Corporate report

Twentieth meeting of the Libraries Taskforce

Published 2 July 2018

Meeting date: Monday 12 June 2018: 13:00 to 16:00

Location: Barking Learning Centre, 2 Town Square, Barking IG11 7NB

Attendees

• Kim Bromley-Derry (Chair) - Chief Executive: London Borough of Newham
• Sue Cook - Director of children’s and young people’s services: Suffolk County Council
• Mark Freeman - Libraries and Information Services Manager, Stockton Borough Council; President: Libraries Connected (formerly known as Society of Chief Librarians)
• Isobel Hunter - Chief Executive: Libraries Connected
• Mandy Powell - The UK Library and Information Association (CILIP)
• Simon Richardson - Head of Libraries: Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
• Iain Varah - Chief Executive Vision Redbridge Culture and Leisure and member of Chief Cultural & Leisure Officers Association
• Liz White - Head of Strategy Development: British Library
• Sue Wilkinson - Chief Executive: The Reading Agency
• Sue Williamson - Director of Libraries: Arts Council England
• Sheila Bennett - Head of Libraries Strategy and Delivery, DCMS; and Interim Head of Taskforce Team
• Julia Chandler - Communications lead: Libraries Taskforce
• Sophie Lancaster - Secretariat manager: Libraries Taskforce
• Charlotte Lane - Programme and project manager: Libraries Taskforce
• Foluke Oshin - Business support: Libraries Taskforce

Apologies

• Cllr Mike Bell - Local Government Association: Culture, Tourism and Sport Board
• Dr Neil Churchill - Director, Experience, Participation & Equalities: NHS England
• Professor Steven Broomhead - Chief Executive: Warrington Borough Council
• Jane Ellison - Head of Creative Partnerships: BBC
• Felix Greaves - Deputy Director, Science and Strategic Information: Public Health England
• Polly Hamilton - Assistant Director, Culture, Sport and Tourism: Rotherham Council and Vice-Chair: Chief Cultural & Leisure Officers Association
• Roly Keating - Chief Executive: British Library
• Kate McGavin and Helen Williams - Deputy Directors, Arts, Libraries and Digital Culture: DCMS (job share)
• Nick Poole - Chief Executive: The UK Library and Information Association (CILIP)

Presenters/observers

• Lauren Bowes - Policy adviser, Tackling Loneliness team at DCMS / Economic and Domestic Secretariat at the Cabinet Office (dual role)
• Fiona Davidson - Officer advocacy and communications: Arts Council England
• Veena Dholiwar - Policy adviser, Tackling Loneliness team, DCMS
• Joan O’Bryan - Cambridge MPhil intern with Libraries Taskforce team
• Cheryl Shorter - Libraries policy adviser: DCMS

1. Introduction

At its December 2017 meeting, the Taskforce had expressed an interest in spending more time looking at local arrangements and initiatives where Taskforce meetings were hosted by library services around the country. The meeting in Barking Learning Centre had been arranged because the borough’s library service was a new Library National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) within Arts Council England’s investment programme. The library service received its first Grants for the Arts award from Arts Council England in 2014, and has had 2 since. It then decided to apply for NPO funding, and was awarded £180,00 each year for 4 years from 2018. This has opened up many new possibilities for the programme, and it now has a 4 year plan of activity, themed differently for each year.

London Borough of Barking and Dagenham’s (LBBD) Cabinet Member for Education Cllr Evelyn Carpenter, welcomed the Taskforce to Barking Learning Centre. Cllr Carpenter was personally interested in libraries and how they support other council services, having had a career in the cultural sector. Cllr Carpenter was proud about how LBBD had responded to funding challenges and highlighted that Dagenham Library became Library of the year in 2016.

Mark Fowler, Director of Community Solutions talked about how the council had brought together lots of former separate services within the organisation and set up a new service to identify and resolve the root cause of an individual’s or family’s problems, with an emphasis on helping people to help themselves. This is a long term organisational transformation, designed to meet future social and financial challenges. The library service is an important part of this activity.

Zoinul Abidin, Head of Universal Services and Ann Laskey, Commissioning Manager for libraries gave a presentation on how library services have evolved, and talked about the importance of partnerships. They handed over to Lena Smith, Library project manager and Paul Hogan, Commissioning Director Culture and Recreation, who spoke about the journey LBBD have taken to become a Library NPO.

The Taskforce was given a tour of the library based in the Barking Learning Centre and put questions to team members. More details of these parts of the meeting are contained in a Taskforce blog post.

Finally, Chris Naylor, Chief Executive LBBD, outlined the council’s broader transformation story, which led to it being awarded the LGC Council of the Year in 2018. Chris described the context in which LBBD are operating, and then outlined the council’s strategy through to 2020 to support its communities. He emphasised that libraries are a fundamental part of the Community Solutions programme.

2. Libraries Taskforce transition arrangements

The Taskforce was updated on the progress in implementing the plan for transitioning Taskforce team work across to member organisations that it had agreed at its March meeting. It also considered the principles that would be used to shape thoughts on future communications arrangements.

The Taskforce suggested that any decisions around how transition was implemented should be framed in the context of where it saw sector support developing post-2020. It suggested the possibility of more detailed discussions taking place between the Arts Council, DCMS, CILIP and Libraries Connected to contribute to thinking around support in the meantime, based on the outcomes that DCMS would require from the Taskforce as its funding sponsor.

[Subsequent discussions between DCMS and the Arts Council have led to a joint agreement that transition arrangements will be primarily resolved between them (aiming for an October hand-over), involving other organisations where directly relevant. The Taskforce would be holding longer-term strategy discussions at its December meeting.]

The Taskforce agreed that:

• discussions on transition arrangements to take place from October 2018 between DCMS and Arts Council England would be based on a clearly stated set of jointly agreed outcomes
• the Communications lead would carry out reviews of each of the communications channels currently in use, and material produced, to inform the transition decisions required

3. Communications update

Taskforce members noted the update on activities across the different communications channels. They also noted that a series of brochures has been produced which illustrate 3 of the Outcomes laid out in Libraries Deliver: Ambition (health and wellbeing, prosperity and communities), and thanked Alyn Thomas from Kent Libraries who worked with the team on secondment for 4 months to develop these.

The Taskforce agreed to record its formal thanks to Alyn Thomas and his managers at Kent Libraries, for his work on the Outcomes brochures.

4. Taskforce action plan and monitoring report

Taskforce members noted progress so far on delivery of the 2018 Action Plan. This included:

• libraries featuring strongly in recent government strategies:
  • Integrated Communities Strategy green paper and in the government’s response (May 2018)
  • Culture is Digital report (published 7 March 2018)
  • Internet Safety Strategy green paper and government response
  • JUSTICE’s Working Party report, Preventing digital exclusion from online justice
• the Taskforce team revising the Community Managed Libraries toolkit working with Steve Howell (Head of Durham library service)
• CILIP and Libraries Connected (as part of the Public Library Skills Strategy) running a public library leadership course, and preparing to rolling out their online training platform for all library staff

The Taskforce agreed that Taskforce member organisations would send any further updates on milestones to the Programme Manager

5. Cross government strategy work on loneliness

The Taskforce welcomed Lauren Bowes, Cabinet Office and Veena Dholiwar, DCMS from the cross-government strategy team working on approaches to tackle, prevent and reduce loneliness. The team are aiming to develop a strategy by late 2018, an evidence base and potential funding opportunity in summer 2018.

The Taskforce discussed what libraries were currently doing to help with tackling, preventing and reducing loneliness, outlining numerous examples of initiatives taking place across the country. It especially drew out:

• the work being undertaken to contribute to health and wellbeing, including Reading Well Books on Prescription and health-commissioned arts activities (Ambition Outcome 5)
• digital inclusion work being involving schemes around device loans (Ambition Outcome 3)
• the opportunities for people to come together through groups that libraries ran (Ambition Outcome 7), including the pilot work being done by The Reading Agency on Reading Friends

It drew the attention of the Loneliness team to recent research on the role that library-run rhyme times could play in boosting maternal mental health, and also to some of the potential for libraries to become more involved in social prescribing activities.

The Taskforce considered how central government might support libraries in extending this work; one suggestion was to look at how problems with transport costs/logistics could be overcome to enable more people to attend and participate in libraries’ programmes. It noted that a £20 million fund to support innovative projects relating to tackling or preventing loneliness would be launched in July, which would be focussed on applications from charities or voluntary organisations. Library services would therefore be able to be a partner in the application process, but not the sole or lead applicant.

The Taskforce thanked Lauren and Veena for coming along to discuss their work, and to listen to thoughts on how libraries could be incorporated within the forthcoming strategy.

The Taskforce agreed:

• that member organisations would send specific examples or case studies of loneliness work undertaken by public libraries to the Taskforce Team by noon on 21 June 2018, for them to collate and pass on to the strategy team

6. Analysing Data: CIPFA statistics and the future of public libraries in England

Joan O’Bryan, an MPhil candidate in Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, undertook a 4 week placement with the Taskforce team during April and May 2018. She interrogated CIPFA statistics sheets from 2006-07 to 2016-17 to analyse trends regarding public libraries in England, as well as assess the reliability and limitations of the CIPFA dataset. Her report built of previous work undertaken by Shared Intelligence, who assessed the CIPFA statistics sheets in 2016. The lead on this previous work, Ben Lee, had provided advice, feedback and guidance to Joan during this project.

The report sought answers to the following questions:

• had the decline in public library use continued since the last analysis?
• what characterises the library services who have maintained or improved usage, despite difficult structural changes (such as reduced resourcing or the rise of digital)?
• what was the data collected by CIPFA equipped to tell us?
• in what ways was the data collected by CIPFA lacking or incomplete?

Joan’s project also consisted of interviews with library service heads, data managers, academics, and other stakeholders, in order to understand the patterns beneath the data and the gaps within the dataset.

Joan presented her findings to the Taskforce which showed that overall, the CIPFA data shows an overall decline in public library use (both in visits and book issues) in England. But:

• the downward trend may be slowing
• the overall trend masks significant variations across and within library services

Her analysis also showed that over one quarter of all library services are trendbuckers, meaning they have shown an increase in use (visits or issues) over the past year and/or the past decade.

The report examined 7 arguments - including reduction in funding, the digital shift, and the failure to modernise - posited as explanations for the overall trend of decline in use for libraries, using data to analyse them when possible. No argument was found to be sufficient as an explanation for decline on its own.

Joan’s analysis of the data pointed at underlying (unmeasured) variables which distinguished the “high-performers” from the rest, namely forward-thinking leadership and the political support and purchasing flexibility needed to innovate in response to structural changes.

Her report also outlined some of the problems with the CIPFA statistics. They had not been designed to be a dataset, and had only been used as such due to the lack of any alternative national figures. The statistics have significant flaws that undermine their ability to be used as a definitive and authoritative source of data on trends in public library usage over time. These include issues with structure, consistency, accuracy, standardisation, and variable selection and measurement.

The Taskforce noted that flaws in the data restrict their use to comprehensively understand trends at the national level. It might be possible to remedy this if all library services contributed to a consistent and comprehensive open dataset, along the lines of the work currently being led by the Taskforce team on implementing the collection and publication of the Core Dataset previously agreed by the sector.

Joan’s report had highlighted areas where further work could be done. The Taskforce would publish Joan’s report shortly, subject to any clarifications suggested by Taskforce member organisations; and the Taskforce team would ensure that future areas which could be explored in the future in more depth were included in the lists of potential sector research projects.

The Taskforce agreed to record its thanks to Joan O’Bryan for her time and effort in producing this excellent piece of work; and wished her well in her future ventures

7. Ongoing changes by library authorities

The Taskforce noted the summary of current proposals under consideration by local library authorities. DCMS also explained that it is engaging with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to share information about changes being proposed or made by local authorities to library services.

The Taskforce noted that the Secretary of State for MHCLG has appointed two Commissioners to take over control of a number of Northamptonshire County Council’s functions, including governance and scrutiny, and strategic financial management. In addition, DCMS indicated that a hearing in the High Court was due to take place on 19 and 20 June in relation to two judicial reviews brought about the council’s library service decisions, although DCMS indicated that these dates may change.

DCMS has also been gathering, from the council, information necessary to assess the complaint under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 about whether the council is meeting the duty to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service. Subject to consideration of the information collated, DCMS would expect that a meeting with council and library services officers will be needed, to discuss the complaint and seek any further evidence.

The Taskforce noted that the council is seeking detailed expressions of interest, including financial information, from local groups about taking over and independently running libraries that the council proposes to no longer support in its statutory library service. The deadline for these expressions of interest was originally the end of May but was subsequently changed to 25 June.

8. Library rhyme times and maternal mental health report

This paper set out the summary of the Library rhyme times and maternal mental health: results of an action research project by Shared Intelligence and Essex County Council, commissioned by Arts Council England. The research report included a number of recommendations for further action by the Taskforce and individual Taskforce members (such as Libraries Connected, CILIP, Arts Council England and DCMS).

The project had aimed to test, through a year-long action-research project with Essex Libraries, funded by Arts Council England, whether library-based rhyme times could be a large-scale platform for supporting maternal mental health.

The Taskforce agreed that further consideration of this report should be deferred to the September meeting, to enable input from the health partner organisations on how its findings could be taken forward.

The Taskforce agreed to ask Dr Neil Churchill and Dr Felix Greaves to lead a discussion at the September meeting on how this research could be built on and used, and how the Taskforce could help with this.

9. Information items

The Taskforce noted progress on the following issues:

9.1 Spending Review

At its last meeting the Taskforce agreed to flag up Spending Review work on future agendas. The Taskforce team would be arranging meetings with Taskforce organisations over the coming months to discuss potential Spending Review bid ideas.

9.2 Extension of Public Lending Right to include remote e-lending

DCMS consulted from 4 to 25 May on proposed technical amendments to secondary legislation for the Public Lending Right (PLR), including to remove an unnecessary administrative burden on applicants when first registering for PLR; and updates needed to enable implementation of provisions in the Digital Economy Act 2017 that extend PLR to remote lending of e-books and e-audiobooks.

Following consideration of consultation responses, the minister signed and made the statutory instruments, so the administrative burden would be removed and the extension of PLR to include e-lending commenced from 1 July. This extension would apply in relation to e-lending in England, Wales and Scotland and would be commenced for Northern Ireland when legislative consent from the Northern Ireland Government can be secured. DCMS also plans to use a separate statutory instrument, after the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill process is concluded, to amend the secondary legislation to clarify that authors resident in the UK will remain eligible to register for PLR at such time as the UK exits the EU.

9.3 Arts Council England Corporate Plan 2018-2020

On 31 May Arts Council England published its latest Corporate Plan covering the period up to the end of 2020. The document set out priorities and planned activities for the next two years. It stated:

” In our role as the national developmental agency for libraries, we will work with DCMS and the Libraries Task Force to ensure that, as we approach the end of the remit for the Task Force in 2020, a seamless transition of its work to appropriate agencies is accomplished.

All Goals: we will strengthen and embed the quality and impact of libraries as cultural hubs through our National Portfolio Organisations and Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants investment.

Goal 2: we will provide a leadership role in the development of a single digital presence for public libraries, working in partnership with the British Library and the Carnegie UK Trust.

Goal 3: we will collaborate with our partners (including through investment) the Chartered Institute for Library and Information Professionals and the Society of Chief Librarians in the delivery of the Public Libraries Skills Strategy.

Goal 4: we will increase libraries’ contribution to the Cultural Education Challenge.”

9.4 BBC Get Creative

Get Creative Festival, which ran between March 17th-25th 2018, was a nationwide campaign to celebrate and inspire the everyday creativity that happens in homes and public spaces throughout the UK. It was run as a partnership by:

• the Crafts Council
• the Arts Councils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Creative Scotland
• Voluntary Arts
• What Next
• Fun Palaces
• Family Arts Campaign
• 64M Artists
• Creative People and Place
• the BBC

Each year organisations are invited to run and host creative, participative events with the aim of getting as many people as possible to try something new, reignite a forgotten hobby or share their creative passion. There were more than 1,400 events held across the UK, most of them free; almost 500 of these events were held in public libraries.

9.5 JUSTICE report: Preventing digital exclusion from online justice

On Monday 4th June 2018, JUSTICE launched its latest Working Party report, Preventing digital exclusion from online justice. JUSTICE’s Working Party was concerned about the wide range of digitally excluded people – such as those without access to technology or with low digital capability.

An ambitious programme of court reforms was already underway in England and Wales. Virtual, remote and online proceedings were set to expand across the justice system. The Working Party looked at various groups at high risk of digital exclusion from modernised justice services - including homeless people and detainees. It also investigated how assistive technology and accessible design could play a part in minimising barriers facing the “computer challenged”. HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) provides technical support, for example its “Assisted Digital” project, were considered in some detail.

The Taskforce team provided evidence to the Working Party on the role that libraries can and do play in combating digital exclusion. The report contained a number of positive mentions of the role of libraries and examples of good practice.

The report made 19 recommendations in total – mostly directed at HMCTS. These include:

• greater investment in “trusted faces” in “trusted places” for example services already providing digital support and internet access [the full recommendation specifically mentions community hubs and libraries]
• considering the specific challenges of providing support to the digitally excluded, especially hard to reach cohorts – including testing Assisted Digital services in regions where the internet may be difficult to access
• paying specific attention to highly digitally excluded groups, like homeless people and detainees.

9.6 Guidance note on contracts

CILIP and Libraries Connected had agreed to collaborate on a guidance note which can be used to support assessment of potential commercial partnerships and opportunities. This guidance, which they anticipated would be published over the summer, will prompt consideration of ethics, financial and resourcing issues, reputational risk and project management capacity. This was one of the new management and governance arrangements Libraries Connected would be putting into place as the new organisation is established.

9.7 CILIP Ethical Principles

The CILIP Ethical Principles, due to be launched in July, had been produced through the Ethics Review, an 18-month project led by the CILIP Ethics Committee which had received over 2,400 representations, comments and suggestions. Their purpose was to provide a framework for ethical practice by librarians and information professionals and to set out clearly how CILIP will support the ethics of the profession.

9.8 The Public Library Skills Strategy 2017-2020

This joint initiative from The Society of Chief Librarians (now known as Libraries Connected) and CILIP aimed to support the development of the public library workforce in England, ensuring it continued to meet the changing needs of library users.

The joint strategy made 10 recommendations for priority action, and the Arts Council had granted funding to help develop 2 of the recommendations. These were:

• recommendation 4.1: develop a public libraries leadership programme
• recommendation 7.1: shared approaches to CPD for public library staff and volunteers

A successful 2-day residential leadership course had taken place in Oxford in April 2018; and a 1-day follow up session was held in Manchester Public Library in May. Feedback from candidates was positive. An evaluation had been undertaken and would be used to help plan the roll out of a leadership programme across the UK.

The Project Board agreed a plan to develop a Digital Skills Portfolio for public library staff, which builds on the existing Libraries Connected Digital Offer. The project board designed a survey to assess learning needs and this was sent to all public library staff in England. The results of the survey were used to agree a set of topics on which learning modules would be based. The CILIP special interest group Public and Mobile Libraries Group were also asked for their views on the topics.

Content for the learning modules had been commissioned and delivered at the end of May. Arrangements for the shared learning platform had been agreed, and testing had taken place with 4 authorities in early June.

10. Taskforce meetings/governance

10.1 Taskforce minutes

The Taskforce noted that the minutes from the last Taskforce meeting (held in Sheffield Central Library, 19 March 2018) had been cleared by correspondence and published on GOV.UK.

10.2 Forward programme

The forward programme listed the proposed dates, venues and agenda items for future Taskforce meetings, which would be held on a quarterly pattern (in June, September, December and March).

The Taskforce agreed that members would send suggestions to the Policy and Secretariat Manager on further items to be programmed for future meetings.

10.3 Action log

There were two outstanding actions where an update was sought. These related to the establishment of support arrangements to provide encouragement and practical advice in using the Benchmarking framework effectively; and whether further input from the Taskforce would be sought on developing a Children and Young People’s Strand of the Universal Health Offer.

The Taskforce agreed that organisations responsible for these actions should notify the Taskforce Team about the status of, and progress against, these.

11. Date of next meeting

The Taskforce noted that the next meeting would be held on 12 September 2018, 10:30 to 16:00, at Orford Jubilee Neighbourhood Hub, Jubilee Way, Orford, Warrington WA2 8HE.

12. Any other business

The Taskforce agreed to record its congratulations to Dr Neil Churchill, who had been awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.