Corporate report

Twenty-third meeting of the Libraries Taskforce

Published 31 May 2019

Meeting date: Wednesday 20 March 2019: 13:00 to 15:30

Location: Leeds Central Library, Calverley Street, Leeds LS1 3AB

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)
  • Mark Freeman - Libraries & Information Services Manager, Stockton Borough Council, and President, Libraries Connected
  • Debbie Hicks - Creative Director, The Reading Agency
  • Charlotte Lane - Projects Lead, Libraries, DCMS
  • Peter Rippon - Executive Editor, Archive, BBC
  • Julie Russell - Service Director: Arts, Culture and Leisure, Wakefield Council and member of Chief Culture and Leisure Officers Association (cCLOA)
  • Liz White - Head of Strategy Development, British Library
  • 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
  • Sean Kelly - Regional Development Officer, 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
  • Cllr. Matthew Lee - Local Government Association (LGA): Culture, Tourism and Sport Board
  • Paul Martin - Chief Executive, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
  • Kate McGavin - Deputy Director, Arts & Culture, DCMS (jobshare)
  • Clare Perkins - Director of the Knowledge and Intelligence Team, Public Health England (PHE)
  • Nick Poole - Chief Executive, CILIP, The UK library and information association
  • Iain Varah - Chief Executive, Vision Redbridge Culture and Leisure, and member of cCLOA
  • Sue Wilkinson - Chief Executive, The Reading Agency
  • Helen Williams - Deputy Director, Arts & Culture, DCMS (jobshare)

Also present

  • Andrea Ellison - Chief Librarian, Library and Information Service, Leeds City Council
  • Christine May - Assistant Director, Cultural and Community Services, Place and Economy, Cambridgeshire County Council
  • Jonathan Robinson - CIVIC
  • Sue Wills - Library Service Manager, Cambridgeshire County Council

1. Welcome and introductions

Professor Steven Broomhead welcomed everyone to the meeting and apologies were noted.

The Taskforce welcomed new member Peter Rippon who had replaced Jane Ellison from the BBC, and Debbie Hicks who was standing in for Sue Wilkinson from the Reading Agency. Members also noted the appointment of 2 local authority Chief Executive members of the Taskforce, Paul Martin and Katherine Fairclough, who hoped to be present at the June meeting.

Professor Broomhead thanked Leeds Library Service for hosting the Taskforce. Prior to the meeting, the Taskforce received a tour of Leeds Central library and a presentation on the service’s approach to its strategy and initiatives in the area.

2. Libraries Taskforce Terms of Reference

Sophie Lancaster introduced this item which asked Taskforce members to review and approve some changes and updates to the Libraries Taskforce Terms of Reference.

Sophie asked members to specifically consider whether the invited members of the Taskforce was sufficient and to ensure descriptions of existing members was accurate.

It was commented that the Reading Agency’s description required an update.

Debbie Hicks agreed to provide a new version of the Reading Agency’s description.

Professor Broomhead thanked members for their comments and asked that he and the lead partners of the Taskforce be given approval to approach other organisations who may be interested in working with the Taskforce.

The Taskforce approved the revised Terms of Reference.

The Taskforce agreed to explore other potential Taskforce member organisations.

3. The Cambridgeshire Model: designing libraries of the future

Christine May introduced this item which asked the Taskforce to note and comment on the approach to library services being undertaken in Cambridgeshire.

Christine provided context to the reimagining of Cambridgeshire library services which began in 2017. She detailed the partnership with Civic and the progress made towards their vision for ‘Libraries of the Future’ in Cambridgeshire.

Christine reflected on a challenge initially put to Cambridgeshire library service by the Taskforce at their meeting in July 2017, where members had asked them to work on their strategic partnerships, and in particular partnering with Higher Education organisations.

Jonathan Robinson introduced Civic’s role in the Cambridgeshire project and the ‘Archetypal Libraries’ they are looking to pilot across the county. They will begin working with at least 5 libraries but hope to engage with 54 by the end of the project in 2020.

Members asked Jonathan to expand on what the Cambridgeshire model will look like in regards to resources and individual contexts. Additionally, they commented that some communities who need these services may be difficult to engage.

Jonathan informed the Taskforce that Cambridgeshire and Civic were working closely with partners to address these queries and engage communities but were not taking a prescriptive approach at this stage. He acknowledged that the proposed archetypes were flexible and some libraries in the county may be a blend of two or more of them.

Members discussed the potential role of the private sector in library partnerships and noted the ethical issues that may arise. Jonathan informed the Taskforce that this was something Civic were considering but acknowledged the challenges involved.

Members noted that this work ties in to both DCMS’ and ACE’s work on ‘place’.

Members also suggested other potential partnership opportunities and offered to make introductions on behalf of Cambridgeshire Library Service outside of the meeting

Professor Broomhead thanked Sue, Jonathan and Christine for their update on the Cambridgeshire project. The synergies with DCMS’ long term strategic thinking and Libraries’ Connected work on the Libraries Blueprint were also noted, and it was agreed that links between these pieces of work should be maintained.

The Taskforce invited them to return to a future Taskforce meeting in March 2020 to provide a further update on the project.

4. Libraries Blueprint update

Mark Freeman introduced this item which provided an update on the Libraries Blueprint work being undertaken by Libraries Connected and CILIP.

Mark gave some background to the project and insight gained from peer workshops held earlier in 2019 and the latter part of 2018.

Mark highlighted what the Blueprint aimed to achieve, and what fell outside the scope of the project that was being picked up elsewhere by, for example, separate work into Accreditation and the Universal Offers review.

Members discussed the presentation and asked for the timescales of the accreditation review work. It was agreed that Mark would follow up with Isobel on the schedule for submitting her application for this to the Arts Council outside of the meeting and report back to the Taskforce.

Members discussed how the Cambridgeshire Model team can work more closely with Libraries Connected / Taskforce on the Library Blueprint. It was agreed that the relevant members would follow this up outside of the meeting.

The Taskforce thanked Mark for the update and for stepping in to deliver the presentation in Isobel’s absence.

5. Taskforce Action Plan

Sophie Lancaster introduced this item which asked the Taskforce to review and approve the Action Plan detailing Taskforce activity up to March 2020.

Sophie informed members that she had consulted extensively with the Taskforce members in advance of the meeting to ensure a collaborative approach to the action plan.

Members asked for clarity on what pieces of work had secured funding and which ones required further funding. Sophie agreed to indicate this on the redraft.

Members asked that Sophie combine the sections on potential research areas.

Members also asked Sophie whether it would be possible to incorporate the LGA’s peer review work into the Action Plan. Sophie agreed to follow this up with the LGA outside of the meeting.

Sophie thanked the Taskforce members for their work on the Action Plan to date and their comments in the meeting.

The Taskforce agreed that Sophie would redraft and recirculate a final version of the Action Plan to members as well as a redacted version which would be made publicly available on the Arts Council’s Libraries Taskforce landing page.

6. Communications strategy

Fiona Davidson introduced this item which asked the Libraries Taskforce to review and approve the proposed Taskforce Communications Strategy up to March 2020. Members also asked to note the Libraries Connected communications strategy which was intended to complement this.

Sheila Bennet informed the Taskforce about the proposed combining of the Libraries Taskforce pages on GOV.UK with a new DCMS Libraries team page. Fiona agreed to liaise with the DCMS communications team to ensure this change was properly signposted and informed the Taskforce that she would be meeting with DCMS and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government comms team on 26 March.

Members asked if it were possible for people to sign up to alerts on the Arts Council website to notify them when there were new posts on Taskforce work. Fiona agreed to investigate whether this would be possible.

Fiona drew members’ attention to the request that they approve the decommissioning of the Libraries Taskforce twitter handle. Sheila asked Fiona to ensure DCMS were kept up to date on when this would happen to ensure appropriate signposting to other sources.

The Taskforce thanked Fiona for her work, approved Libraries Taskforce communications strategy, the retiring of the Taskforce Twitter account and Libraries Connected’s communications plan.

7. Six month progress report

Sean Kelly introduced this item which asked the Taskforce to review and approve the six month progress report ahead of its publication on GOV.UK.

Debbie Hicks asked Sean to include that the Reading Agency were present and spoke at the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Arts, Health and Wellbeing.

Sheila Bennett asked a note of thanks to be included in the report for Julia Chandler and Simon Richardson at DCMS for their work supporting libraries and the Taskforce now that they had moved on to new engagements.

Members asked Sean to clarify the theme of Libraries Week 2019 if the information was available.

Members thanked Sean for his work and approved, subject to any final additions or amendments requested by Taskforce members, to the publication of the six month progress report on GOV.UK at a suitable date, once reviewed by the LGA Culture Tourism and Sport Board and the Libraries Minister.

8. Ongoing changes by library authorities

Sheila Bennett introduced this item which asked the Taskforce to note the planned or proposed changes to library services detailed in the paper and also to note the approval process for councils to follow where they propose to make revisions to their local libraries’ byelaws.

Sheila reminded members that this information was confidential and asked they remind local library partners to engage with DCMS at the earliest opportunity if they were considering making changes to their services.

Sheila informed the Taskforce that DCMS was due to publish revised guidance on libraries as a statutory service in the near future.

Members thanked Sheila for her paper and noted the planned or proposed changes to libraries services in England and the approval process for councils who wish to make changes to their libraries’ byelaws.

9. Long-term strategic thinking

Charlotte Lane introduced this item which asked the Taskforce to note and comment on the work being undertaken by DCMS regarding their long-term strategy for libraries.

The Taskforce noted the recent announcement by the Chancellor in the spring statement that a Spending Review might take place later in the year.

DCMS had started to think about potential strategic approaches, that linked in with the Taskforce’s priority areas of action. It would discuss these with Taskforce organisations as it developed its thinking.

Charlotte informed members there would be a further update on this work at the next Taskforce meeting in June 2019, and that DCMS would continue to keep members updated on progress in the meantime.

Members thanked Charlotte for her paper and noted the work being undertaken by DCMS on their libraries strategy document.

10. Minutes of the previous meeting and matters arising

Members noted the minutes of the Libraries Taskforce meeting which was held on 11 December 2018 and were subsequently published on GOV.UK.

11. Any other business

Members were asked to note the remaining Libraries Taskforce meeting dates:

  • 26 June 2019
  • 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 26 June 2019 at The Hall, Leytonstone Library, 6 Church Lane, Leytonstone, E11 1HG. [The location of the meeting was subsequently changed to Arts Council England’s offices at 21 Bloomsbury Street, WC1B 3HF.]