvantaged backgrounds stand to gain the most from developing a reading habit.’

On these pages, we show you the easy-to-read bits of the resource. But it also has a massive list of academic and peer-reviewed research to support every claim it makes. Download the whole thing and you can click through to the relevant research area for each one.

BookTrust has grouped the benefits of reading into four core themes. Children who read are more likely to:

• Overcome disadvantage caused by inequalities
• Be healthier and happier, with better mental wellbeing and self-esteem
• Do better at school, and make more progress across the curriculum
• Develop creativity and empathy

Diana Gerald, Chief Executive of BookTrust, said: ‘At BookTrust, our mission is to get every child reading regularly and by choice – because, as this new resource shows, reading is proven to have a positive impact on children’s lives and their futures.

‘By reviewing and distilling the evidence base into easily understood and digestible messages, we aim to publish a definitive summary. It clearly sets out how children’s lives can be improved in a wide range of different ways – if they are supported, inspired and encouraged to read.

‘This rich evidence base is the driving force behind our work with partners, to develop improved ways of supporting children on their reading journeys.

‘It also underpins our focus on reaching the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children and families.

‘By sharing this new tool, we hope to spread the message to anyone interested in children’s development and progress. Investing in and supporting children to read is critical to give children, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, the best start in life.’

Let them read
what they love!

‘What do YOU like to read?’ That’s the question I always ask children when I visit schools, which I’ve been doing for 20 years now as a children’s author.

I’m always struck by how diverse their answers are. Every child is different, and likes different things. 

But my experience has shown me that there is a book for every child out there. Because they’re all interested in something – and whatever you’re interested in, whatever you love, there will be books about it. And they will be the books that make you a reader. 

We tend to do the things we genuinely want to do; the things we almost can’t help doing! Without that kind of internal motivation, we might dutifully learn how to execute a skill – but the moment it’s no longer demanded of us we no longer practise it, lose the habit, and gradually forget about it altogether.

I’ve seen this happen to many children who were introduced to reading as something they were required to do, because it would be good for them.

As a child, I was extremely resistant to such approaches. I might be a hard-working author now, but I remember very clearly how suspicious I was as a child of anything that was meant to be good for me. I thought those things were boring, and I just didn’t want to know about them. All my friends shared these feelings.  

But I was lucky enough to grow up in a household where reading was introduced to me as something fun: something you did for your own enjoyment, or for shared enjoyment with others. The adults around me always paid attention to what I liked to read, and efforts were always made to give me a choice of reading matter that tapped into my own interests.

So if I happened to be interested in dinosaurs, I was shown books about dinosaurs. I devoured them, barely even aware that I was reading, just absorbing the material as if by osmosis. If I lost interest in dinosaurs, and became obsessed with football, I would be presented with football books and magazines instead. 

Identity

In all cases, my interests and choices were taken seriously and supported. So reading always seemed like fun to me. It was something I did constantly, because I wanted to. It became part of my identity, and this sense of myself as a reader always stood me in good stead, helping me to do whatever else I wanted to do. 

Because once you can read, you can read anything. Reading is a skill that unlocks so many other skills.  Perhaps that’s why reading for pleasure has the biggest positive impact of any factor on children’s life chances.

So I think we have to help every child find the things that will make them readers – even if we, as adults, can’t always see the value in those things. When I ask kids what they like to read, I always try to share their excitement, even if the book or author they mention is not one that I personally love. 

Because I know their excitement will lead them on to other books and authors, whereas dismissing their choices might crush their identities as readers, putting an end to their reading altogether.

By all means, recommend books to children, and help them find the really good ones. But please: never, ever belittle or dismiss their own choices. Because choice is such a vital part of being a reader; an autonomous, lifelong reader, of the kind we want all kids to be. Independent readers, and independent thinkers, who will then find the other books all on their own. 

And of course there is no one ‘right’ book for every child. There isn’t even one ‘right’ kind of book! We often talk about reading as if novels were the only books, but many children love and respond to non-fiction, poetry, picture books, comics, graphic novels.

Comics

All of these are forms of reading, and all of them are valid in and of themselves.

I went through a period as a child when I read nothing but comics. Concerned adults told me that I was too old for comics; that they would ‘rot my brain’, and I should go back to ‘proper reading’. Fortunately, I ignored this well-meaning advice, and comics taught me visual as well as verbal literacy.  

And when I was eventually ready to return to novels, I had no problem at all picking up where I left off, because I had never stopped reading, even if it wasn’t recognised as such. So I never lost the habit, or my identity as a reader, or the sense that reading was first and foremost about my own pleasure. And without all of that, I don’t think I could have become a writer. 

Excitement

I want to make something very clear, because I think it is often misunderstood. When we talk about reading for pleasure, I don’t mean that we shouldn’t take reading seriously. I mean, it is the most serious thing of all! Reading for pleasure is the pleasure of full engagement of all your capacities, intellectual, imaginative and emotional; of your whole heart and mind and soul. 

It looks like play, and it feels like fun, and it is so pleasurable precisely because it is so important to us. And the very feeling of excitement is what makes us want to go on and read more. 

So, if you want children to love reading – let them read what they love!

Photo: Mel Taylor-Bessent

All sorts of identities

Inclusion is particularly important. No child should ever feel excluded by books. No child should feel that they don’t belong in books, because they never see themselves reflected in their pages, and so reach the conclusion that books are for other people, not for them.

When I was a child, there were no children’s books that dealt with my kind of identity. My family is originally from the Middle East and the wider Muslim world. I have Iraqi, Egyptian, Kurdish and Circassian ancestors. I was born in Lebanon, and lived briefly in Jordan, before I came to live in London with my mum when I was two years old.

Back then, in the 1970s, origins like mine were unusual in Britain. Negotiations around identity, difference and belonging were daily facts of my life, and even my name was an issue. It’s a very ordinary Arabic name, if you speak Arabic, but it’s totally unpronounceable if you don’t. I know this because it gave me so much trouble when I was growing up that I ended up using initials just to make life easier for everyone.

Belonging

My favourite book as a child – still my favourite book today – was Watership Down by Richard Adams. I loved everything about the adventures of those rabbits, but perhaps the thing I loved the most was the fact that the great hero of their mythology was called El-Ahrairah.

This looked a lot like Arabic to me, and I can’t tell you how deep a chord it struck for me. It was the closest I ever came as a child to seeing myself reflected in a book. It felt incredibly empowering; even life-changing.

When I was starting out as a writer, in the 1990s, there still weren’t many children’s books about people like me. In fact, I can’t think of any. So I didn’t think I could interest publishers in a story about a Muslim boy of Middle Eastern background. Instead, in my first book, Varjak Paw, I wrote a story about a Mesopotamian Blue cat. And in Phoenix, I wrote about aliens in outer space.

But by the time I was writing Tyger, the world of children’s publishing had begun to change. Research had shown just how little representation there was in children’s books of characters from minority backgrounds, at a time when nearly a third of school-age children were from such backgrounds.

As I saw publishers begin to seek out more diverse stories, I felt we had reached a moment when I could write about my background more directly, and explore the themes of identity, difference and belonging more deeply.

And so Tyger is set in London, in the present day, but in a strange alternative world in which the British Empire has never ended. Slavery has never been abolished. All foreigners have to live in a crowded ghetto. And almost all animals have been hunted to extinction.

Yet it’s in this world that a young Muslim boy called Adam finds a mysterious, mythical, magical animal: the tyger. And as Adam brings his friend Zadie from the ghetto to meet the tyger too, the tyger shows them that they have powers inside them. They have the power to do all the things they dream of doing; perhaps even to change their world.

Adventure

One of my motivations for writing Tyger was to write an exciting children’s book adventure with main characters who happen to be Muslim, as Adam and Zadie are. I was trying to write a book that I wish had existed when I was a child. It would have meant so much to me to see such a thing.

But I also filled the book with characters of all sorts of identities and beliefs, to make space for all readers to imagine themselves in the story; to feel included in it, as well as to enter other points of view. My highest hope is that children of all backgrounds might read Tyger and come away feeling that they too have the power to do all the things they dream of doing – and to change the world.

It’s been hugely inspiring to witness the new wave of children’s literature that has emerged over the past few years, with much more inclusive books being published, and many more identities, perspectives and experiences being represented.

Vital

It’s vital that publishers continue to publish and publicise these books. And it’s vital that they come to the attention of teachers, librarians, booksellers and all the other adults who help kids to find books.

I really do believe there is a book for every child out there now. If we can help all children to find the books that will engage and inspire them, I feel certain that each and every one of them can read for pleasure, and gain all the lifelong benefits that come from it.

And there is no reason at all why any child should feel excluded or be left behind any more.

Starting them early

Our latest research reveals that almost a quarter of parents and carers on low incomes (23%) are not sharing books with their children before their first birthday.

Where families regularly read and share stories together, this peaks when children are between two and four years old. After age four, families’ daily reading habits start to decline drastically. This decline continues throughout their childhood.

Understandably, busy schedules and the daily pressures of life are a huge factor, with 20% of parents/carers saying they don’t read with their child due to lack of time.

Support

What’s more, 28% say they don’t find reading with their child easy – highlighting the critical need for more support for families when it comes to choosing books and making reading regularly together feel more manageable.

Despite these challenges, 95% of parents told BookTrust they see reading as important for their child.

Establishing a reading habit as early in life as possible means that children from low-income backgrounds can especially benefit from the transformative benefits of reading.

Keith Cullen, family support worker for Splash Surestart in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, says: ‘A lot of our families wouldn’t be in a position to prioritise buying books. We do a lot of signposting for food banks and other help, but buying books is well down on the list of their priorities.

‘For little ones, it is important to start [early] with books, to develop their language and their knowledge. It’s really about getting them reading from an early age.

‘With the books we get from BookTrust, some parents are so surprised to see that babies actually will interact with books. People realise that their child loves hearing stories and no matter what the parent’s reading ability is, they can still talk through the books. It doesn’t have to be sitting there with an encyclopaedia.

‘Even small, fun books help develop that love of books for children.’

Warmth

Liz, a parent from Shropshire, says: ‘I feel like reading is helping my children develop who they are. My son had the most challenges with reading at first, so it was really important that we found things for him to read that interested him. He was majorly interested in anything to do with vehicles, so we found him loads of books about tractors.

‘Things have become so much easier for him. He’s been able to get loads more out of school because it’s not such a chore for him to read the things in front of him. Now, when he reads, he’s not doing it as a task that has been set by us or his teacher. He’s doing it because he enjoys doing it.

‘By involving my baby girl in reading with her older siblings from a young age, hopefully she feels like it’s just a normal part of the day. Then when she goes off to nursery or to school, having a book in front of her is not something that will feel alien to her.

‘Aside from the academic benefits of reading, I think the way it benefits relationships between kids and parents is really key. It’s really nice when you’re able to take five or ten minutes out just to have that time where you’re all sat together with books. The thing you can feel is that warmth from being together. It really helps me as a mum, and I hope it helps them as well.’

Escapism

Louise Wright, a librarian in North Somerset, says: ‘I see how the outcomes for children who enjoy reading are different. They’re more engaged at school. Their emotional intelligence is stronger. The outcomes for kids who read are just startlingly different. Kids who genuinely enjoy reading and want to go out and explore and find the next book.

‘Anything we can do to make reading fun, to make it less of a chore or a tick box exercise – something children know they’ll be measured on at school – is so important. Anything that encourages kids to think about books as fun, as escapism.

‘It’s just so good for everything.’

Diana Gerald, Chief Executive of BookTrust, says: ‘At a time when the disadvantage gap is growing between children from low income backgrounds and their more affluent peers, there must be a greater emphasis and focus on establishing children’s reading habits early on in life, especially for children who stand to benefit most from the life-changing benefits of reading.’

Ready for school

Public libraries can help young children prepare for formal education and address concerns over ‘school readiness’, according to a new poll of primary teachers.

The findings of the poll are included our new briefing note, Ready to Learn, which highlights the crucial role libraries play in helping young children settle in and succeed at school.

There is broad agreement that young children get the most out of school – and enjoy it more – if they are curious about learning, able to co-operate with others and confident in communicating. There is concern, however, that the number of children starting school without these skills is growing.

Growing evidence

Teachers, politicians and education bodies, including Ofsted, have all raised concerns that the pandemic has led to an increase in children who are not considered ‘school ready’. Communication, social skills and literacy have been cited as particular areas of concern.

There is a growing body of evidence that libraries can help children get ‘school ready’ by:

• providing access to a wide range of age-appropriate reading materials,
• hosting high-quality early years activities, and
• promoting a positive home learning environment.

The poll, carried out for us by Survation, reveals that:

• 90% of primary school teachers agree that visiting a public library regularly can help young children prepare for starting school
• 97% say preschool activities such as library ‘rhyme times’ are important for young children’s development, with 66% saying they are ‘very important’
• 97% would advise a parent with a child starting school in September to enroll them with their local library
• 94% would advise a parent with a child starting school in September to take part in the Summer Reading Challenge

The poll also revealed that primary teachers would like to see more action by local and national government to increase pre-school library use. More than 90% would support a national programme to give pre-school children automatic membership of their local library, while 87% believe libraries should work with other services, such as health visiting teams or children’s centres, to help young children transition to school.

Case studies

‘Ready to Learn’ also presents six case studies of library services running successful  programmes targeted at school-starters and their families. These are:

• Newham in London, whose school readiness programme is delivered in partnership by librarians and health visitors.
• North Yorkshire, where the Grow and Learn initiative has seen over 1,000 babies enrolled with their local library at birth registration appointments.
• Bradford Libraries Rhyme Challenge, which last year reached 6,000 children and parents through toddler groups, nurseries and primary schools.
• Leeds, where a Story Bus for under-fives visits a wide range of community and early years centres, and librarians attend local schools’ pre-summer starter meetings with a booklist, reading tips and an invitation to a pre-schooler version of the Summer Reading Challenge.
• Cheshire East, where libraries lend out Let’s Get Ready for School book bags with books and advice from NHS and early years professionals on themes such as building confidence and making new friends.

Wider network

The case studies showcase just some of the most innovative work that libraries are doing to support young children and their families as they make the transition to school.

Responding to the needs of their communities, these libraries are a core part of a wider network that includes nurseries, health visiting teams, family hubs and primary schools themselves. 

We are calling on local authorities to put public libraries at the heart of a co-ordinated multi-agency approach to supporting young children and their families as they prepare to start school.

Post-pandemic

Isobel Hunter MBE, chief executive of Libraries Connected, commented: ‘Helping young children develop the skills they need to thrive at school is a fundamental role of public libraries. That role is more important than ever as we tackle the post-pandemic attainment gap between children from lower-income households and their better-off peers.

‘Our poll shows that teachers are overwhelmingly positive about libraries and firmly believe that they can help prepare children for school. Libraries are exciting, accessible environments that spark imagination, curiosity and a love of learning. They should be at the heart of efforts to ensure children arrive at school ready to learn and flourish.’

Good news from the Reading Challenge!

The Summer Reading Challenge is the UK’s biggest reading for pleasure programme for primary school aged children. Run by The Reading Agency and delivered by public libraries, it aims to address the ‘summer reading dip’ by encouraging four-to-11-year-olds to keep reading over the holidays.

In 2021 and 2022, we piloted a new delivery model. This involved partnerships between libraries and other local authority teams, including education and public health. The goal was to extend the reach and impact of the Challenge for children living with disadvantage, and those who are likelier to experience setbacks with their reading.

Our new evaluation report by Renaisi, supported with funding from Arts Council England, looked at the results from 30 pilot areas in 2022 to identify effective approaches.

Key findings show:

The cross-authority model increased participation and engagement with the library service across the pilot areas. It was effective in reaching pupils living with disadvantage – and those who had not taken part in the Summer Reading Challenge in the past.

• Over 212,000 children took part across the pilot sites – a 29% increase from 2021 and an 11% increase from 2019 (pre-pandemic).
• The proportion of boys participating in the pilot sites was higher than in 2021 and 2019.
• Nearly 47,000 children became new library members – a 94% increase from 2019.
• The average number of new library members per pilot site (1,552) was three times the average across non-pilot areas (486).
• Children read more books, felt more confident reading and enjoyed reading more. This reflects the 2021 evaluation findings: there were statistically significant changes for children who took part in the Challenge, compared with those who did not take part.
• 68% of the schools surveyed agreed that the Challenge reached pupils living with disadvantage; 60% agreed that the Challenge engaged pupils who had not taken part in the past.

The report found that common barriers to reading engagement include parents’ own confidence with reading, or a lack of awareness of local library services.

Through targeted outreach through schools and holiday programmes, the Summer Reading Challenge successfully engaged disadvantaged groups. Pilot areas that were able to give all children automatic library membership increased their uptake by bringing families into libraries. Partnerships formed between libraries and holiday activity providers also enabled access to the Challenge in wider, familiar settings.

Recommendations in the report for those delivering the Summer Reading Challenge include: building on existing relationships and having strong data sharing agreements in place. The evidence also shows that helping libraries to share best practice and providing them with tailored resources also boosts delivery and uptake.

This is strong evidence that a cross-authority model is effective in engaging children living with disadvantage. The pilot demonstrates how cross-sector collaboration and innovative approaches can promote reading and literacy. We’re delighted!

This will help us to shape our plans from 2024 onwards, when we will focus on a wider rollout.

Still a winner
for teens

Children who begin reading for pleasure early in life tend to perform better at cognitive tests and have better mental health when they enter adolescence, a study of more than 10,000 young adolescents has found.

A study published in Psychological Medicine finds that 12 hours a week was the optimal amount of reading. This was linked to improved brain structure, which may help explain the findings.

Reading for pleasure can be an important and enjoyable childhood activity. Unlike listening and spoken language, which develop rapidly and easily in young children, reading is a taught skill. It is acquired and developed through explicit learning over time.

During childhood and adolescence, our brains develop. This makes it an important time to establish behaviours that support cognitive development and promote brain health. However, until now it has been unclear what impact – if any – encouraging children to read from an early age will have.

To investigate this, researchers from the universities of Cambridge and Warwick in the UK and Fudan University in China looked at data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) cohort in the USA, which recruited more than 10,000 young adolescents.

The team analysed a wide range of data including: clinical interviews, cognitive tests, mental and behavioural assessments and brain scans. They compared young people who began reading for pleasure at a relatively early age (between two and nine years old) against those who began later, or not at all. The analyses controlled for many important factors, including socio-economic status.

Mental wellbeing

Of the 10,243 participants, just under half (48%) had little experience of reading for pleasure, or did not begin it until later in their childhood. The remaining half had spent between three and ten years reading for pleasure.

The team found a strong link between reading for pleasure at an early age and a positive performance at school in adolescence – and on cognitive tests that measured factors such as verbal learning, memory and speech development.

These children also had better mental wellbeing, as assessed using a number of clinical scores and reports from parents and teachers. They showed fewer signs of stress and depression, improved attention and fewer behavioural problems such as aggression and rule-breaking.

Children who began reading for pleasure earlier also tended to spend less screen time in their adolescence – for example watching TV or using their smartphone or tablet – both during the week and at weekends. They also tended to sleep longer.

When the researchers looked at brain scans from the adolescent cohort, they found that participants who had taken to reading for pleasure at an early age showed moderately larger total brain areas and volumes, including in particular the brain regions that play critical roles in cognitive functions. Other brain regions that were different among this group were those that have been previously shown to relate to improved mental health, behaviour and attention.

Joy of reading

Professor Barbara Sahakian from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge said: ‘Reading isn’t just a pleasurable experience. It’s widely accepted that it inspires thinking and creativity, increases empathy and reduces stress.

‘But on top of this, we found significant evidence that it’s linked to important developmental factors in children, improving their cognition, mental health and brain structure. These are cornerstones for future learning and wellbeing.’

The optimal amount of reading for pleasure as a young child was around 12 hours per week. Beyond this, there appeared to be no additional benefits. In fact, there was a gradual decrease in cognition.The researchers say this may be because it suggests they were spending more time sedentary and less time at other activities that could be cognitively enriching, including sports and social activities.

Professor Jianfeng Feng from Fudan University in Shanghai, China, and the University of Warwick, UK, said: ‘We encourage parents to do their best to awaken the joy of reading in their children at an early age.

‘Done right, this will not only give them pleasure and enjoyment, but will also help their development and encourage long-term reading habits, which may also prove beneficial into adult life.’

Funders included: Wellcome and the National Institute for Health & Care Research (UK) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

This article is reprinted from the Cambridge University website: https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/reading-for-pleasure-early-in-childhood-linked-to-better-cognitive-performance-and-mental-wellbeing

It is lightly edited by changing punctuation, via https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.

The full article is: Yun-Jun Sun & Barbara J. Sahakian et al. Early-Initiated Childhood Reading for Pleasure: Associations with Better Cognitive Performance, Mental Wellbeing and Brain Structure in Young Adolescence. Psychological Medicine; 28 June 2023; DOI: 10.1017/S0033291723001381.

Now the bad news ...

Our latest research reveals that children’s reading enjoyment is at its lowest level in almost two decades. Over half (56%) of children and young people aged eight to 18 don’t enjoy reading in their free time. In particular, fewer of those who have traditionally enjoyed reading (such as girls and those aged eight to 11) now say they enjoy it.

This is an all-time low since we began surveying children in 2005, and is down 15.2 percentage points from its height in 2016.

Levels of reading enjoyment were found to be weakest for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Over 60% of children on free school meals said they don’t enjoy reading in their free time. We also know from recent exam data (2022 KS2 attainment data) that over a third of such children are leaving primary school without reaching the expected level of reading.

With poverty rates rising, this number is in danger of increasing. A widening attainment gap means that even more children could fall behind their more affluent peers in their education and literacy skills. This can go on to have a lifetime impact.

Our research indicates that children are more likely to read if they have support from role models, access to books that represent them and a quiet space to read in.

Our previous reports cautioned that increasingly visible downward trends in reading enjoyment and frequency should be addressed urgently.

Martin Galway, Head of Schools at NLT, says: ‘Sparking a love of reading can change a child’s life. Today’s results must act as a wake-up call for all who support children’s reading for pleasure.

‘For children going back to school this September, we need to give them every opportunity possible to fall in love with reading – and to give families and schools the support they need to put reading for enjoyment at the heart of every school and home.’

Francesca Simon, best-selling Horrid Henry author, says: ‘This new research hits hard for everyone who understands the huge impact reading has on children. I see it every day in the schools I visit, and in the children benefiting from NLT’s dedicated work.

‘We cannot let a generation of children lose out on the benefits that reading can bring: inspiring the imagination, the comfort and escape of another world, and the very real and impactful literacy skills it supports.

‘We must work together – authors and publishers, schools and families – to make sure every child has safe space and access to books to start them on their reading journey.’

Reading enjoyment:

• Just two in five (43.4%) children and young people aged eight to 18 said they enjoyed reading in their free time. This is the lowest level since we first asked the question in 2005.
• Fewer of those who receive free school meals said they enjoyed reading, compared with their peers (39.5% vs. 43.8%).
• Fewer boys than girls said they enjoyed reading (40.5% vs. 45.3%). The gender gap has halved for those aged eight to 18 between 2005 and 2023. But this drop is largely because of a greater drop in reading enjoyment in girls.

Reading frequency:

• Fewer than three in 10 (28%) young people aged eight to 18 said that they read daily in 2023, matching levels seen in 2022.
• There has been a 26% decrease in the number aged eight to 18 who read daily in their free time since 2005 (decreasing from 38% to 28%).
• Fewer of those who receive free school meals said they read daily compared with those who don’t (24% vs. 28.9%).
• More girls than boys aged eight to 18 said they read daily (30.4% vs 24.9%). Only 21.5% of boys who receive free school meals read daily, compared with 31.1% of girls who don’t.
• However, daily reading levels increased for boys and decreased for girls between 2022 and 2023, whether or not they received free school meals.

Reading environment:

• In the eight to 18 age group, half (52.9%) told us they had been encouraged to read by their parents/carers.Three in five (58.4%) had seen their parents/carers read; one in five (19.9%) had read with their family.
• Nearly three times as many who perceived their reading environment to be supportive said they enjoyed reading, compared with those who perceived it to be less supportive (63.9% vs. 25.4%).

The report is based on 71,351 responses to NLT’s Annual Literacy Survey from young people aged five to 18 in early 2023. It covers reading enjoyment, frequency and attitudes and explores responses by age, gender, socio-economic background and geographical region.

https://literacytrust.org.uk/research-services/research-reports/children-and-young-peoples-reading-in-2023/

Everyone welcome

This spring I was privileged to be part of a unique project. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Crossing the Tees Book Festival, I was appointed Writer-in-Residence and commissioned to work with Photographer-in-Residence, Jo Booth, to capture the thoughts and memories of library users across the Tees Valley.

The result was ‘Everyone Welcome: remembering and celebrating Teesside Public Libraries’. It’s a tribute to public libraries which documents how over time they have become more inclusive, emphasising the important role they continue to play in society.

Books still have pride of place, but libraries have become warm, safe, sociable spaces. They are wonderful places for meeting all kinds of people. There is no charge and no selection criteria. Everyone is welcome.

Crossing the Tees Book Festival is curated by librarians from the five local authorities of the Tees Valley: Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Darlington and Redcar & Cleveland. It is supported by funding from Arts Council England. Author and creative events are held in libraries during one week in June. This year’s festival culminated in the launch of the book, and the sharing of a 10th birthday cake.

Jo and I spent time in libraries talking to library users and staff, sharing artefacts and documents from the archives. The book celebrates the historical significance of libraries and their ongoing importance to library users. It will resonate with readers beyond the local area. We hope that anyone can look at the book and imagine themselves inside a library.

Donkeys

There are still people who believe that libraries are buildings full of books, where you must be quiet. This was far from our experience. Children sang songs, knitters nattered, retirees reminisced. The libraries we visited were hubs of activity.

During the three months of our research, we noted nearly 60 different activities taking place in Teesside libraries. Some were regular activities including rhyme time, Lego club, book and history groups. Others were special events such as the donkeys that visited Middlesbrough Central to celebrate the coronation, a children’s author’s visit to Cockerton or a course on using a slow cooker at Hemlington.

I have always been a fan of libraries, but I realised I had not kept up to date with the range of services on offer. Libraries large and small all offered computer facilities and activities. I was impressed by the range of specialist websites that can be accessed via library computers for free. Amongst other opportunities I could research my family history, practise for the theory driving test or use the BFI site to watch a classic film or TV programme.

In our technological age, some doubt the library as a place of learning. We found people using both computers and books to learn. Their studies ranged from degrees and professional qualifications to finding the answer to random questions that had occurred to them over breakfast. Online courses at all levels are becoming more common. We spoke to students studying online who came to the library to find calm and constant connectivity.

History

Many library users had not been born in the Tees Valley. On moving to the area, whether from another country or another region, the library was somewhere to find out about your new home. Some visitors might be very transient, perhaps popping in whilst on holiday at Saltburn or Seaton Carew. Whatever the length of stay, there was a recognition that a library was where you found out about local sites, traditions and history.

We met people of all ages and backgrounds in the libraries we visited. Some had come specifically to share their memories and views, as the dates of our visits were advertised in advance. Yet the most rewarding encounters were often incidental.

On our very first visit we met Jean Evans. At age 18, in the mid-1960s, Jean had been appointed a library assistant in Middlesbrough. She told us about her duties, which included repairing books, re-shelving sections A and B (Dewey classification had not yet been introduced) and cutting out pictures from out-of-date magazines to use as educational resources.

Shockingly to us, she was sent out by herself to knock on doors and ask for payment of fines or the return of books. The part of the job she enjoyed most, reading stories to children, led her to train as a primary teacher. She has gone on to write books about using children’s stories to teach.

Some of the people we met rarely borrowed a book. Jim came to Stockton Library most days, armed with sandwiches and headphones, to listen to classical music. He spent most of the day reading but returned his book to the shelf before leaving.

Even people who were active in Friends groups were not necessarily borrowers. For them it might be involvement in library activities, or just preserving library services for the next generation, that was important.

The elderly people we met valued their early experiences of libraries, although some had not been allowed into a library until they were ten. They told us how libraries had contributed to their education, allowed them to develop interests and sometimes been a refuge during times of difficulty. Throughout the country library usage rose during both world wars.

Creativity

Although they remembered the libraries of their youth fondly, they believed that libraries were now much more welcoming. They did not miss hard echoing floors, stern librarians and the constant silence. But there have always been libraries that challenged expectations. In Billingham in the 1980s the library had a soundtrack of chatter, provided by the resident chinchillas and zebra finches.

The libraries we visited were hotbeds of creativity. We encountered authors in libraries, making use of writing space and research facilities. Library users sent poems to the project, whilst others spoke about how the library had started their creative writing journey. Expressions of creativity in the library included crochet, 3D printing and watercolour painting.

Our book looks at the organisation of libraries, borrowing mechanisms and how people choose books, noting how these have changed over time. Generally, people now show more respect for books. There are no longer library campaigns to stop people turning a corner, cutting a page or using lipstick to mark their place. However, it was not that long ago that one library found a rasher of bacon being used as a bookmark.

Libraries are no longer places where you have to be silent, serious or studious. They are now hubs of activity, where people collaborate and enjoy themselves. Places where friendships are formed, the vulnerable feel safe and you can stay as long as you like. I feel privileged to have spent time in over a dozen libraries, listening to people express their love for the public library.

Everyone Welcome can be borrowed from Tees Valley public libraries or purchased (£18) from Drake the Bookshop, Silver Street, Stockton, TS18 1SX 01642 909970. https://www.drakethebookshop.co.uk/product-category/crossing-the-tees-2

Big changes for children

The age of gaining a library card has changed radically. The first public libraries were designed for people aged 14 or over. Some, but not all, had juvenile sections.

The 1912 Carnegie Middlesbrough Library did have a Juvenile Library. There were Boys’ and Girls’ Reading Rooms, separated by a screen. Senior school children over the age of 10 could join but according to the Middlesbrough Library Bylaws, this depended upon them ‘obtaining from the Head Teacher a signed form of recommendation’, which had to be countersigned by the young person’s parents before they could borrow books.

They could only borrow one book, and were forbidden from exchanging books with other children. There was also the stipulation that ‘The Librarian shall have power to refuse to issue books to children who may be dirty.’

Tests

When Redcar Library opened in 1937, you still had to be aged over 10 years to join the Children’s Library. The age of admission went down slowly. In 1957 the Evening Gazette reported that Middlesbrough Libraries would reduce the joining age from nine to eight and that all child members could now borrow two books, so that they could have a fiction and non-fiction selection.

Library users over 70 told us they had not used the library until aged seven or eight. Joyce Chesney told me that the joining age of seven was strictly adhered to when she started working at Stockton Library in 1961.

Children were not always automatically given a library card on reaching a certain age. Christine emailed the project to tell us that 60 years ago she had been required to take a reading test. She was about five at the time, so the test might have been because she was so young, and an automatic card might have been issued at age seven.

Jean was told she was too young, but her mother asked her to read to the librarian. Three pages later, the librarian said, ‘I think you can join the library, young lady!’, even though Jean was only four.

Ann told us that she had worked Saturdays and school holidays at Stockton Library in the 1970s. As the youngest member of staff, it was thought that she would also be ‘able to put children at ease’ when they were asked to take reading tests to acquire their library card. She believes that it was because the test was based on pure phonics and staff did not really understand it.

Nonsense

Today there is much debate about the phonic screening test undertaken by seven-year-olds in English primary schools and its use of nonsense words. Ann admits that she manipulated the results to find a way for children to pass. Thank goodness. Perhaps without their library card, they would never have become competent readers.

This story is at odds with the images of Stockton Children’s Library presented on a Playschool programme in 1974. The BBC filmed four-year-old Zoe Connell on one of her regular library visits. The fact that Playschool wanted to film in libraries is an indication that attitudes were changing and younger members were being made welcome…

British Library – the future

Knowledge Matters, our strategy for the next seven years, outlines the ways we want to do more for new and existing audiences, while adapting to the monumental changes that are already impacting both the knowledge industry and the wider world.

The BL began operations on 1 July 1973. It’s easy to overlook that we are, in fact, a comparatively young organisation – roughly contemporary with several of the big software giants, rather than with our longer-established peers in the heritage sector.

As a research library, the growth and take-off of the knowledge economy has presented the most extraordinary opportunities.

Knowledge Matters builds on its predecessor strategy – Living Knowledge. This spanned the period from 2015 to now. It saw us develop and extend our reach through public libraries. The Living Knowledge Network (see BOX) brings together 20+ public libraries with national libraries. The Business & IP Centre National Network now extends to 21 libraries across the UK.

Information literacy

We also grew our digital collection from 0.49 petabytes in 2013 to 2.95 petabytes by the start of 2023, working with the national libraries of Wales and Scotland, and the other UK and Irish Legal Deposit Libraries.

We initiated a number of major capital programmes. These include the renewal of our Boston Spa site in Yorkshire and – in the longer term – establishing a permanent British Library site in the centre of nearby Leeds. 

We also plan to expand our iconic London campus at St Pancras – an ambitious vision for which we now have planning permission.

Along with the continuities, our new strategy addresses a range of major trends in and around the sectors we work in. Collectively these amount to a renewed commitment to serving as broad a public as possible – becoming genuinely ‘for everyone’ in the scope and accessibility of what we offer.

These include the acceleration of technological change, and especially the widespread application of AI (Artificial Intelligence). This necessitates a further step-change in digital transformation to modernise our services and systems, and keep pace with the expectations of our digital users.

In parallel, there’s a more urgent need than ever for libraries to play an active role in fostering information literacy – helping people of all ages and backgrounds to evaluate critically the superabundant (and too often distorted) range of information sources now available online and via social media.

Living Knowledge also recognised the value of high-quality physical spaces, events and collaboration, alongside the ever more interactive digital realm.

Place making

Through the work we have done with local partners in communities, both in St Pancras and Leeds, and also with Living Knowledge Network partners across the UK, we now have a greater understanding of the importance of place-making.

The real places where people live and work are often sources of deep personal meaning and pride. This insight informs both our plans to further develop and sustain our national collaborative networks, and also the major capital programmes. These have inclusive, welcoming spaces at their heart.

In a number of ways, the world is a more unstable and unpredictable place than it was when we published our previous strategy. Economic turmoil, international conflict and the pandemic all pose sudden and extreme challenges to our society and our world.

Great national libraries have a responsibility to act as beacons – to their users and their peers alike. We remain committed to international engagement and the maintenance, wherever possible, of cultural dialogue, exchange and collaboration.

Priorities

All these changes are, of course, taking place against the backdrop of the global climate emergency. It’s right, therefore, that we’re prioritising sustainability in its broadest senses.

Not only does this apply to our own buildings, processes and carbon footprint, but also to the role that libraries can play in offering a trustworthy and accessible source of verified information. This will be essential in addressing this huge societal challenge.

Our overarching mission remains the same: to make our intellectual heritage accessible to everyone, for research, inspiration and enjoyment. A set of key priorities will apply across all of our purposes – whether these relate to custodianship, research, business, culture, learning or international:

• Access, engagement and inclusion – ensure that the services we offer, and the collections we hold, are truly ‘for everyone’.
• Modernise our library services – invest in skills, processes, systems and capabilities to deliver the quality of library services our users deserve.
• Deepen our partnerships – collaborate with libraries and memory institutions of all kinds across the UK and around the world, to achieve more than we ever could by ourselves.
• Sustainability and resilience – reduce our carbon impact and collaborate with partners to create a more sustainable future.
• New spaces, north and south – in Yorkshire and London, deliver new, world-class physical spaces designed to welcome future generations.

If the past five decades of the BL’s development have taught us anything, it is the enduring value of having a vision – combined with planning, expertise, creativity and collaboration.

Although the challenges may be considerable, if we can stay true to those principles and build on the work of our predecessors, we can face the next 50 years with confidence.

https://blogs.bl.uk/living-knowledge/2023/05/launching-knowledge-matters-our-new-strategic-vision-to-2030.html

Photo: Jill Jennings, Wakefield Libraries