The future of local libraries: Session 1

Nick Poole, Chief Executive, CILIPPublic Policy Exchange, 8th June 2016

Our goal for 2020 is to put information and library skills at the heart of a democratic, equal and prosperous society.

Charter: “To work for the benefit of the public to promote education and knowledge through the establishment and development of libraries and information services and to advance information science.”

• Unite all persons engaged or interested in information science• Promote improvement of knowledge, skills, position and qualifications• Promote study and research in librarianship and information science• Promote adequate & appropriate provision of library services• Scrutinise legislation affecting the provision of library and information services

Chartered Institute (CILIP)

Securing Britain’s economic future has to be about more than low tax and loose regulation. We need a more sophisticated model of what drives innovation, investment, productivity & growth.

• A networked ‘innovation infrastructure’ (physical locations with high-quality IT)• An ‘advanced skills’ workforce• A regulatory environment which promotes & protects ideas• Equality of opportunity and mobility of skills• Confidence and informed investment

We’re transitioning rapidly from a c20th Digital Economy to a c21st Knowledge & Skills-based economy, but the majority of policy, regulation and public investment is still focused on boxes & wires. Advanced economies around the world are building libraries to ensure they are prepared for this fresh wave of innovation.

An advanced-skills economy

A refreshed, revitalised & future-proof public library network is fundamental to Britain’s future as a mature, inclusive & democratic economy.

• Universal access to learning• Good books (print & digital), reading & literacy• Access to life chances• Urban regeneration• Rural development• Networked business & enterprise support• Digital skills and Information Literacy• Cost-effective interface to key public services• Access to local & national Government services• Informed & engaged citizenship

Investing in libraries yields the same long-term economic and social gain as investing in roads & rail – it creates the conditions for innovation, enterprise, social cohesion and economic value-creation.

Ambition and opportunity

Like all public infrastructure, securing the long-term benefits of libraries for society & the economy demands active stewardship, informed investment, continuous innovation & forward planning.

Libraries have continued to innovate over the past 20 years, but did not proactively seize the opportunity for structural reform. This left us with an outmoded infrastructure & no clear plan to meet the challenges of:

• Competition from growing leisure & retail sector• Technology-driven disruption • Demographic change• Societal change• Devolution & de-regulation• Austerity

Key challenges

“We believe that a situation in which core performance indicators, and gross throughput, are falling but overall costs are rising signals a service in distress.

We would far prefer to see the re-invigoration of what libraries mean to the public (by improvement of the services) than the rebranding of institutions.

However, it is equally clear to us that libraries must not be over-loaded with objectives or expectations that strain their resources or inhibit the fulfilment of their core functions as outlined above.

Libraries and their staff cannot be expected to constitute a one-stop shop for all a community’s demands for information and advice without the appropriate allocation, and clear demarcation, of resources.”

Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee Report, 2005

Under the 1964 Public Libraries Act, the development and delivery of public libraries is clearly established as a joint responsibility between Local Authorities and Government.

• National Government currently treats public libraries as fully-devolved & has established a practice of disregarding the Secretary of State’s obligation actively to oversee the development of public libraries;

• Some Local Authorities proactively support their library services. Others claim that reductions in centrally-distributed funds & rising costs of social care mean they cannot afford to fulfil their statutory duty to provide quality services;

• The lack of a definition of ‘comprehensive & efficient’ and a meaningful monitoring regime means that Authorities are making ad-hoc decisions about the quality of service provision – resulting in the hollowing-out of services, hasty transition to community ownership & loss of professional staff.

The ‘devolution trap’

In order to improve the current delivery of the public library network to be more comprehensive and efficient, we need:

• A clear balance of local leadership & national stewardship

• Partnership between Authorities, communities & professional librarians

• Evidence-based Local Library Development Plans

• Clear input & outcome-based standards

• A viable plan for ongoing investment in stock, IT, furnishings & estate

• Clustering, consortia, collective procurement & common platforms

• A transparent monitoring regime & targeted support for struggling services

• Standards-based protocols for ‘spinning out’ services where necessary/appropriate

Room for improvement

Which future do we want?Single services? Fragmentation? Partnership?

Independent, self-regulated single library services (eg. for England) delivering against contract

Fully-devolved, based on 2-3,000 ‘independent service points’ delivering integrated services for the Local Authority

National/regional/local partnership to deliver a joined-up library service which benefits from UK-wide brand, national governance and promotion and local leadership

The only way to deliver sustainable library services that fully meet local needs is through open partnership between Authorities, communities and library professionals.

• A successful local library absolutely belongs to its community

• Volunteers have always successfully augmented professionally-run services

• Running an effective, safe and accountable library service is a professional skill

• An organisation that does not deliver the services of a library is not a library

• You can transition a service from being a community library to being a community hub but this is a fundamental change in the nature & purpose of the service

• It is dishonest to suggest that transferring a library out of statutory provision and into community ownership is anything other than a reduction in a Local Authority’s service to the community

‘Community libraries’

• Professional librarians commit to a Code of Ethics which includes safeguarding, protecting the privacy of users and avoiding bias in the provision of access to information

• Transitioning from a ‘comprehensive and efficient’ statutory service to a community-led one is not a lossless process

• ‘Spinning out’ is a legitimate option, but only as an option of last resort and based on evidence of changing need, not financial necessity

• Maintaining opening hours through automated systems still constitutes a reduction in service – it may or may not be legitimate, but cannot be presented as an equivalent service

Guiding principles

Our public library network is a great success story for the UK. It is currently suffering from neglect, lack of leadership & chaotic management. We need:

• A refreshed understanding of the value and impact of a modern library offer

• Proactive structural reform to deliver (and maintain) a network that is fit-for-purpose

• A clear and consistent UK-wide core offer• Libraries open for business• Libraries driving digital capability• Libraries for learning• Libraries for life

• Collective leadership & decision-making across Authority boundaries

• Improved capability in enterprise & marketing for library staff

• Celebrating the successes & supporting the stragglers

• Behavioural insight & rich data not blunt (& inaccurate) footfall

Priorities for a c21st Library Service

The evolving nature of library services – challenges for LA & their partners: Session 2

Nick Poole, Chief Executive, CILIPPublic Policy Exchange, 8th June 2016

Public financing of library services is not a subsidy. It’s an investment in local economies, growth, community and opportunity.

• “89% of respondents support investment in public libraries (even where they are not regular users of the library service)”*

• Libraries suffer a similar challenge to all public services – the costs are specific and in-year whereas the benefits are diffuse, complex and long-term

• The shift from subscription libraries to public libraries was a tremendous act of equality and democratisation – public libraries enjoy one of the most diverse audience profiles of any public service

• Arguably, taxpayer investment is the most transparent & equitable means of securing a universally-accessible service

Funding arrangements for libraries

* Independent MoneySavingExpert.com poll. March 2016

There is no centralised ‘UK library budget’ (or policy) – funding decisions are made by Local Authorities. In planning our way out of the current economic crisis facing public libraries, we need to decide our strategy:

• Revisit our core cost model & identify the appropriate balance between staffing, investment, promotion and stock (to make better use of existing investment)

• Collectivise our buying power to obtain better value-for money

• Strengthen the case for support to Local Authorities to emphasise ROI & cost-savings

• Seek to make a case for direct intervention or support by central Government

• Maximise inward investment & engage with funders to ensure that ‘additionality’ principle does not create yet more pressure on core budgets

• Diversify revenue sources (but not in such a way that resources are diverted from core delivery or we risk establishing the principle of a 2-tier society)

Failing to balance the books

* Independent MoneySavingExpert.com poll. March 2016

Alarm bells were sounded in 1997, 2002 and 2005 that the decline in investment in books and content & increased diversification of library services was triggering a decline in usage.

All evidence suggests that investing in books, IT and furnishings triggers significant increases in repeat usage.

Speaking of books...

Recent work initiated & led by the Reading Agency highlights the transformative value of ‘reading for pleasure’ (ie. self-directed reading and learning not attached to a course of study or particular goal)

• Personal outcomes including enjoyment, creativity and imagination and emotional intelligence;

• Social outcomes including empathy, communication skills, improved parent-child communication &c;

• External outcomes including attainment, numeracy, literacy, knowledge of other cultures and motivation to learn

Engaging children in libraries

Libraries currently run a tremendous range of successful programmes, locally and nationally, to engage children, support their development and promote reading...

Existing programmes - reading

Libraries are delivering a creative programme for children to develop both digital skills and core information literacy

Existing programmes – digital skills

Pilot initiatives in Scotland and Wales have yielded mixed results...

• Giving a child a library card does not automatically make them a library user

• Without investment in programmes, stock & staffing it is purely a symbolic gesture

• Encouraging children to use libraries while allowing libraries to be hollowed out or closed looks confused at best

• There are successful programmes that are struggling to find sustained investment – arguably better to invest in existing success

A library card for every child

“Libraries play a key role in every part of the digital journey from access and inclusion to information literacy and skills development”

Colin Cook, Head of Digital Public Services and Business Transformation, Scottish Government

And yet...

Libraries in the ‘digital age’

The Peoples Network stands as one of the most successful public policy interventions in recent history in developing digital capability and skills.

• 30,000 internet-connected terminals in 4,000 libraries

• Significant increase in usage by key demographics (teens/young adult)

• 68.5m hours of supported internet access per year

• 11.7m user sessions in one year (2003)

• 16% of the UK population had used the internet in a public library in past 12 months

• Digital skills sessions for users aged 50-70 across the whole of the UK

• Significant increase in library usage by people categorised as ‘excluded’

• Delivered on-time and under-budget

A new ‘Peoples Network’?

Times have changed, and modern users demand high-quality, easy-to-use online services that flow effortlessly across devices and platforms. Key challenges in securing a compelling digital offer for libraries:

• Fragmentation and barriers to engagement – library services are buried in Local Authority websites which inhibits the establishment of a compelling online identity

• Core audience proposition – an ‘iTunes for books’ or ‘plan a trip to the library’? A destination or a content channel?

• Multiple platforms, standards and protocols

• Governance – no clear ‘owner’

• Financing – initial capital/development costs too high to be funded at risk by the taxpayer

• Market failure – cost of content is increasing where budgets are decreasing

A new ‘Peoples Network’?

The creation of an attractive, consumer-grade digital proposition for public libraries is fertile ground for partnership between stakeholders – libraries, users, publishers, intermediaries and suppliers.

• Cost of content is set to diminish (buying power)

• Quality of content is set to spike in next 2-3 years

• Cost of ownership is far lower, requiring less at-risk investment

• Need to create a culture of innovation & experimentation

• Bring platforms rapidly to market, scale and iterate

Potential solutions...

Nick PooleChief ExecutiveChartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals (CILIP)

Nick.poole@cilip.org.uk

http://www.twitter.com/NickPoole1

www.cilip.org.uk

Thankyou!