Twenty-fourth meeting of the Libraries Taskforce
Published 15 August 2019
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Date: Wednesday 26 June 2019, 13:00 – 16:00
Location: Arts Council England, 21 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3HF
Attendees:
- Professor Steven Broomhead (Chair) - Chief Executive, Warrington Borough Council
- Sheila Bennett - Head of Libraries Strategy & Delivery, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
- Helen Blake - Senior Manager, Policy and Scrutiny, Cumbria County Council
- Mark Freeman - Libraries & Information Services Manager, Stockton Borough Council, and President, Libraries Connected
- Diana Gerald - Chief Executive, Book Trust
- Jenny Harland - Libraries Projects Lead, DCMS
- Ian Leete - Senior Adviser, Culture, Tourism and Sport, LGA
- Paul Martin - Chief Executive, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
- Clare Perkins - Director of the Knowledge and Intelligence Team, Public Health England (PHE)
- Nick Poole - Chief Executive, CILIP, The UK library and information association
- Peter Rippon - Executive Editor, Archive, BBC
- Iain Varah - Chief Executive, Vision Redbridge Culture and Leisure, and member of Chief Culture and Leisure Officers Association (cCLOA)
- Liz White - Head of Strategy Development, British Library
- Sue Wilkinson - Chief Executive, The Reading Agency
- Sue Williamson - Director, Libraries and Birmingham, Arts Council England (ACE)
- Jenna Birley - Governance and Business Support Officer, Libraries Taskforce, ACE (Minutes)
- Fiona Davidson - Communications Manager, Libraries Taskforce, ACE
- Sophie Lancaster - Senior Manager, Libraries Taskforce, Arts Council England (ACE)
Apologies:
- Dr. Neil Churchill - Director, Participation and Experience, NHS England
- Katherine Fairclough - Chief Executive, Cumbria County Council
- Isobel Hunter - Chief Executive, Libraries Connected
- Roly Keating - Chief Executive, British Library
- Sean Kelly - Regional Development Officer, Libraries Taskforce, ACE
- Cllr. Matthew Lee - Local Government Association (LGA): Culture, Tourism and Sport Board
Also present:
- Mark Abram - Principle Research Officer, DCMS
- Ruth Alaile - Director, Governance and Planning, ACE
- Professor Beverley Hawkins - University of Exeter
- Dinah Lammiman - Producer, Virtual Reality Hub, BBC
- Andrew Mowlah - Director, Research, ACE
- Louise Smith - Deputy Director for Arts, Libraries and Digital Culture, DCMS
- Ella Terasa - Officer, Policy and Research, ACE
- James Urquhart - Senior Manager, Libraries and Literature, ACE
- Tabitha Witherick - Service Delivery Manager, Libraries Unlimited
1. Welcome and introductions
Professor Steven Broomhead welcomed everyone to the meeting and apologies were noted.
The Taskforce welcomed Jenny Harland, Diana Gerald and Paul Martin to their first Libraries Taskforce meeting, and also Helen Blake who was representing Cumbria County Council on behalf of Katherine Fairclough.
The Taskforce welcomed Louise Smith as an observer to the meeting in her role as Deputy Director for Arts, Libraries and Digital Culture at DCMS.
Professor Broomhead wished to note thanks to Holborn Library for hosting the members in the morning.
2. Unlimited Value presentation
Professor Beverley Hawkins and Tabitha Witherick presented this item which informed the Taskforce about the research project, Unlimited Value. This was a research collaboration undertaken by Libraries Unlimited, University of Exeter, the Real Ideas Organisation and the Open Data Institute (ODI) Devon, funded by ACE.
The research questions the project aimed to address were detailed along with the research method, outcomes of the project and what the work had captured about the social value of public libraries.
Members were interested to hear about the ‘bricolage’ approach to problem solving and planning that public libraries undertook. They also discussed the potential reasons behind the varied approaches libraries take to deliver their services.
Members thanked Beverley and Tabitha for their presentation and noted the possibilities of future collaborations between higher education institutions, social enterprise and public libraries.
3. ACE / DCMS research capabilities
Andrew Mowlah presented this item which outlined data collected by ACE and DCMS regarding public libraries, based on the Taking Part survey.
Andrew and Mark Abram asked the Taskforce to consider whether there was a consensus on what the pressures facing the library sector were and whether the research currently undertaken adequately addressed those pressing issues.
Members discussed pressing issues and their effect on the libraries sector, including the exponential increase in the child protection need and whether the core offer of libraries needs to change or improve.
Members discussed the impact of logistics on library engagement and the need therefore to have an enhanced offer to encourage people to travel.
Members also discussed the gaps in the available data when building a case for the importance of public libraries at a local and national level. Existing data does not, for example, capture the impact a library and its staff have on those with barriers to reading.
Members noted that the current data submitted by library services did not enable them to articulate the impact libraries had on contributing to key local issues.
Members reflected on the Unlimited Value presentation and the view that the issues libraries face could be because of a need to reassess the core offer more generally, but also on collection of better, more relevant data. They noted the potential benefits collaborations such as those in the Unlimited Value project could help libraries to consider these.
The Taskforce thanked Andrew for his presentation.
The Taskforce agreed that ACE and DCMS would continue this conversation outside of the meeting and, if appropriate, that Andrew and Mark would attend a future Taskforce meeting to provide a research update in the form of a paper.
4. Taskforce budget allocation
Sophie Lancaster introduced this item which asked the Taskforce to review and approve the proposed allocation of the remaining Libraries Taskforce budget and the repurposing of some Taskforce funding for 2019-20.
Sophie asked the Taskforce to agree to repurpose the £50,000 already allocated to developing regional support to Libraries Connected to progress the work they had undertaken to identify the regional support offer needs. This would be further supported by Libraries Connected’s own funds, meeting a total cost of £100,000, and would be led by Libraries Connected.
Sophie asked the Taskforce to approve the proposal to spend £30,000 on a review of suppliers and developers for library services and IT needs.
Sophie asked the Taskforce to approve the spend of £15,000 on implementing the open data project, to be led by DCMS.
The Taskforce discussed the proposals and felt it was of particular importance to invest directly in the libraries sector where possible.
The Taskforce agreed that it was timely to review the objectives of the current open data project to determine whether they were still the most appropriate and useful to the sector. ACE indicated that there might be further resource available to pursue this, subject to further discussion and definition of what might be most valuable to pursue.
The Taskforce thanked Sophie for her paper.
The Taskforce agreed:
- to repurpose the £50,000 allocated for regional development to Libraries Connected to support their ongoing work on developing a regional support offer
- the allocation to Libraries Connected of £30,000 to commission a review of potential suppliers and developers for Library Management Systems and IT needs
- to allocate £15,000 to DCMS to take forward work on open data as agreed at a scoping meeting (convened by DCMS) to be attended by relevant Taskforce members, stakeholders and partners
5. VR in libraries - BBC interim report
Dinah Lammiman presented this item which provided an update for Taskforce Members on the BBC’s VR in libraries pop-up tour which started in April 2019.
The tour was due to finish at the end of July, with some potential one-off engagements through the summer.
Dinah went through the preliminary results of the report on the VR in libraries project. Successes have included:
- an overwhelmingly positive response by participants to the content and format of the VR
- reaching a much wider audience than anticipated of varied age groups
- engagement with users who would not usually engage with libraries, the BBC, or with the community in general
- engaging library staff who have enabled the experience to be welcoming, un-intimidating and safe for participants, further aided by the placement of the VR in library buildings themselves
The Taskforce thanked Dinah for her presentation and for providing VR headsets for the Taskforce to try them for themselves. Members asked Dinah to discuss attendance at some further library events over the coming year, including Libraries Week, and one of the British Libraries’ touring exhibitions, with the appropriate Taskforce members outside the meeting.
6. Libraries Week update
Nick Poole introduced this item which informed the Taskforce about the plans for Libraries Week 2019.
Nick outlined the key messages for Libraries Week 2019 which would take place between 7-12 October 2019. The theme would be celebrating libraries in a digital world.
Nick highlighted some of the activities that would take place throughout the week.
The Taskforce asked Nick to consider involving ACE’s ‘tech champions’ in these activities.
7. Spending Review update
Jenny Harland provided the Taskforce with an update on the Spending Review. There still had not been any formal call for proposals from Treasury.
The Taskforce noted the spending review update.
8. DCMS Libraries team update
Sheila Bennett provided the Taskforce with an update on the work and activities of the DCMS Libraries team, including the libraries superintendence work and cross-government policy activity.
The Taskforce noted the update.
9. Minutes of the previous meeting and matters arising
Members noted the minutes of the previous meeting held on 20 March 2019 at Leeds Central Library, which had been agreed by correspondence and published on GOV.UK.
There were no matters arising.
10. Libraries Taskforce Terms of Reference
Members noted the Terms of Reference.
11. Any other business
Members were asked to note, complete and encourage colleagues to complete the next phase of ACE’s 10-year Strategy consultation which will go live on 1 July.
Copies of the British Library’s Digital Transformation report and the recent ACE/National Archives guidance on Community Infrastructure Levy and local planning were now available via the ACE website.
Members noted the remaining Libraries Taskforce meeting dates:
- 11 September 2019
- 11 December 2019
- 18 March 2020
12. Date and location of next meeting
The Taskforce noted that the next meeting would be held on Wednesday 11 September 2019 at The Curve in Slough.