Public Library Review Secretariat
ASLIB
information House
20-24 Old Street
London
EC1V 9AP
Dear Colleague
Review of the Public Library Service
Please find enclosed North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council's evidence to the above.
It was difficult to know how best to present the information to you in a way which would be most accessible to you. What I decided finally was to mirror North Tyneside Libraries own experience, of review which we undertook and are still undertaking in the wake of severe cut backs and in the belief that a total reorganisation of the way we manage the service was the only way forward. This process is proving to be both exciting and at times, Breathtakingly frightening. I believe that all Librarian's should take this proactive approach to the Public Library Service. If they do not, they will fail to deliver a relevant service in the future.
The survey which we have undertaken locally regarding the aims of the Review are being sent to you under separate cover. I am pleased to say that we have received over 700 completed questionnaires. One of my colleagues has analysed the information on the Questionnaires and the results of this analysis will accompany the returns.
Yours sincerely
Chris Diddams
Library Co-ordinator
for Head of Community Services
A profile
Population
North Tyneside is a small Library Authority serving a population of 195,200 with a registered membership of 1 14,2 1 8.
Background
For a long period in the 1970's and 1980's North Tyneside was one of the biggest per capita spending Library Authorities in the U.K. A decline set in during the late 1980's culminating in severe cutbacks in 1991.
Management style
In the last two years a gradual expansion of the service has begun. The management style has changed radically and is now based firmly in the theories of human resource development. This has enabled the service to understand where it is now and to plan its future development. It has also resulted in many small local initiatives being taken which, together, have subtly changed the way the public perceives the service. Local needs are more readily recognised, responses are quicker and optimum use is being made of resources. The staff have greeted these changes with an enthusiasm and commitment that frequently has the senior Library Management Team running to keep up.
New foundations
All of the professional staff were involved in developing the "Key activity areas" document and the mission statement. These documents have also been fully discussed with all library management staff (Scale 3 upwards) and we are currently involved in discussions with Scale 1/2 Assistants. Amendments will be made to the documents in the light of these discussions and they will remain open to amendment in the future.
Staffing
There are 23 full-time equivalent posts for Librarians and 74.3 full-time equivalent posts for support staff. All staff from Scale 3 Senior Assistants upwards are considered to be part of the management structure. Scale 1/2 Assistants are encouraged to offer and put into practice initiatives for improving the quality of the service and developing it within the key activity areas.
Libraries
There are 16 service points, three of which are open 42.5 hours per week and the remaining 13 an average of 16.8 hours per week.
Performance
The total book issues last year were up by 2% to 2.075.000
Audio cassette issues were up by 4% to 64,000
Compact disc issues were up by 25% to 47,000
Video issues were up by 41 % to 126,1 00
Book requests were up by 27% to 14,100
Recordings requests were up by 20% to 2,000
Enquiries were up by I I% to 5 5,000
These heartening statistics follow many years of slow decline and can only be attributable to the new more open and committed management style and the empowerment of staff at the point of delivery.
The number of customer visits to the libraries was 1,400,000
Book awareness & book lending
Since the development of the "Key activity areas" document, library staff are able to focus on the important issues and prioritise. Although the key areas themselves are not prioritised, agreement has been reached that the promotion of books and reading is the prime objective. This has lead to many small initiatives including displays, readings, booklists
Children
There is a specialist Children & Young People's Library Service which delivers an integrated service to children through the Public Libraries, 96 schools and 55 preschool groups.
Older people
The Homes and Housebound staff deliver a personal service of books, sound and video recordings and information to 400 housebound individuals and bulk book loans to 98 residential homes for older people,
Stock
The stock comprises 432,000 books, 240 magazine & newspaper titles, 23,000 sound recordings and 5,000 videos.
Automated system
The GEAC/LIBS 100 system covers all the libraries and includes information on all books and recordings in stock plus relevant information on all library members. The catalogue is accessed by staff via terminals and via a microfiche catalogue by customers. Should any upgrading of the system make accessing by terminal more user friendly, it is likely that these would be made available to customers in the larger libraries. It is unlikely, however, that the fiche catalogue would be abandoned. It has many advantages over terminal access.
Other facilities
Customers are offered the use of microfiche readers, a microfilm reader/printer, manual & electronic typewriters, photocopiers, Fax machines, personal computers, room hire and study carrell hire. On-line searching is undertaken by staff on behalf of customers.
People with disabilities
Access to buildings is gradually being made easier. As far as possible, high and low shelves are being removed. Loop systems and Minicoms are available at the three main libraries. Sound recordings are available free of charge to people with sight impairment or serious physical disabilities. Sub-titled videos are available free of charge to deaf people. Library information is being reproduced in large print. Braille and on tape.
Ethnic minorities
A good relationship has been built up with the Bangladeshi and Chinese communities. Books in Bengall are provided and one of the libraries is a venue for English classes for Bangladeshi women. Library information has been reproduced in the main minority languages.
Publications
The publications programme falls into three areas. Promotional information about the library service is being produced on a rolling programme by the Libraries' Publicity Team. Staff working at all the libraries are being trained in desk top publishing and produce posters and book marks as a matter of course to bring information about events and services to the attention of their customers.
The publications which are produced for sale to the general public are all of local interest and range from walks leaflets to poetry to works of local history. There has been a marked increase in the production of these publications over the last two years. The Library Service works closely with Northern Voices, a local community publisher/ worker-writer group, in the production of a majority of these publications. The publications programme is self-funding.
The third area of publication involves those of a specialist nature which are produced by the Children & Young People's Library Service. Included are guides for teachers in setting up school libraries and teaching information skills. These publications sell nationally and one ("Learning to Learn") is on Ofsted's recommended reading list.
Budget
The budget for the service in 1994-5 is £2,112,000 and the income last year was £1975000.
Evidence From North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council
Introduction
Because North Tyneside Libraries was faced with severe cuts in resources it was necessary to face up to the need to review what the key objectives of the service should be. The exercise of review which is now being attempted nationally was conducted in North Tyneside in 1992-3 using the Office of Arts & Libraries document 'Setting Objectives for Public Library Services' as a basis for discussion.
There is confidence in this response to Aslib because of the strength which grew from those discussions and the resulting live document which explains North Tyneside Libraries' "Key Activity Areas".
The hours of discussion and debate by the Librarians highlighted the impossibilities of separating elements of the library service from each other. Is "promoting and exploiting information regardless of format" furthering our objective of encouraging reading, or is it providing stock relevant to the needs of the community, or providing effective access to information, or supporting life-long self-development? Of course it is relevant to them all, as well as the other five 'Key Activities' we defined.
It is impossible to overstate the belief, gained from this tough continuing process, that all the services provided by North Tyneside Libraries are inter-dependent, mutually supportive and locally vital.
1. Importance of the Review
The Review is crucial to the future of the Public Library Service. It represents the first occasion on which either users or providers have been asked nationally to offer evidence and views which will be used to plan the future development of the service, .It will allow users and providers an opportunity to convince government of the importance which they attach to the Public Library Service.
It will offer government an opportunity to acknowledge the importance and value of the Public Library Service.
The conclusions will secure the place of the Public Library Service in future planning at both local and national level.
1.1. Challenges. it is unfortunate that the Government has chosen to present so many challenges almost simultaneously to a service which is already under great pressure. The order in which these challenges have been presented has also created operational problems which have affected staff s confidence in continuing to provide a quality service.
The pressure currently being experienced by the service comes from three main sources: a general reduction in resources, escalation of demand by disparate customer needs, and a lack of national leadership.
Of the challenges facing the public library service:-
The Library Commission
The Public Library Review
The Local Government Review
Competitive tendering in public libraries
only the first two have significant credibility as factors in its future development.
1.2 The Library Commission. Although the Commission is not the subject for investigation here, the point must be made quite emphatically that the Commission should have been the precursor to the Review and that the Review should not have been contemplated until the Commission was safely in place.
The opportunity to have a lead body representing the interests of, and with the support of, both service providers and service users has been thrown away. Only a complete re-thinking of the Commission's aims, in the light of the reaction from Public Library Authorities, who have overwhelmingly expressed disappointment, will allow the Commission to become a valid and key player in shaping and implementing the Review.
2. Outcomes from the Review
2.1 General. Even without the Commission ...
* The Review must present recommendations which support the views of library users and providers and underline the importance of the Public Library Service. The recommendations should be based on best practice and seek to bring the service nationally to an agreed standard.
2.2 Building on the success of the Public Library Service.
Traditionally, Public Libraries have offered low-cost, value-for-money services which make best use of their own and any other resources which they have been able to engage in order to serve the needs of their customers. Their success has been impressive. At least 50% of the population of the U.K. uses public libraries. This success should not be seen as an opportunity to cash in on the obvious popularity of public libraries.
* The Review should seek to strengthen the service because it represents an effective, low-cost way of supporting the community in its search for self-development, literacy, information, communication and recreation.
2.3 Local Choice. The single greatest weakness of the Public Libraries Act is its failure to describe what constitutes "a comprehensive and efficient library service". Paradoxically, it has also been its greatest strength. This ambiguous phrase has been the single factor which has allowed public libraries to develop strengths in some areas and limit growth in others, in response to the need to provide local choice. It has also allowed some Library Authorities to provide an inadequate service.
* The Review should result in Library Authorities adhering to prescribed standards of service, allowing local flexibility, choice, and responsiveness to need to build on these.
2.4 More appropriate use of central funding. it has, unfortunately, become fashionable in recent years for government funding to be directed towards setting up information services without reference to existing services and expertise. This has resulted in duplication of resourcing in the form of personnel, buildings and equipment. Had Public Libraries been recognised as the single most important information providers, substantial savings could have been made. Librarians are unparalleled in their ability to network, in maximising the use of their resources, and in their ability to deliver many and varied services without empire building.
Librarians have failed to successfully promote their own abilities. This may have resulted in Public Libraries being overlooked in favour of new start-up services.
* The Review should reverse this trend by recognising the capabilities of the Public Library Service and the people who run it. It should recommend that the Library Commission should take a lead in promoting the value of Public Libraries and ensuring their involvement, within their recognised terms of reference, both locally and nationally.
3. The Issues.
This Section is based on North Tyneside Libraries' own Key Activity Areas. Each issue is central to the service we provide.
3.1 The importance of books and reading. Whatever advances are made in IT in the future, there is, as yet, no conceptual replacement for the book. Books have an intrinsic attraction. They are cheap to produce. They offer confidentiality for the user. If properly organised, they are easy to access. They can be used over and over again. Once the skill of reading has been mastered, there is no barrier between the book and the reader. More and more Librarians are re-evaluating the importance of books and reading. They are discovering a potent response from the communities they serve. They are demanding from their staff deeper and wider understanding of books and an enhanced ability to promote their use.
* The Review should emphasise the importance of books and reading and the predominant role which Public Libraries play in promoting them. It should emphatically restate the necessity for a "free" book lending service. It should recommend minimum standards of provision which reflect, at least., current average provision.
3.2 The role of public libraries in literacy. Literacy allows individuals to access information at all levels and in all formats. It is the key to personal empowerment.
There is a popular misconception that modern developments in IT take away the need for reading and writing. Constant contact with these developments (personal computers, on-line databases, CD-Rom, etc.) reinforces the belief of Librarians and Teachers alike that communication skills of a very high order are required to deal with them successfully. The standard for on-line searching, for instance, requires the operator to conduct at least two searches per day in order to be able to access a database efficiently. Even the simplest search on the most rudimentary of databases, however, requires the searcher to have a good knowledge of spelling, grammar and linguistic conventions.
* The Review should recommend that Public Libraries be at the forefront of the campaign for universal literacy. Not only should they serve the needs of those with literacy skills but they should be active in offering those skills and should work closely with organisations such as Albsu.
3.3 Customers' stock needs
3.3.1 Content. Librarians have become skilled in recognising their customers' needs and evaluating the differing ways in which those needs can be met. Librarians were amongst the first professions to recognise the importance of management information with regard to customer needs. Almost everything countable is counted. Automation has enhanced the process enormously enabling the information to be fed back into the stock selection process. Statistics of borrowing include a break-down by age and sex, library, and category of stock borrowed. Information is gathered on customers' requests and enquiries. There are suggestion schemes, surveys, profiles, Library Clubs, open days, leaflet drops, local networking and, of course, talking to customers.
* The Review should recommend a wide range of ways in which library users can be involved in the selection of stock for their library. All libraries should actively undertake an agreed selection of ways from the range.
3.3.2 Format. The printed word in hard copy is likely to remain the staple format for the forseeable future (see para. 3. 1) but it is important that Public Librarians continue to evaluate each new method of communicating knowledge as it is developed. Public Libraries now commonly offer books, newspapers and magazines in hard copy. They offer similar or alternative coverage on microfilm, microfiche, audio tape, video tape, CD-Rom and via on-line searching. Their library catalogues and information databases are also commonly computerised. The profession's influence has been crucial in developing and supporting such initiatives as talking books on ordinary cassettes and books in large print for people with sight impairment. It is quite common for Public Libraries to issue information on cassette and in Braille.
* Librarians have been amongst the first to try out new developments in communication technology and to harness the best. They expect their systems to be user-friendly, reliable and consistent. The Review should recommend that the Library Commission use its influence to ensure the development of low-cost systems appropriate to public library needs. It should also recommend that libraries retain flexibility of choice with regard to format.
3.4 Access to information. Public Libraries are the single most important information source for the general public. Public Librarians are part of an information network which serves the needs of individuals and organisations. They seek to gather that information likely to be most needed by the community they serve and to make it accessible in the most appropriate way.
For the most part, Public Libraries make this information available free of charge. In this respect they are likely soon to be unique. With the recent boom in the information industry, it is becoming commonplace for organisations to charge for information which would once have been freely available.
With the widening of the gap between the empowered and the unempowered, Public Libraries should be seen as government's main weapon 'M redressing the information balance.
* The Review should recommend that Public Libraries continue to offer their information services to their communities without charge, It should recommend that they seek to target those people and groups whose needs are greatest. The flexibility which allows Librarians to choose the most appropriate way of accessing and passing on information should be retained. There is some capacity for charging for specialist information services, but this should not be at the cost of the general information service nor to those targeted at people and groups whose needs are greatest.
3.5 Self-development and education. Since its beginnings, the Public Library Service has been seen as an essential resource by the majority of individuals who seek to develop their knowledge or skills. Many people use their Public Library as their sole support in this endeavour. Others use it as one support amongst many. Providers of education rely on the support of the Public Library to underpin their own resources.
* It is right that Public Libraries should occupy this role. It is not acceptable, however, that their diminishing resources should be commandeered to the extent that they have been, and increasingly are being, to serve the interests of those undertaking formal education. The Review should recommend that the Library Commission be instrumental in ensuring that Standards for library provision within schools and higher education establishments be reviewed, recognised and adhered to.
3.6 Local Studies. If a Public Library Service claims only one "area of excellence" this will be its Local History or Local Studies Service. Because of the deep interest many people have for their own and their community's history and the enthusiasm with which Librarians have met the challenge, there has grown up a D. acceptance of the Public Library's pre-eminent role in this area. This particular service is surely unique in that Librarian and customer are inter-dependent. The Librarian regards customers as the most important resource and is skilled in recording the information collected and in making it accessible to others. Local businesses and the media often rely heavily on the Local Studies Service for background information, facts and photographs. The Librarian also frequently undertakes to assist enquirers with research, both historical and genealogical, which would be beyond their means if they were to use the services of a commercial agency.
Most Libraries which have a publishing programme base it solidly on local history. These publishing programmes are generally self-financing and serve to establish and enhance a town or area's identity.
Reminiscence work is usually closely allied with Local History and is probably the newest area into which Librarians have moved. It is an ideal use of their inter-personal and research skills and has become a natural part of the services offered to older people by many Public Libraries.
* The Review should recommend that all Public Library Services carry out the function of gathering and disseminating information regarding the area they serve and that this service remains free of charge except where specialist research is undertaken on behalf of an individual.
3.7 Libraries in the community. in surveys, Libraries are shown to be one of local government's most recognisable and highly regarded services.
Public Libraries are seen by many communities as crucial both as a facility and as a service. The community extracts enjoyment, information, self-development and skills from its Library's resources. It uses it as a conduit for imparting information. It uses it for meetings. Community members of all ages enjoy readings, recitals and storytelling in the Library. They meet their friends in the Library. They go into the building without qualms and feel comfortable within its walls. They anticipate a friendly greeting and get help when they need it.
When members of the community are young, the Library may be their first experience of a public institution and it will be a good experience. When they are old or infirm and housebound they can depend on their Library to visit them with books, recordings and information.
Increasingly Public Libraries, in common with their parent Authorities, are seeking ways to make their services relevant to as wide an audience as possible. The needs of people with disabilities, people from ethnic minorities, older people, children, and people who are housebound, are being addressed and becoming part of the planning process. It is also part of the development programme of many libraries to make them more user-friendly, to take away the bureaucracy and mystique, to present a positive face.
The dispatch with which some Local Authorities have seen fit to reduce library services reflects their lack of understanding of the library's role within the community. In their eagerness to create new Council facilities and information services Local Authorities often overlook the abilities of their own Library Services. In this respect, Local Government is making the same errors of judgement as does Central Government.
* The Review should recommend that Local Authorities' general planning process always includes the library needs of the community. Local Authorities should involve their Library Service in any areas where the skills of library staff are relevant.
3.8 Human resource development. Public Libraries generally have a reputation for making a significant commitment to training and developing their staff. Whilst taking advantage of any corporate training which their parent Authorities offer, most library training is done in-house or co-operatively through the profession. "Customer care" has become a fashionable phrase but it is only meaningful where an organisation empowers its staff. Customer needs have been the single strongest influence on how Public Libraries have developed and are the surest way we have of deciding the future of the service. The development of open or participative management by some Library Authorities has proved that effective management can release staff skills and cause numerous small improvements to be made to the service at all levels in response to customer needs. These improvements and developments happen because all staff are involved in the development process and understand clearly what the organisational objectives are.
* Library staff should continue to be encouraged along avenues to development which equip them to deliver a quality service which is responsive and innovative. The skills which are required of library staff should be made manifest by the Review and a proper value placed on them. Library Authorities need to understand more clearly the enormous benefits that can accrue to their customers through adopting a responsive, supportive management style,
3.9 Staffing. There is a wide diversity in the levels of staffing nationally. Many Library Authorities have experienced severe staffing cutbacks because of a general reduction in Council funding. It is possible that none of this has been planned and the result has been that cuts to library provision have been ad hoc. Where sweeping cuts have been made it is more likely that the Library Service has had to deal with realities and actually manage the change. Where the cuts have been insidious, the results are likely to have created a slow decline in service level which is difficult to control. In 1962, the Ministry of Education began an investigation into the Standards of Public Library Service which, in 1976, resulted in a three volume report "The Staffing Of Public Libraries". It is indicative of the governmental approach to the Public Library Service that this report is prefaced by the following statement: "It is emphasised that, with the present constraints on public expenditure, the recommendations should not be used to justify any increase in the volume of expenditure and that no additional financial or manpower resources can be made available for the implementation of the Report s recommendations." It is difficult to remember whether or not the Report was influential.
More recent reports from the Office of Arts & Libraries such as "Keys to Success : Performance indicators for Public Libraries", and "Setting Objectives for Public Library Services", together with the findings of the Review itself pave the way for a skills-based realistic re-assessment of the staffing needs of Public Libraries.
* The Review should recommend that the Library Commission investigate the staffing needs of Public Libraries.
3.10 Information Technology. One important factor, which seem alone in recognising, is that of appropriateness. IT inevitably is presented as all or nothing, regardless of the age, experience, or needs of the end-user. Libraries invariably attempt to provide materials and facilities which are appropriate to the user. IT sometimes fits the bill - but often does not.
This can give rise to the impression that Public Libraries have no truck with IT. Nothing could be further from the truth. IT is an important tool and has been welcomed by Librarians, many of whom are gifted in its use and well able to interpret its future importance in Public Libraries. IT is, however, merely a medium and not the message.
* The Review should not be concerned with the means of service delivery; its concern should be with the range of services provided and how these may be adapted to local needs.
3.11 The Network. From a narrow perspective, the salami-slicing of library services into "core" and "chargeable" elements may seem reasonable. However, this coercion of the library service into a market-defined framework ignores the fundamental importance in libraries of networking and partnership,
No library service in this country, no matter how well funded, is capable of answering all the needs of its users. Every library authority is part of a regional, of a national, and of an international network that means that anybody in this country has access to the ,written resources of the world.
Likewise, every library authority will have links and contacts with like-minded organisations for mutual support and benefit, for instance CABS, Adult Education, Basic Literacy, community groups, volunteer organisations, ...
Also, innovation within libraries spreads quickly and easily by means of the mutual contacts. A good idea in one place is soon shared with everybody.
These are not minor matters. All this networking is based on a willingness to share freely with each other. The fragmentation of library services will inevitably erode this willingness.
The reality is that, in effect, we have a national library service delivered locally through a web of shared interests and partnerships. The whole is much greater than the sum of the parts. The danger is that by concentrating on the parts, we lose the whole.
* Networking should be recognised by the Review as the foundation of the success of the Library Service. The danger is that arbitrarily distinguishing between services could undermine the support mechanisms that networking provides. The Review should acknowledge this danger. Furthermore, the deliberations of the Review on "chargeable" services should take into account the cost disbenefits of disengagement from the library network that charging implies.
4. Funding. Public Libraries' core services are generally funded by Local Government. In order to contribute to the budget, most Public Libraries earn an income. This income generally arises from services and products which it is appropriate for the Library to offer.
Some services which Public Libraries offer, such as the loan of audio/visual materials and the production of publications for sale, might be seen as suitable candidates for privatisation. The success of the Public Library Service in these areas, however, is specifically attributable to their ability to provide complementary materials and a range of core skills and resources. If these skills and resources had to be duplicated in order to make such services stand-alone initiatives, they would cease to be viable.
"Core" and "chargeable" services are not necessarily mutually exclusive, unless arbitrarily defined. The only true determinant of a Library Service is local need, and charges (or otherwise!) should be determined locally.
* Local choice in the Library Service can only be maintained if it continues to be funded locally and be accountable locally. The Review should recommend that minimum standards for funding should be set for comparable Library Authorities, based on set standards of service provided.
The Review should seek to define what constitutes a library service. Degrees of importance may be placed on such definitions, but charging for services should not be a consideration.