Corporate report

Leadership for Libraries Taskforce: six month progress report (April - September 2016)

Published 1 December 2016

1.  Introduction

Public libraries are a unique and valued statutory public service run by local councils in England. They reach and support the whole community regardless of age, gender, socioeconomic status or educational attainment. Nearly 60% of the population holds a current library card; in the year 2014/15 alone, the 3,000 or so libraries in England received 224.6 million physical visits: that’s more in total than visits to Premier League football games, the cinema, and the top 10 UK tourist attractions combined.

Libraries and their staff don’t provide a service that sits in isolation; they support other public services that are vital for local and national prosperity and wellbeing. They not only encourage a love of reading, but also provide business support, build digital skills, organise cultural activities, host community events, offer a quiet space to study, and support people to live happier and healthier lives. All this builds on one of the most important strengths of libraries; the trust people have in them to provide objective and accurate information and guidance in a confidential and even-handed way.

Local government in England spent around £762 million on libraries in 2014/15 - just over 27 pence a week per person, which equates to under 1% of England’s local government net expenditure - a relatively small spend given the huge impact they have on their communities and the outcomes they help deliver.

However in common with other parts of the public sector local government funding is under pressure and almost every aspect of modern life is changing rapidly. Shopping, learning, leisure and entertainment have evolved considerably from a decade ago, and all expect to change radically over the next few years. Libraries aren’t immune from these challenges.

2. Who we are and what we’ve done between April and September 2016

Following a recommendation in the Independent Library Report for England (published December 2014), the Leadership for Libraries Taskforce was established by the chair of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Culture, Tourism and Sport Board and the Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy in March 2015. Annex A sets out background information on the Taskforce.

The Taskforce publishes progress reports every 6 months. This third report covers April to September 2016. It includes:

• background on the development of Libraries Deliver: Ambition for Public Libraries in England 2016 to 2021 and the consultation process supporting this
• information on what we have done to start taking forward the actions we identified
• our proposed areas of focus over the next 6 months

Annex B lists meetings with government departments and partners, and library visits.

We undertake a wide variety of activities through collective and individual member actions. This unified approach has helped build stronger links in the library sector, as well as making better use of resources to promote the continuing value of libraries.

Our main project in this period has been consultation on Libraries Deliver: Ambition for Public Libraries in England 2016-2021 which sets out the Taskforce’s vision for public libraries in England. We sought views on our draft document between 23 March and 3 June 2016 and took these on board in drafting a final version. Further detail is covered in section 3 below.

Although the report was completed and published on 1 December (outside the formal reporting period covered by this report) for ease of reference we have included commentary on that process and the report’s contents, to cover all the document production activities in one place. We’ve also started to take forward some of the actions that we identified in the document; this activity is set out in Section 4.

3. Libraries Deliver: Ambition for public libraries in England 2016 to 2021

3.1 Developing a vision for public libraries in England

In November 2015, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) asked the Libraries Taskforce to develop Libraries Deliver: Ambition for Public Libraries in England 2016-2021, setting out a vision for the next 5 years and providing a framework to stimulate and inform discussion about library services at local and national levels. To develop a draft document, we drew on the knowledge of Taskforce members, information gained from visits to libraries, meetings with library staff and stakeholders, and previous reports such as the Independent Library Report for England and Envisioning the library of the future. We then conducted a wide-scale consultation, launched in March 2016.

3.2 Consulting on the vision

Our public consultation on the draft Libraries Deliver: Ambition for Public Libraries in England 2016 to 2021 ran for just over 10 weeks, from 23 March until 3 June 2016. We canvassed views from a wide cross-section of people to inform the development of the final document.

People shared their views with us in a number of ways:

• an online questionnaire
• email or post
• attending one of 13 consultation workshops run across England, open to anyone to attend: plus an LGA-hosted session specifically for councillors
• tailored sessions run at major sector events (such as the Society of Chief Librarians (SCL) annual conference) and meetings (such as LGA Culture, Tourism and Sport Board)

Both individuals and organisations responded to the consultation, and we’re very grateful for their input. These included councillors, officials in central and local government, library services, friends groups, library partners and suppliers, campaign groups, library users and non-users. Further details on how we undertook the consultation can be found on the Taskforce blog. A detailed summary of the consultation responses we received forms an annex to the final document.

3.3 What the document covers

Our final document sets out the context that libraries operate within. It looks at how they are adapting and developing their offer in response to these changing needs and circumstances, and will need to do so in future. It describes the Taskforce’s vision for public library services in England and details the 7 Outcomes that the public library network supports:

• cultural and creative enrichment
• enhanced reading and literacy
• increased digital literacy and access
• helping everyone achieve their full potential
• healthier and happier lives
• increased prosperity
• stronger, more resilient communities

In particular, it explores:

• how leaders of councils and other public services can invest in libraries to achieve their strategic objectives around the future health, well-being, strength, happiness and prosperity of local people and communities
• how libraries can innovate and adapt to meet users’ and communities’ changing needs
• how strong local leadership of libraries can be complemented and supported by nationally co-ordinated initiatives
• ways to support libraries’ longer-term resilience and sustainability by looking at new delivery models and financing approaches

The document was published on 1 December (it was originally due to be published prior to the summer recess but was delayed by changes within government). It’s endorsed and supported by central government and the LGA (on behalf of local government).

3.4 How we’ll communicate the vision

The document has been published on GOV.UK, both as an html version, and as a PDF. We have also produced a 4 page brochure version, intended to introduce the document, highlighting priority actions and including some explicit requests. We intend this to be used to make the case for libraries, to start conversations and provide context.

We’ve promoted the document via our social media channels, and encouraged each Taskforce partner to do the same. We have written out to local authority chief executives, senior councillors, MPs and peers to draw their attention to the document, and will be seeking future opportunities to promote it further through events.

3.5 Our action plan

Our document is accompanied by an action plan, saying what the Taskforce will contribute to make our vision a reality. However, recognising we can’t achieve all this on our own, the action plan also includes challenges to both central and local government.

The action plan has 6 main headings:

• making the case for libraries
• raising public awareness of what libraries have to offer
• identifying and showcasing good practice and supporting innovation
• supporting workforce development
• supporting the development of the digital offer of libraries
• monitoring and reporting on progress

We highlight 9 priority actions for the Libraries Taskforce, as well as providing details of the full list of 25 actions that the Taskforce have collectively signed up to delivering (these are also embedded in boxes throughout relevant sections of the document).

We’re also challenging central and local government to deliver a range of actions. Clearly these can only be challenges as we can’t mandate them; however we’ll look for opportunities to incentivise delivery and also continue to showcase good practice.

We’ll structure this and future progress reports to track progress against these action areas. And we’ll review and refresh the document and its accompanying action plan annually.

4. What we’re doing in our main action areas

4.1 Making the case for libraries

The communications sub-group was formally constituted following the Taskforce meeting in March. Their first meeting was held in April, during which 13 group members shared their ideas on a draft workplan and how they might be able to contribute. A subsequent call (in May) focused specifically on planning for the publication of Libraries Deliver: Ambition.

One of the important themes in our vision is challenging both central and local government, and other public service partners, to consider ‘libraries first’ when they want to deliver services into communities. Making a compelling case for investing in libraries to do this needs a strong evidence base, both qualitative and quantitative. Libraries Deliver: Ambition highlighted that we believe libraries need a core set of data that can be consistently and regularly collected (preferably via automated mechanisms), and openly published. Libraries can then use this to:

• identify, understand and meet user needs better
• support strategic planning
• identify areas for improvement
• manage day to day operations in a more effective and timely way
• advocate about the value of library services to secure future investment and encourage increased usage

Once the evidence base is available, the communications sub-group will be instrumental in planning how best to ensure that all who need it are aware of it, know how to use it, and that it is used consistently. The action plan includes ensuring a core set of messages is available and the planning work around Libraries Deliver: Ambition started to look at what would be needed.

We’re taking our first steps in establishing this consistent core data set covering all library services in England. Previously there has been no consistent and agreed set of data on libraries across England; which are statutory, how they are delivered, and basic information on opening hours, staffing arrangements, etc. This gap has led to confusion because there are different figures being quoted, based on varied definitions and time periods. We have been collating information from all library authorities and will be publishing this and updating it regularly. We’ll also develop and extend it further over time.

We have also started considering how we can strengthen the evidence base we have about the impact library services have on the lives of individuals and communities. As we move towards local authorities and other partners commissioning libraries and paying them on achievement of outcomes, this becomes increasingly important. Whilst some useful work has already been produced (for example, Arts Council studies articulating libraries’ contribution to achieving health outcomes), we’ll be looking to extend this. Establishing what outcomes are achieved often requires qualitative data which can only be provided through sound, survey-based research. This can be resource intensive and time consuming to collect at a local level, so we’ve started looking at whether we need to commission any further outcomes research on an England-wide basis that can be used by all library services.

Our vision document sets out 7 Outcomes, along with statements about where we’d like to be against each in 2021. We’ve started to work on a set of progress indicators that we can use to track how we’re doing, which we’re aiming to publish in early 2017.

4.2 Raise public awareness of what libraries have to offer

The Taskforce owned channels - primarily the website, Twitter, the Taskforce blog, and flickr - have been maintained throughout the period, with growing traffic and engagement on all. The website is the home for all official information: minutes of meetings, published reports and the list of Taskforce members, while the blog is a more flexible channel, enabling the Taskforce team both to keep audiences up to date and also to publish posts from guest authors that contribute towards the aim of raising public awareness. Twitter is used to publicise Taskforce activities and engage with people who have an interest in libraries: both responding to comments and amplifying others’ messages.

During August and September, the Taskforce ran a series of blogs which illustrated the 7 Outcomes identified in the Ambition document. These launched the set of icons which are intended to be used consistently to identify future material, and pulled together examples of a wide range of activities from Taskforce partners and individual library services. The blogs were supported by a number of additional case studies and guest posts. Overall during the quarter, the blogs have received almost 24,000 page views, with the most popular posts being about the new Libraries minister, reading and literacy, and the Libraries Deliver: Ambition consultation.

The Taskforce and its members supported a range of activities to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. The 9 SCL regional groups in England have been running arts-based events, Celebrating Shakespeare 2016, over the Summer and Autumn. Each group was allocated an artist commissioning budget from the Arts Council England grant awarded to SCL and partners. Selfie Saturday - a mass-participation event on April 23 which asked people to pick a quote, take a selfie, and share it via social media - involved at least 85% of English library services, generating more than 6,000 tweets to #shakespeare16. It was shortlisted in 2 categories of the Public Sector Communications Awards 2016 - the Digital Campaign of the Year and Low Budget Campaign of the Year.

The Taskforce supports BBC’s #Lovetoread programme which aims to promote reading for pleasure, particularly in public library settings. This involves partners such as The Reading Agency, BookTrust, the National Literacy Trust, SCL and the Scottish Library and Information Council. Over the summer, there was a season of children’s books on the BBC, Awesome Authors, with programming marking the Roald Dahl centenary. This also tied into this year’s Summer Reading Challenge, ‘The Big Friendly Read’, an important way for public libraries throughout England to engage with the campaign. Work was underway to prepare for the November #Lovetoread weekend when the BBC and partners sought to inspire everyone everywhere to read something new.

4.3 Identifying and showcasing good practice and supporting innovation

One of the actions which received a particularly positive response during our consultation on Libraries Deliver: Ambition was producing a toolkit to help library authorities carry out longer-term service planning that involves their communities. Undertaking this process would help them take important decisions about the best strategy to provide an effective library service that’s sustainable in the long-term within a challenging context. We’ve started to develop this toolkit, based on established sector good practice, case studies and research, and the 7 design principles we published in our document. We’ll publish a prototype for use from early 2017.

Once library services have established community needs, they need to consider how best to deliver library services to meet these. There are a range of different delivery models already being used across England. Choosing the right one for a local area is a complex process - we are working to ensure that councils have robust evidence available to help in this decision making. During 2016 to 2017, DCMS has committed to provide dedicated support for library services to explore and, where it is right for them, spin out into a public service mutual model. It will build on the experience of trailblazing library services, and previous government support programmes. Longer term, DCMS will also discuss with the sector the benefits of setting up a more permanent support body at national level to assist shifts to new ways of working; for example, franchising support services to enable economies of scale and speedier spin-out.

We’re also commissioning research into the operation of community managed libraries to inform library authorities who are considering this as a delivery option. This was difficult to do previously as community managed libraries hadn’t been in existence long enough to meaningfully evaluate their effectiveness and longer-term sustainability. However, we now have some that are 3-5 years old, so we’re carrying out external evaluation which we’ll use to complement and enhance the Community Libraries: good practice toolkit and case studies.

Councils have historically been the primary funding source for public libraries. But libraries increasingly need to diversify their funding: generating additional income streams to help support existing services and to develop new ones. Building on the success of the £2.6 million Wi-Fi in Libraries Programme, DCMS and the Taskforce are setting up a £4 million Libraries: Opportunities for Everyone fund (administered through Arts Council England) to pilot innovative activities in public libraries that will support all parts of society. Funded projects will tackle local needs and priorities, but could particularly support schemes in disadvantaged areas.

During our consultation exercise, there was strong support for the development of a sector-led benchmarking framework that libraries could use for self-assessment, planning and improvement. We’ll use outcome-focused descriptions to set out what an excellent library or library service looks like. We’ve started work on developing a prototype that will be ready for consultation and testing in spring 2017.

SCL’s Universal Offers have been a driver for significant innovation. Increasingly they provide a framework for partnership development at a national level, which is delivering tangible benefits to library services within local communities. SCL secured £300,000 per annum for the next 2 years from Arts Council England to enable them to build on and embed the Universal Offers across the library network. They are now developing a new Cultural Offer, which is scheduled to be rolled out in early 2017.

The Taskforce and its partners are building on and promoting the Reading Well Books on Prescriptionprogramme, highlighting its benefits to key healthcare partners. This programme is led by SCL and The Reading Agency as part of the Universal Health Offer. A new list for young people with mental health issues was launched at the Wellcome Trust in mid-April. SCL and The Reading Agency are also working with the Wellcome Trust to scope research to provide better evidence on the impact of Books on Prescription. Wellcome Trust hosted an SCL library secondee for 6 months. The secondee identified a range of potential library projects and programmes which Wellcome could support.

The Reading Agency launched a project in September, to provide reading activities for older people thanks to a £2.1 million grant from the Big Lottery Fund. Through the ‘Reading Friends’ project, the Reading Agency will organise reading groups, author visits and book chats for older people, including people with dementia and their carers. It will use a befriending model and work with partners to provide those who are vulnerable and at risk of isolation with opportunities to engage in shared reading activities.

In September the British Library formally launched its Living Knowledge Network. This is a nationwide partnership between the Library and 21 major libraries in cities and towns across the UK. The Network will combine local expertise and national organising power to share knowledge, resources and activities.

In February 2016 the Taskforce and the Ministry of Justice started to support a 3 month pilot across a number of libraries in 2 London boroughs to provide dedicated work spaces (commuter hubs) for use by civil servants. There was considerable interest from civil servants from a range of departments in using these libraries and a growing demand to locate other suitable sites. MoJ are holding discussions with 5 councils with a view to extending the availability of touchdown space for staff from the early 2017. Discussions have also begun with the National Citizen Service programme, to explore how libraries might be used to provide venues for them to work within and to encourage and support young people to participate.

LGA and the Arts Council agreed an improvement offer for 2016/17, including peer challenges and leadership programmes for elected members. They also agreed an updated Shared Statement of Purpose. This sets out their shared vision for the contribution that arts and culture, including libraries, can make and how they’ll work together to realise it.

The Taskforce has continued to promote the good practice guidance set out in its 2 toolkits: Libraries shaping the future: good practice toolkit and case studies and Community libraries: good practice toolkit and case studies as well as showcasing innovative projects through regular blogging. The toolkits have been viewed almost 15,000 times, and the supporting case studies almost 7,000 times. We also provide advice and support to individual library services when they approach us for help or guidance.

4.4 Supporting workforce development

To transform public library services across England, we need to harness the talent and creativity of the people who work in them - both library staff and volunteers. We also need to continue to identify and support the learning and development needs of councillors, commissioners, senior council officers and the board members of new library delivery bodies (such as mutuals and trusts). Equipping everyone involved in public libraries to understand the 7 Outcomes that we’ve identified in the Ambition document and deliver them successfully, leading and succeeding in a changing environment, is a vital investment.

The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) and SCL are leading for the Taskforce on developing a Public Libraries Skills Strategy for England. They’ve invited Taskforce organisations to participate, alongside representatives from other library sectors. There’s also a wider Reference Group, who’ll be consulted virtually. Research has been completed to bring together the context for future skills development for discussion by the Steering Group. They’re aiming to publish the strategy by March 2017.

4.5  Supporting the development of the digital offer of libraries

Through the collective efforts of Arts Council England (who administered the funding announced in Budget 2015) and local councils, over 99% of public libraries in England had free and upgraded Wi-Fi access in place for users by April 2016; Arts Council England have undertaken and published research into the benefits gained from its use. The Taskforce has continued to work with a variety of partners to ensure this Wi-Fi access is used to provide a range of digital support to communities across England. Partners include Barclays; BT; Halifax; and the BBC. Library staff are continuing to develop new skills and confidence around working with technology, coding and digital making. The number of Code Clubs in libraries has risen to 261; 191 of these clubs have registered since the first SCL-run Cracking the Code event in London in early March 2016.

Library services have provided internet access and support to help people get online (digital inclusion) and use online government services (assisted digital) for many years now. In May, it was announced that SCL, supported by Westhill Commercial, the Libraries Taskforce and the Arts Council, had been successful in its bid to get on the Government Digital Service’s Digital Training and Support Framework. Public sector organisations will be able to use it to compare and buy digital inclusion training services and assisted digital support. Libraries will be able to bid collectively through SCL for mini competitions to provide these services (either national or regionally, depending on the buyers’ requirements), receiving payment for this important work.

SCL published a report, commissioned from BiblioCommons, on the potential for a Single Library Digital Presence (SLDP) in January 2016. This examined the potential for public libraries across the country to develop a single digital presence offering existing and potential users of libraries a more engaging interactive digital experience which could help retain existing users, attract new ones and change the perceptions of public libraries. The Taskforce’s SLDP Steering Group has now had 2 formal meetings, plus a workshop session discussing a prototype demonstrator developed by the BBC. It has discussed the vision for an SLDP (including the need to articulate potential benefits accruing to suppliers, investors, library services and end-users) and the core principles that any solution would need to work within (for example aligning to the broader ethics of librarianship; maintaining a reputation for safety and neutrality; and adhering to common technology standards).

The Steering Group recognises the need to identify not only technology and governance for the platform, but also a viable and sustainable business model. The group has begun discussions to stimulate and attract new ideas from the marketplace on the best way to develop, operate and fund an SLDP. Most of the main suppliers belong to the Book Industry Communication group (BIC), which brought its members together to discuss options with the Taskforce on how they could assist with SLDP and other digital developments to support libraries.

The Taskforce has been facilitating the consideration of options to ensure authors and other rights holders are appropriately remunerated for the remote lending of e-books by public library services. During the summer, DCMS consulted with representatives of libraries, publishers, booksellers, authors, and the Public Lending Right office at the British Library. The Taskforce chief executive and DCMS officials met with representative groups in September to discuss the options and consider necessary next steps, to support advice for Ministers. DCMS is also taking into account implications emerging from the relevant case considered by the European Courts of Justice (CJEU), about the application of the Rental and Lending Rights Directive to e-lending. In June 2016, the Advocate General to the CJEU issued an interim opinion, with final judgment by CJEU delivered on 10 November.

4.6 Monitoring and reporting on progress

The Taskforce will be monitoring progress on the action plan set out alongside Libraries Deliver: Ambition at every meeting. We’ll continue to publish these narrative progress reports (including updates on the Outcome Progress Indicators) to Ministers and the LGA’s Culture, Tourism and Sport Board every 6 months and publish them on GOV.UK.

5. What we’ll achieve in the next 6 months

By the time we next report, we’ll aim to have:

• set up a joined up programme of promotional activity
• defined what will be in our core data set and progress indicators for the 7 Outcomes
• produced prototype guidance on how to conduct longer term service planning
• developed a sector-led benchmarking framework prototype
• published a public library skills strategy
• launched the Libraries: Opportunities for Everyone innovation fund
• provided targeted advice and support for library services choosing to explore alternative delivery models (such as public sector mutuals)

6. Annex A Information on the Taskforce

6.1 Background and structure

Information on the background and structure of the Taskforce was set out in the first 6 month progress report. Our Terms of Reference were updated in May 2016.

Taskforce priorities for 2015/16 were:

• digital enablement – including the provision of universal Wi-Fi access, e-lending, digital shared network and quality content
• libraries adding value – making stronger, strategic links between libraries and other policies such as health and wellbeing and business and economic growth
• best practice – helping local authorities and library services through sharing and linking to existing/new best practice and building sustainable long-term models for libraries/community hubs
• workforce development – building the skills needed to help the library workforce deliver these priorities and to take on new roles as part of wider service provision
• communications – promoting the value of libraries, highlighting innovation and good ideas

Following publication of the Libraries Deliver: Ambition document, our priorities are now outlined in its Action Plan:

• making the case for investment in libraries: advocacy
• raising public awareness of what libraries have to offer
• identifying and showcasing good practice and supporting innovation
• supporting workforce development
• supporting development of the digital offer of libraries
• monitoring and reporting on progress

6.2 Taskforce meetings

Since the last progress report, the Taskforce has held the following meetings:

• 26 May - DCMS, London
• 20 July - Manchester Central Library
• 30 September - Public Health England, London

6.3 Funding for the Taskforce team

DCMS provided initial £250,000 funding for 2015/16 to set up and support the Taskforce. Continued funding of £500,000 per year for 2016 to 2017 through to 2019 to 2020 was confirmed as part of the DCMS Spending Review on 25 November 2015. This covers the costs of the 5 core staff and Taskforce administrative costs (eg. for the consultation workshops the Taskforce ran). The Taskforce is working to identify other possible funding and resources to support the key priorities, including through discussions with Foundations and Trusts.

Taskforce staff

The Taskforce team comprises 5 full time staff:

• chief executive
• PA and administrative support
• policy and secretariat manager
• communications lead
• programme and project manager

The Taskforce team was supported by one full time library secondee up to the end of April - Darren Smart from West Sussex - to support work on digital projects.

We also had some part time (unpaid) library secondees contributing to our work:

• Nick Partridge (Sheffield) working one day a week from May 2016 for 12 months
• Tracey Cox (Solihull) working on the communications sub-group with our comms lead, from June 2016 for 6 months
• Stephen Howell (Durham) working on the good practice toolkits, from June 2016

They are also joined by Stephen Heywood (recently retired) who is helping us on the data work a few days a week.

We also hosted Margaret Craft, a library science graduate student from the iSchool, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA, who spent some of the summer studying with the Taskforce team in London.

The Taskforce is very grateful to them for their insights and assistance, and to their organisations for agreeing to their release.

7. Annex B: Meetings, visits, and presentations

7.1 Meetings

The chief executive and chair have met with and/or requested meetings with various government departments at official and ministerial level and with a wide range of individuals and organisations from partner organisations, the library sector and beyond. This is to highlight the value of libraries and the work that libraries are already undertaking to support various policy and outcomes work. These meetings also seek to identify future opportunities for collaboration and options for library investment. Some of the most important meetings held between April and the end of September were with:

• Creative United
• Design Council
• London Library Consortium
• Barclays
• BBC - Love to read
• Creative Industries Federation
• Doteveryone
• Enterprise Nation
• Greater London Authority
• Library campaigners
• LocalGov Digital
• Local Government Association
• Locality
• My minifactory
• NHS England
• Paul Hamlyn Foundation
• The National Archives
• The Reader
• Tech for good
• Tinder Foundation
• Wimbletech
• Workers Educational Association

7.2 Visits

The chief executive and Taskforce team and members have visited a range of local authorities and libraries to get a better understanding of the different models and services they provide to their communities. These have included discussions with the library workforce and users, as well as meetings with senior councillors and local authority chief executives and directors, to:

• promote what libraries do to support delivery of their services and agendas
• highlight the range of delivery models possible for library services
• identify and share good practice
• seek views on how the Taskforce can help reinvigorate public library services

We’ve visited the following library authorities over the last 6 months:

• Buckinghamshire - ministerial visit
• Brighton
• Cambridgeshire
• Coventry
• Cumbria
• Devon
• Dorset
• Hampshire
• Hounslow
• London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
• Manchester
• Merton
• Middlesbrough
• Newcastle
• Norfolk
• Nottingham
• Oxfordshire - ministerial visit
• Slough - ministerial visit
• Solihull
• Somerset
• Staffordshire
• Warwickshire
• Wokingham - ministerial visit
• York

In addition to the consultation workshops on the Ambition document, the chief executive and / or chair have given presentations at the following conferences / events:

• CILIP Cymru Wales 2016 Conference - 26/27 May 2016
• Delegation of library CEOs from the provinces of North Holland and South Holland, Netherlands - 3 June 2016
• Public Policy Exchange - Future of Local Libraries - 8 June 2016
• The Society of Chief Librarians Seminar - 9/10 June 2016
• LGA Culture, Tourism & Sport Board - 20 June 2016