London Borough of Hounslow
The Civic Centre Lampton Road
Hounslow TW3 4DN
Leisure Services Department
Howard Simmons
Director of Leisure Services
Mr John Myers
Project Director
Public Library Review
Aslib
Information House
20-24 Old Street
London EC1V 9AP
Dear Mr Myers
Department of National Heritage Review of the Public Library Service
Further to my fax to you last week I apologise again for the delay in sending to you Hounslow's submission on the Public Library Review.
Our comments are now enclosed herewith and I hope they will be helpful to you when seeking to draw out themes and conclusions. If I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely
G. Allen
Assistant Director, Leisure Services
(Cultural Services)
Hounslow welcomes the Review of the Public Library Service and which provides a long overdue opportunity to consider present provision and future opportunities in this very important service area.
The library service in the London Borough of Hounslow has developed a degree of reputation in the library world for innovative management and forward looking service development, which was recognised in the Comedia study "Borrowed Time?", in which Hounslow featured as one of the case studies, and their subsequent study for the London Planning Advisory Committee "Libraries in London". The invitation to submit exildence to the Review is therefore parti- cularly welcomed and the following is modestly offered in the hope that it may be of some value to Aslib in their work for the Department of National Herit- age. If Hounslow can be of any further assistance or provide any additional information on the points briefly made below we shall be happy to do so.
To assist in the processing of our response we have attempted to organise the following points under the broad headings set out in your letter of 12 May.
1. 'Core' services
There is a clear need to redefine what ought to be included in the definition of 'core' public library services. Many public library services, certainly in urban areas, were established 100 or more years ago in a society which was socially, demographically and technologically vastly different from that in which we operate today. The pace of change and development in library provi- sion has accelerated over the last 30 years and the 1964 legislation, while providing a sound base which is still relevant, was clearly unable to recog- nise the potential for 1994 let alone the 21st century.
Your, letter refers to the "free 'core' of public library provision". We would submit that, while a part of the 'core' service should undoubtedly continue to be provided without charge, what ought to form the total 'core' service should also include a number of services for which a charge is now commonly made, thus a core service should include (not in any order of priority):
a book lending service [provided without charge]
a reservation service [for which a charge may be made] - this service is vital if the interests of minority groups and individuals are to be adequately catered for; interlibrary cooperation makes good economic sense as well as good service. While the ability to supply a particular requested item will perforce be "discretionary" the provision of such a service should not.
an audio loan service [for which a charge may be made]. Since it is now established practice that such services are generally charged for, and often, as in Hounslow self-financing, it is invidious to suggest that they should be provided free of charge on the same basis as book loans although this is ideologically sound. However this very potential to charge and self- finance removes any argument for not providing these media as a mandatory score' service. Video loan services can be valuable and successful but provi- sion will depend on local need and commercial alternatives to some extend in a way that audio provision does not.
A general information service [this terminology is used in prefer- ence to any traditional use of the expression "Reference Library"] - [provided without charge]. All survey work in recent years indicates that the use of such services is growing rapidly; traditionally library managers used "book issues" as the primary measure of output but the move away from this very limited approach has demonstrated that information services should be recog- nised as of at least equal importance to loan services. We would regard provision of information about the services of the local authority as a whole, either through a First Stop Shop approach or integrated within the library information service, as being part of that 'core'. More specific information services should be discretionary subject to local demand and ability, for example Hounslow does not provide a business information service (other than very general business information through the main service) but does operate a Tourist Information Centre as part of the library service. Included under this heading is the provision of a range of periodicals and newspapers.
local studies service [basic service provided without charge].
The collection and distribution of information about the history of the local community is a 'core-" service for which there is growing demand. The basic provision of information should be without charge but, because this area quickly extends into research, some form of charge for extended searches is entirely legitimate.
the library As a focal point for the local community/a social centre, [Access provided without charge]. This function has achieved recog- nition in recent years but is still hugely understated and undervalued in decision-making circles in many authorities, The case for this role is well stated in "Borrowed Time?" and is corroborated by local research in Hounslow.
Again, improved monitoring - the simple collection of gate count figures for example - demonstrates the extent to which libraries are used for purposes other than borrowing. The legitimacy of this role ought to be formalised.
Provision for this function comprises a number of factors but key among them are investment in the building infrastructure and ambience of library build- ings as well as investment in staff and staff training. It is crucial that this role be recognised; there is a worrying trend in times of financial constraint to consider replacing static service points with mobile services - this the community role is however the one which a mobile service can only provide to a very limited extent. This function also extends to a hitherto little recognised role in economic regeneration; London Planning Advisory Committee now recognise the key role libraries can have in planning for town centres and the impact they can have on the retail and cultural economy.
Hounslow has clear experience of this through the new library and arts centre opened in 1988.
outreach services [provided without charge]. Included here are visits to schools and community groups, community centres, hospitals, prisons etc and visits by groups to library premises, The form in which these ser- vices are delivered will vary between library authorities but some form of provision, either through a dedicated team or through locally based staff, should be regarded as a 'core' service and not an optional extra in just the same way as the library should seek to be a focal point for the community.
This group of services provide a vital form of interaction without which any library service will be inadequate. In some situations there may be a case for at least partially recovering staff costs (eg visits out to groups outside of the normal working day) but this should not prejudice disadvantaged groups.
services to disadvantaged groups [provided without charge].
The degree to which some of these services are provided will depend on local need but the obligation to make provision should, where defined need exists, be part of a 'core' service and not an option. There can be no case for not providing a good standard of "Library at Home", or housebound, service but appallingly some otherwise notable library services still do not. The need for services to ethnic minority and other special groups will vary between authorities. There should however be an obligation to provide positively for social, cultural and linguistic diversity.
school library service [for which a charge may be made]. Provi- sion of support service to school libraries eg book purchasing, advice, pro- ject collections etc, should be regarded as a 'core' service although sadly this is no longer the case in many authorities where local management of schools budgets has removed funding from this vital area. Apart from the ability of the public library service to provide a quality of service to school libraries which cannot be achieved by other means, the operation of a school library service makes sound economic sense, No public library author- ity can effectively cater for educational demand over the general library counter; either costs will rise or, more likely, the service will deteriorate beyond belief as has happened in many areas. Hounslow has strongly advanced this argument and has been successful in achieving an almost 100% buy-back into the service by local schools.
cultural activity [for which a charge may be made]. The nature and quality of provision in this area will vary enormously between authorities as will the way in which provision is made ie either through the library service as such or through an arts team who programme the libraries, and other sites, as venues. The range of service will vary between story times and craft activities for children through to highly professional concerts, shows and literary activities. Some of these activities will directly support the "literature" role of the library but others will, equally legitimately, sup- port the role as a focal point for the community and the educational function of the library.
2 . On what types of services should we concentrate our attention?/future priorities
The fairly full comment under 1. , above, will to some extent have answered this question. What we regard to be 'core' services includes a range of activities which are all essential to public library provision. The three key areas of resource are:
staff expertise - this represents an enormous resource, not only among professionally trained staff but also the local knowledge and customer skills of other staff. It should not be undervalued and cannot be replaced by other forms of resource. With the vast increase in information and knowledge and the change in emphasis in education over recent years - from being given facts to seeking out information - the skills of the librarian have become more and more important. They are "the person who knows how to find information" as opposed to the traditional role of the teacher as "the person who knows every- thing" which for teachers is now replaced with a "mentor" function.
electronic media, systems etc - are important and have a growing role but will never replace the other forms of resource either. library premises - as outlined above these are a key resource and ap- propriate investment is rewarded by heavy use by the local community as a centre of activity. Again this cannot be replaced by the other forms of resource.
A few examples of new services in Hounslow which build on all three resource areas are:
the hugely successful CentreSpace complex, sited in a shopping centre, and including library, TIC, theatre, cafe bar etc.
First Stop Shops in every library giving initial access to all Council services. [This is a good example of all three resource forms combining:
staff skills are vital, technology - fax, phone etc - makes communication work, and the community use the service because the premises are accessible and inviting].
Open Learning Collection
Business centre - providing access to computer technology
One of the traditional arguments has been as to whether library services are most closely allied to education or leisure activity. Libraries still retain a strong educational function but the informality of use sits more comfortably with a leisure structure than a formal educational base. From the user per- spective the debate is however somewhat spurious: what is education to one person will be work to another and recreation to yet another, We would how- ever recommend that Aslib looks at tendencies which emerge in education and leisure structures: we would suggest that in an education environment library services tend to be "poor relations" and service is fairly traditional, whereas in a leisure situation libraries flourish in a creative environment but do not lose their educational function, rather benefiting from the informality which the leisure environment can bring to them.
3. A framework for local choice
Clearly there is considerable variation in the communities served by public library services across the country and a degree of local choice in provision is essential. Indeed much of the innovation and good practice which we see today comes from the freedom to set local priorities and to be responsive.
Unfortunately much of the poor provision, often resulting from limited funding, also stems from local choice and a framework is needed which will address the latter without stifling the former.
We would suggest that any framework must establish a list of 'core' services.
Each of these should then have standards graded from minimum provision, which must be met, to some point of excellence above that. Local library services could be required to meet the minimum standard in every area and a higher standard in a prescribed number of other areas but have the choice to determine which areas are their areas of excellence based on local need.
Considerations will obviously be: local population - social make-up, age, ethnicity etc; nature of the community - rural, urban, travel links etc; resident/daytime population; proven and latent demand - how the service has been used hitherto - clear emphases in demand; etc.
4 . Funding
Public library services ought properly to continue to receive their primary funding through the locally raised taxation system. Among local authority services they are one of the most widely used, appealing to the widest section of the community and it is entirely appropriate that, in the tradition of the 1d rate the community combines together to fund a service which most of its members could not afford individually but can provide jointly. The debate as to what level of funding libraries should receive from this source is being conducted elsewhere (review of the "Other Services Block" and the disaggrega- tion of leisure funding). However it would benefit library services if The Public Library Review can build on the helpful but limited requirements of the 1964 Act and lay a clearer base for the level of funding needed.
Partnership with the local private sector, work with TEC'S, EEC funding etc are all of potential value in the future as supplementary funding sources. We recommend that Aslib look at these areas and consider current good practice, the potential in the future and the difficulties, chief among which we consider to be the relative lack of expertise in these areas among library managers and the time consuming nature of seeking funding against a background of reduced management structures. Work is also desperately needed to research systematically the economic impact of library services; we know of similar work for the arts (a study has been conducted in Hounslow) but whereas anecdotal evidence abounds for libraries (again there is plenty locally*) little organised research has been undertaken. see the Comedia study and the comedia/LPAC study.
The third funding area is through income. Library services have been fairly imaginative about this in recent years but levels of income generated are, and we believe always will be, a relatively small percentage of expenditure.
Charging for additional elements of the core service is not an option we wish to even debate.
4. Marketing
Marketing of library services is crucial in an environment where there is far more demand on people's "free" time than at any time in the past: libraries are competing for custom. We would suggest that of primary importance in this area is the basic need to follow proper marketing principles: to consider the market and the product, and not simply to decide to market a new or existing service without establishing why, who it is for, how to reach them etc. At the same time "marketing" is not something mythological which can exist in a vacuum: in common with many other library authorities Hounslow now operates a comprehensive business planning process which requires managers to review existing and new services annually and to determine marketing needs as part of the broader consideration.
5. Needs of particular groups
Being realistic we have suggested, under 1. above, that outreach work should be undertaken either "through a dedicated team or through locally based staff"; this point is made because some library services are now so severely underfunded that any form of outreach team is impossible. We do however firmly believe that the best way to effectively meet the needs of special groups is to have staff dedicated to work with them and to ensure that they receive due priority. Hounslow established, for the first time, a small team for this purpose in a staff reorganisation two years ago and believes this approach to be successful. It is important that such a team works closely with other library staff so that they, and their clients, do not become marginalised, but without dedicated input the needs of special groups and individuals will always be subsumed by the need to deal with the large mass of users who come through the doors.
Examples are: in the last year we have launched a special mobile vehicle de- signed and equipped to meet the needs of the least mobile members of the community and visiting residential homes, day centres, sheltered accommodation etc and providing not only loans but a full information service. Like many multiracial areas we have an Ethnic Communities Librarian who seeks to work with the local communities and input knowledge and expertise to the library staff in general. A particular success, demonstrating cooperation between library and arts staff and the local community has been Book Mela, a week long event promoting literature from a number of cultures represented locally through events and a large book sale. The traditional housebound service has been relaunched as "The library at Home" to market it as a service not only for older people but for all those who cannot use the library including for example HIV/Aids sufferers. The local studies service has worked with local communities - Asian and African Caribbean - to; develop oral history collec- tions and produce publications reflecting the contribution of these communi- ties to the more recent local history of the area. General library staff now receive training providing them with background to local ethic minority commu- nities eg their festival, the way their names are made up (family name, first name etc). We believe the success of these developments is reflected in the fact that levels of library use by ethnic minority communities almost exactly reflects the proportion of such communities shown in the 1991 Census.
The principles we would therefore advocate are to create a small team with the expertise and time to work in a dedicated way with special needs groups but to ensure that the team also works to integrate that work with the general library service and create acceptance among the wider staff.
In conclusion, we hope that the above comments are helpful and reiterate that we shall be happy to provide further information on any of the points made, or projects cited, if you so wish.
Contact:
Geoff Allen, Assistant Director of Leisure Services,
Civic Centre, Lampton Road, Hounslow, Middlesex. TW3 4DN,
Telephone: 081 862 5797 Fax: 081 862 5669