Corporate report

Minutes of the tenth meeting of the Leadership for Libraries Taskforce

Published 21 October 2016

Meeting date: Friday 30 September: 13.00 to 16.00

Location: Public Health England offices, 133-155 Waterloo Rd, London SE1 8UG

Attendees

• Dr Paul Blantern (Chair) – Chief Executive: Northamptonshire County Council
• Kathy Settle – Chief Executive: Libraries Taskforce
• Brian Ashley – Director, Libraries: Arts Council England
• Rebecca Cox - Principal Policy Adviser: Local Government Association (LGA)
• Jane Ellison – Head of Creative Partnerships: BBC
• Felix Greaves – Deputy Director of Science: Public Health England (PHE)
• Neil MacInnes – President: Society of Chief Librarians (SCL), Strategic Lead – Libraries, Galleries and Culture, Manchester
• Nick Poole – Chief Executive: Chartered Institute of Librarians and Information Professionals (CILIP)
• Iain Varah – Chief Executive: Vision Redbridge Culture and Leisure and Immediate Past Chair: Chief Cultural & Leisure Officers Association
• Liz White – Head of Strategy Development: British Library
• Sue Wilkinson – Chief Executive: The Reading Agency
• Simon Richardson – Head of Libraries: Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
• Sheila Bennett – Policy and Secretariat Manager: Libraries Taskforce
• Julia Chandler – Communications Lead: Libraries Taskforce

Observers/Secondees

• Steven Heywood - Taskforce Team Secondee
• John Newton - Chief Information Officer, PHE

Apologies

• Mike Cooke – Chief Executive: London Borough of Camden
• Roly Keating – Chief Executive: British Library
• Pat Ritchie – Chief Executive: Newcastle upon Tyne City Council
• Dominic Lake – Deputy Director of Arts, Libraries & Cultural Property: DCMS
• Charlotte Lane – Programme and Project Manager: Libraries Taskforce
• Foluke Oshin – Business Support: Libraries Taskforce
• Nick Partridge - Taskforce Team Secondee: Sheffield

Reminder of Taskforce priorities to September 2016

• Digital enablement – including the provision of universal WiFi 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. 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

1. Introduction

Prior to the meeting, Taskforce members had the opportunity of an introduction to, and an informal discussion with, Rob Wilson, Minister for Civil Society, who was now responsible for the libraries portfolio in government.

The chair thanked Felix Greaves and PHE for hosting the meeting and for the very interesting presentation from the PHE marketing team over lunch.

ACTION: The Taskforce Team would contact PHE marketing team to further discuss the opportunities for joint working

2.  Libraries Deliver: Ambition - Outcome discussion on healthier and happier lives

At its previous meeting, the Taskforce had decided to focus each meeting on one or more of the 7 Outcomes. The first of these sessions, led by Felix Greaves, focussed on Outcome 5, healthier and happier lives.

The aim of the session was for the Taskforce to:

• gain a shared understanding of what the Outcome covers, and the opportunities and challenges involved in meeting the ambitions set out for 2021
• learn about some of the differing perspectives of agencies involved in taking this work forward
• consider how they could contribute to and support this work over the coming year

The Taskforce received presentations from:

• Felix Greaves, who introduced the overall picture and the challenges in encouraging health commissioners to use library services as a prime delivery channel
• Debbie Hicks (The Reading Agency) and Julie Spencer (SCL) who outlined how the Health Universal Offer contributes to this Outcome and the plans for its further development
• Simon Chaplin who covered the Wellcome Trust’s interest in public libraries as spaces to engage diverse audiences with biomedical science and health research, and plans for a pilot programme to support innovation in this field
• Anne Brice, Public Health England, speaking on Knowledge Management and the role of PHE in health knowledge, health literacy and advocacy
• Louise Goswami, Health Education England, who shared thoughts on Knowledge for Healthcare priorities on what NHS Library and Knowledge Services provide to the public, patients and carers
• Janet Doran and Dr Akeem Ali from First for Wellbeing, who described how they are approaching measuring the impact of their health work through libraries using their digital tool Octigo

The Taskforce had a wide-ranging discussion about the importance of this Outcome and, in particular, the importance of libraries marshalling evidence to advocate their strengths in supporting delivery to health commissioners. This would be especially vital now given the imminent roll-out of Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) across the health service, plus the strong (and growing) importance of approaches to achieve self-management of health to relieve pressures on acute and complex services.

Major themes or issues emerging were:

• identifying opportunities to coordinate the various strands of activity and partnership working more effectively to achieve impact on a national scale
• to make the most of assets that were available (for example BBC could make archive material available to support programmes involving older people with dementia)
• generating robust evidence to support advocacy to commissioners, and drawing the attention of those leading on Sustainability and Transformation Plans to the role that libraries could play (possibly via a letter from the Taskforce to chief executives, those evaluating STPs, etc)
• ensuring that libraries framed their advocacy in language that would communicate effectively to health professionals, and tied in closely to NHS and Department of Health priorities, but retained flexibility to respond rapidly to any future shifts, eg caused by ministerial changes
• seizing the opportunity of underlying resource shifts from acute to community based care
• ensuring that work on this Outcome embraced social care as well as health and drew attention to critical but often unsung services such as the housebound library service
• the importance of pitching messages around what libraries offer to support self-management of health carefully to library users, to ensure that it was seen as positive and helpful rather than as a second best to more specialist NHS interventions

John Newton from PHE undertook to convey the issues raised in the presentations to senior contacts within NHS England who were leading on the self-management agendas, to ensure that they were aware of the opportunities offered by libraries to support their agendas.

The Taskforce thanked the presenters for their contribution to a stimulating and valuable strategic discussion, and Felix Greaves for stepping forward to lead the Taskforce’s thinking during this strategic discussion.

ACTION: Felix Greaves to draw together the ideas that had emerged during the discussion (involving the presenters in doing so) and propose the top 3-4 priority actions for agreement. These would be circulated to Taskforce members within 3 weeks of the meeting for comment and signed off by the Taskforce at its next meeting.

The Taskforce agreed that it would be helpful if strategic work to develop and progress each Outcome was led by a Taskforce member; including organising and leading similar strategic discussions at future meetings. They also agreed to the concept of having a ‘critical friend’ for each Outcome too. This would be a Taskforce member who did not have a particular expertise in the Outcome area, so that the lead (with their depth of knowledge) could benefit from challenges on what the rest of the Taskforce might or might not be familiar with in framing their proposals.

ACTION: Agreed that the following members should lead for the Taskforce to develop and progress strategic approaches on each of the Outcomes below:

• Health - Felix Greaves
• Learning - Nick Poole
• Reading - Sue Wilkinson
• Digital - Neil MacInnes
• Prosperity - Liz White
• Culture - Brian Ashley
• Communities - Rebecca Cox/ Ian Varah

ACTION: Secretariat to approach Taskforce members to seek agreement for them to act as ‘critical friends’ for an Outcome lead (commenting and challenging on an Outcome outside their primary area of expertise)

3. Libraries Deliver: Ambition

The chief executive explained that the Minister for Civil Society had reviewed the document and was considering the actions he wished DCMS to propose for inclusion in the action plan. She expected the Taskforce team would soon be in a position to recirculate a revised draft to Taskforce members for their approval once these were incorporated, prior to seeking formal central government and LGA endorsement. The Taskforce noted this but expressed the view that, if delays persisted, they might wish to consider alternative publication processes.

The Taskforce noted the activities being proposed to support Ambition once published, in particular, the proposed library sector conferences in London and Manchester. Dates were being canvassed and Taskforce members were asked to sign up to attend one of these.

Taskforce members welcomed the Taskforce Team and Comms Sub-Group’s work in raising awareness and promoting good practice with the publication of blogs and case studies illustrating the 7 Outcomes libraries deliver.

ACTION: Taskforce Team to consider what further communication could be arranged to provide an update on the continuing delay to publication of Ambition to manage stakeholder expectations

The Taskforce then reviewed proposed next steps to take forward non-priority actions listed in the draft Ambition Action Plan.

ACTION: Taskforce members to provide any detailed comments on the draft Action Plan and Roadmap by email to the Programme and Project Manager by 14 October

4. Strengthening the research and evidence base for libraries

The Taskforce recognised the importance of establishing a robust basis for measuring the achievements of libraries (including developing progress indicators for each of the 7 Outcomes in the Ambition document) and the contribution this would make to supporting effective advocacy to commissioners and other senior partners and stakeholders.

Arts Council England had volunteered to lead on identifying and drawing up a plan for commissioning any further research work needed to provide a shared evidence base by all. This would sit alongside work underway to identify existing research or outcomes frameworks (such as that recently drawn up by The Reading Agency) that could be used for these purposes. Coordinating any funds available to invest in research across the various Taskforce or partner organisations would gain more impact.

CILIP offered to put the group into contact with its various special interest groups, all of which had some research budget; and to link this work into discussions they were having with a number of universities about undertaking sector research. PHE offered to broker contact between the group and the National Institute of Health Research.

ACTIONS:

• Arts Council England to convene a roundtable discussion involving a range of stakeholders to coordinate ideas for research needs
• Taskforce members to make suggestions for any additional organisations or individuals they felt should be involved in the roundtable
• Arts Council England to bring a proposed research strategy to the March 2017 meeting of the Taskforce

5. Core data set and other data activity

The Taskforce team had drawn up a definitive list of libraries in England with some related basic data, which had been validated with library authorities. Once the spreadsheet had been finalised and quality checked, it would be published. The Taskforce team had been working with some data specialists to start to use this data to develop visualisations illustrating different views of the data to stimulate interest and debate. Examples of these would be circulated to Taskforce members for information and comment prior to publication.

The Taskforce considered a first draft of what a Core Data Set might include, and were asked to email detailed comments or ideas about what else might be usefully added (or deleted) to the Programme and Project Manager. It was important that information was collected which could allow assessment of the quality of service provided (beyond enumerating service points, etc), and the impacts of different factors in maintaining or reducing this. Once Taskforce comments had been incorporated, the Taskforce team would undertake a light-touch consultation on its contents to ensure it met sector and stakeholder needs.

The Taskforce emphasised that any information gathered should have a clear rationale and use, especially where collection was not automated. It was envisaged that the Core Data Set could be a useful starting point for drawing up future Library Management System specifications, to achieve consistency of data collection and to incorporate it into an automated process. The Taskforce also discussed the potential for powerful data analytics work on loan data.

It was discussed whether CILIP’s workforce profile data, important for forward planning, should be incorporated into the Core Data Set. CILIP confirmed it was intended to be refreshed every 3 years and that this would be through a separate process as it included more than just the public library sector workforce. However, opportunities for maybe collecting some related (or a small subset of the key) data through any Core Data Set would be considered.

CILIP drew attention to work that had recently been undertaken by the State Libraries of Queensland Australia, and also to the ISO 16439 Methods and procedures for assessing the impact of libraries, which might help inform this work.

The Taskforce also noted other activity that was planned to further develop data work. This included:

• encouraging experimentation with the data being collected via a Data Hack day
• identifying potential data-related research and analysis questions that could link into the wider Arts Council-led research and evidence work
• work with aggregators to encourage them to use the new library data sets to improve online search results for libraries
• improving the speed and depth of messaging around library data publication

ACTIONS:

• Taskforce team to publish the full data spreadsheet on data.gov.uk, accompanied by a blog and some initial visualisations
• Taskforce members to provide any comments on additional items for inclusion in the Core Data Set by 14 October
• Taskforce members noted other proposed activity on data issues
• Taskforce members to suggest any further potential participants for the proposed Hack Day
• CILIP to provide links to the international data and research work they had mentioned

6. Communications update

The communications lead provided an update, including how the Communications Sub-Group is developing its remit and programme of work, and current communications activity. The group had started work on how resources and information could be better shared in future. Where organisations were already running events (eg CILIP’s lead on National Libraries Week), the Taskforce was concentrating on supporting them and supplementing their reach.

The Taskforce Team had been publishing a series of blog posts illustrating how libraries were supporting the 7 Outcomes listed in Ambition, liaising with the core Comms Sub-Group to generate ideas and suggestions. Once Ambition was published, a new series of blog posts would cover the ‘How we’ll achieve this’ section of the document.

The Taskforce discussed the libraries demonstration planned for 5 November and agreed to share communications lines on a continuing basis as more information emerged. They again emphasised the need to convey clear messages about what the Taskforce was doing in the gap before Ambition was published.

ACTIONS:

• Taskforce members noted the updated communications strategy and the valuable activity by the Comms Sub-Group
• Taskforce members to provide any further comments on the communications strategy to the communications lead by 14 October
• Taskforce to share communications lines on the proposed 5 November demonstration
• Taskforce noted current and planned activity around the Ambition document

7. Ongoing changes by library authorities

The Taskforce discussed the current proposals under consideration by library authorities set out in the paper. Some, such as Lancashire, were currently very high profile and the Taskforce noted that the new Minister’s response to these complaints would be strongly scrutinised. They noted the minister’s recent letter to Lancashire, informing them that DCMS is treating representations received about the library service as a complaint under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964, and requesting further information and a meeting.

It was felt that it may be helpful for the DCMS Libraries team to provide a blog at some point to explain how they handle complaints about proposed changes to library services. This could enable wider understanding about the minister’s approach to his superintendence role, the powers he possesses, and the processes DCMS follows to support him in this role.

The Taskforce accepted that library service reductions were being proposed in the context of wider budgetary constraints that affected all services. They also agreed that, in the longer-term, the best, most powerful, way to combat these reductions was to position libraries effectively with decision-makers as a value for money and effective way to deliver strategic services locally.

ACTIONS:

• Taskforce noted the current position and actions being undertaken by the DCMS Libraries team
• Taskforce noted contacts with these authorities undertaken by other Taskforce members and emphasised the usefulness of sharing information and working together to increase impact

8. Towards a Single Digital Presence for libraries

Arts Council England brought forward a paper setting out work to date on developing a standards-based digital platform that could be developed in a modular way, allowing for shared national functionality and also for some elements of tailored local library service use.

They proposed a phased approach to taking this further forward, starting with a scoping discussion involving sector partners from England and the devolved administrations, chaired by Martyn Evans, the chief executive of Carnegie UK. This meeting would take place on 2 December. The phased approach would allow further development of the concept and work to identify if funding and resources would be forthcoming, prior to firm commitments on taking it forward.

ACTION: Taskforce members welcomed the proposed phased approach to exploring the development of a single digital presence for libraries

9. Six month progress report

The Taskforce received a draft of the latest 6 month progress report, covering April to September 2016. Once agreed by them, the final version would be submitted to the Libraries Minister and the LGA Culture, Tourism and Sport Board.

ACTIONS:

• Taskforce to provide any suggested amendments by email to the Policy and Secretariat Manager by 14 October
• Taskforce agreed publication of the report on GOV.UK once reviewed by the LGA Culture, Tourism and Sport Board and the Libraries Minister

10. Taskforce meetings and governance

10.1 Taskforce minutes

The Taskforce noted that the minutes from the last Taskforce meeting (20 July) had been cleared by correspondence and published on GOV.UK.

10.2 Action log

The only outstanding actions were:

• securing funding for library secondees to the Taskforce; although it was noted that 4 unpaid secondees had volunteered to support Taskforce activity, their time is limited
• Libraries Unlimited providing an item to go out via the Taskforce blog, distilling the learning they shared with the Taskforce at its meeting in May [this had subsequently been provided, and was published on 7 October]

10.3 Forward programme

The Forward Programme lists the proposed dates and venues for future Taskforce meetings. The Taskforce noted that the next 3 meetings will be held on:

• 8 December 2016 (at the Millennium Library in Norwich)
• 9 February 2017 (at Redbridge’s South Woodford venue)
• 29 March 2017 (at the Hive in Worcestershire)

ACTION: Taskforce to send suggestions for potential venues for future meetings (from summer 2017 onwards) to the Policy and Secretariat Manager

11. AOB

The Taskforce agreed to invite the British Film Institute to observe at a future meeting, when the Culture Outcome was being discussed; and suggested that more partners could be invited to meetings to discuss their work with libraries as part of the Outcome sessions.

The Taskforce noted the House of Lords debate on the cultural, civic and educational significance of libraries, bookshops and booksellers in the United Kingdom, scheduled for 13 October.

The Reading Agency had received a £2.1 million grant from Big Lottery Fund for Reading Friends, to support reading activity for older people.

CILIP was working with SCL and the Taskforce to coordinate a proposed Libraries All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG Libraries) event at the House of Lords in either late November or early December. The event will include a panel session of speakers who will review progress since the publication of the Sieghart Review. The chair of the APPG was being confirmed and CILIP will be inviting parliamentarians with the intention that the event should act as the refresh of the APPG which had been dormant for some time.

SCL was attending the Generation Code exhibition which is showcasing the contribution that Europe’s public libraries make to building digital skills. The exhibition was taking place during EU Code Week and was part of a range of initiatives to boost coding in libraries. SCL will be meeting Members of the European Parliament during the event and attending meetings on European project development.

Arts Council England were due to appear on a panel with the Libraries Minister at a Policy Exchange fringe event at the Conservative Party Conference. It was also due to publish its new investment strategy on 4 October.

LGA had published a Shared Statement of Purpose with the Arts Council, setting out their shared vision for the contribution that arts and culture, including libraries, can make and how they’ll work together to realise it.

11.1 Summary of key messages from 10th meeting

The Taskforce:

• thanked the Libraries Minister for coming to share his thoughts and observations on developing and reinvigorating public libraries in England prior to their meeting
• thanked presenters who had provided valuable insights into different aspects of achieving Outcome 5, ‘healthier and happier lives’; recognising the huge potential and the importance of the timing of this work linked with the roll-out of Sustainability and Transformation Plans across the health sector
• agreed that Felix Greaves, as the Taskforce lead on this Outcome, would draw together proposals for future action to promote libraries’ work in this area
• agreed which Taskforce members would take the lead on developing strategic Taskforce work on each Outcome, including leading similar strategic discussions at future meetings
• noted the position regarding the publication of the Ambition document; the timescales and processes that needed to take place would be confirmed once endorsement for the document was finalised with Rob Wilson
• noted the proposed communications activity at the time of and post-publication, and also the Comms Sub-Group work on longer-term development of messages and channels
• agreed work required on the non-priority actions flagged in the Ambition action plan
• endorsed next moves on developing a Single Digital Presence for Libraries; and on formulating an approach to strengthening the research and evidence base for libraries
• agreed the definitive list of public libraries in England gathered and validated from library authorities, and the next steps to develop a wider core data set
• agreed the 6 month report, subject to any final comments, to be submitted to Minister for Civil Society and the LGA, and published on GOV.UK
• debated the ongoing changes by library authorities and how these were being responded to by Taskforce members and by DCMS
• noted the Forward Programme of Taskforce meetings