The SCL and volunteer-led libraries.

Today the Society of Chief Librarians (SCL) published a speech given by their incoming President Ciara Eastell on her/their future priorities.

In the pre-release they say;

"She emphasised the enormous role that libraries play as enablers for local people and communities, laid plans to create a Learning Offer to expand on SCL’s current 4 Universal Offers, reaffirmed SCL’s commitment to strengthen libraries’ digital capacity and vowed to help libraries boost advocacy efforts locally and nationally in the run up to the 2015 elections. SCL will also develop more learning resources for library staff, especially in the areas of digital leadership."

and in the speech itself she talks more about the Universal Offers, developing a digital strategy, boosting advocacy efforts leading up to the 2015 elections, supporting staff & workforce development and about libraries and library staff being "key enablers for local people and local communities".

all of this is to be applauded, welcomed and supported but on page 3 of the speech she/they drop the following bombshell;

"I would like us to explore how we might develop resources and a framework to

support community-led libraries, recognising that there is a real practical need in

many of our organisations to have resources that will help to grow and develop

sustainable services."


Let me just remind you, before I say anything more on this, that the SCL is a membership organisation made up of the Heads of public library services, services that are publicly funded and are a statutory requirement under the 1964 Act. It's also worth pointing out at this point that many or the majority of volunteer-led libraries are now positioned outside that statutory remit. So why you may well ask is an organisation that should be fully supporting statutory library services proposing to use part of it's scarce resources to support what many see as book exchanges/internet cafes/community centres?
Existing volunteer-led libraries and the communities forced to consider this option already have a extremely well funded (£6m+) advice and support network provided by the Communities Knowledge Hub Libraries (CKHL), an offshoot of Locality, and Jim Brooks from Little Chalfont Community Library who receives funding to advise others on this from the DCMS, or so I've been told?

And how do the SCL intend to ensure that the initiatives and crucial roles they've outlined for public libraries are firstly taken up by volunteer-led libraries and secondly delivered in a 'comprehensive and efficient' manner? Sustainability and viability are the crux of the issue here, but it seems that not only have the SCL decided to give up any resemblance of a fight to fully protect the profession and service but have also come to the conclusion that volunteer-led libraries are a viable and sustainable option. What evidence have they based this upon?

It comes across to me as a very contradictory and muddled message but as I'll probably be told by it's supporters "a realistic and pragmatic one"!

But I'm not a great believer in the stance taken by many in my profession and also by some campaigners that "anything is better than nothing' and that's it's better to hand libraries over to volunteers in the hope that some day a Utopian government will be elected which will then fully re-instate the professional service. This is just politically naive. Every party (except for TUSC and the Greens maybe?) has adopted the neo-liberal agenda and every library handed to volunteers and taken out of the statutory service is another notch in the bedpost of Localism and another step towards shrinking the state and dismantling the public sector.

Now more than ever communities need a professionally run and publicly funded and managed service and it's my view that we should be debunking the austerity myth and fighting tooth and nail to keep every library publicly funded and properly resourced and to keep every one of those libraries staffed by paid & trained/qualified library workers. This is not about vilifying volunteers its about vilifying the governments agenda. Not to do this, in my opinion, is a betrayal of our users/members/borrowers/readers, the wider communities we serve and our ethos.



 

Volunteer limitations!

Angela Montague, a member of the Save Lincolnshire Libraries Campaign, has very kindly brought to my attention the following report about a 'Portas Pilot' in Market Rasen that she was involved with. The part of the report relating to volunteers could raise concerns with those planning to take on the running of local libraries and other such initiatives;


"At every stage in our journey
we have underestimated
the time, resourcing and
administration requirements
of what is required to
maintain this initiative."

'Volunteering has been

our Achilles heel.'

"Our volunteer board is exhausted - the
responsibility and physical demands of
delivery, combined with pressure for
transparency and inclusion have taken their
toll. Additionally, initiatives that we hoped
would be run by additional volunteers
have met with patchy support and have
necessitated much more management than
we anticipated. Our fall back position has
been employed management resource. Our
experience has been that pilots may take
many months to generate revenues that
see them attaining a sustainable financial
position. Portas funds gave us the backing to
implement our ideas - but not all can or will
be taken forward beyond the pilot period."

 

Croydon, 'Jack and Jills' and stamping books or selling stamps with books?

I've been busy, what with visit a to Croydon Central Library, meeting William Sieghart, helping to draft the Speak up for Libraries Manifesto, writing my own submission to the Sieghart Inquiry and helping to draft one for Voices for the Library I haven't had much time to blog.

So here's some stories that have caught my eye;

First the good news - It looks as if Labour have wrestled back control of Croydon Council from the Conservatives which could mean, if they keep their promise, that the libraries contract could be reviewed and the service brought back in-house? This couldn't happen soon enough in my opinion, Croydon Libraries are a mess as i saw for myself when i recently visited the Central Library with Elizabeth Ash of the Save Croydon Libraries Campaign, i will be blogging in detail about my visit soon.


I spotted an interesting article on the Guardian site a few days ago which highlighted some of the potential risks of shared services and collocation and that is asking public service staff to multi-task and become "Jack and Jills of all trades". Although the article specifically used library staff as an example the concerns raised about 'deprofessionalisation' and 'skills training' are cross-sectoral.
"It is good that public service workers are being granted greater flexibility. But there are two main limitations to this move to greater genericism. The first is that multi-tasking in an era of cost cutting can look a lot like deprofessionalisation."
"A second limitation is that skills training continues to be sectoral, failing to catch up with the move to genericism."
With a concerted push towards 'hubs' library staff will be under greater pressure to adopt the 'one-stop-shop' approach and this could if not managed properly and without sufficient negotiation and joined-up thinking lead to the erosion of professional skills and a dilution of the core library offer.

Leading on from this I also spotted a story about Stradbroke Library in Suffolk hosting a post office, what worried me about this was the claim that the library service would be running the post office service. Not only does this raise the same concerns outlined in the 'Jack and Jills' Guardian article but if it's true does it mean that library workers will be doing work that should be done by post office workers? (if I'm wrong on this then please let me know) Shouldn't we in these times of an outright attack on public services and jobs be supporting fellow workers and union members, what ever happened to solidarity?

 

GLL and the most visited library in London?

Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL), the ‘charitable social enterprise’ that runs both Greenwich and Wandsworth Libraries recently issued the following statement;

“Less than two years after taking on the contract to manage libraries within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, charitable Social Enterprise GLL is celebrating the fact that Woolwich is home to the most visited library in the Capital, according to the latest statistics from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA).

Woolwich library recorded nearly 900,000 visits during the 2012-13 period, a 56% increase on the previous year and more than any other London library, while stock issues (the number of books lent) were up by 5%.  On the busiest days over 3,000 customers pass through its doors making Woolwich one of the most popular lending libraries in the UK”

The thing they didn't mention was that the library is in the same building (opened July 2011) as a council service centre, the place where Greenwich residents go to pay their council tax, parking fines etc. But we’ll come to that point later.

I recently popped into the “most visited library in the Capital” and these are my observations;

Off main square, new shiny glass fronted building housing library and service centre. Next door to a large Tesco’s.

Large open plan area, bright but strange retro feel with blacks, greys and reds. Lots of seats, sofas and tables, people lounging/sleeping. 60+ public pc’s plus IT training suite plus laptop points. Busy, lots of people studying.

Very small ref collection with some very out of date editions (1992, 1995 etc.) Adult fiction and non-fiction full of new books, shelves unusually tidy! Many empty or half-empty shelves, hardly anyone browsing or reading books. Small dvd collection.

Small ‘teen zone’ and a community languages sections.

Busy, noisy and lively U5’s session taking place (good to see). Lack of quiet study space, only in bookable rooms?

Coffee and food vending machines and other merchandise to buy. 3 self-serve kiosks, 2 out of order and council services kiosk switched off.

4 staff visible, 1 on junior desk, 1 on enquiries desk, 1 on PC booking desk and 1 shelving. Staff dressed similarly, uniform?

Only open till 7pm 2 days a week and not open Sundays.

Get the feeling popularity due to location and collocation with service centre, do footfall figures include those for service centre? Also emphasis on IT facilities/training, although online resources pretty basic.

Now back to the issue of the footfall figures, I’m in no doubt it’s a popular library and that “On the busiest days over 3,000 customers pass through its doors” and that its popularity is partly to do with its location and collocation but are all of those 3,000 ‘customers’ using the library?

Do GLL include service centre users in their data? If they do then they wouldn’t be the only ones, from the information I’ve been given it’s fairly common.

As you can see from the twitter conversation below they deny it but couldn’t give me details about how they filter the data to exclude other users of the building.

Alan Wylie ‏@wylie_alan Jan 12

At Woolwich Library do you include service centre users in your footfall stats? @GLL_UK 

•

1.

GLL ‏@GLL_UK Jan 13

Thanks for your tweet @wylie_alan  and no, we don't include service centre users in our footfall stats

o

2.

Alan Wylie ‏@wylie_alan Jan 13

@GLL_UK  thanks, interesting, how do you filter the data to exclude those entering the library just to access the service centre?

Public Libraries UK Plc or the ACE/Locality report on 'enterprising libraries'.

I'd just like to start off this post by saying that I'm not an academic so i do not have the ability to analyse a report in a trained and rigorous manner, these are just my initial untrained thoughts.


Recently Locality, the well funded armed wing of the DCLG, published a report entitled 'Enabling Enterprise in Libraries'. The report was commissioned by the Arts Council England (ACE), the underfunded unarmed wing of the DCMS.
 
The report looks at;
 

"if/how income generation might underpin a

step-change or service transformation in tangible locations, against a backdrop of

falling visitor numbers and growing interest in e-lending."
 
not just 'income generation but;
 
"significant
income generation"

In the opening paragraph they say that they are not (yet) looking at income generation as a replacement for core funding but as an add-on to improve services and make them more resilient.

They also say that out of all the people they surveyed the ones most interested in 'signicant income generation' are those from social and community enterprise libraries, i take from this they mean SocEnts, Trusts, Mutuals and the like. Although they do say that a small number of public library authorities have employed specific staff to "facilitate retail trading".

But what about volunteer-led so-called 'libraries', according to the Community Knowledge Hub for Libraries, under a telling section called 'How can a library make money?';

"If you are acting as an entirely independent Community Owned Library then you can largely choose what you charge for with the same kinds of freedom as any other enterprise."

but

"Before deciding what you would like to charge for you should be clear about the purpose of your library so that your pricing policy is not at odds with your Social Objectives e.g. charging for book borrowing when you are seeking to encourage reading among lower income families."

In the 'Enabling Enterprise in Libraries' report itself the issue of 'ethos' also pops up;

"The project seeks to support providers to intensify or widen their area of

operations in an enterprising way -

without losing or compromising their ethos

and core objectives"

So they are obviously very aware that many will see the raising of significant income from retail and commercial activities highly problematic for a statutory public service especially one that has at its core the belief that reading, learning and information should be free at the point of access. But then again the NHS also has this at its core and it hasn't stopped them from privatising and commercialising that beloved institution.

In the summary findings of the report they claim that;

"There is growing acceptance of ‘Enterprising Councils’, and an entrepreneurial culture underpins social and community enterprise libraries, although the same cannot be said of all volunteer-led libraries"

I can't disagree with this statement, over the last two decades, or longer, there has been a movement towards a neoliberal agenda in library policy and management as chronicled by Margaret Greene and David McMenemy in their paper "The emergence and impact of neoliberal ideology on UK public library policy, 1997-2010"

And this movement is being pushed further forward by the growth of alternative models of library service delivery by SocEnts, private companies, trusts, mutuals and independent volunteer-led 'libraries'.

The research is only at the first stages but as the summary findings makes clear ACE sees the development of income generation skills for staff/volunteers as a priority;

"Whilst there are challenges surrounding the capacity and skills of employees/volunteers who might be tasked with the design and delivery of income generating activities, development of the same is cited as a priority for future action in Arts Council England’s response to Envisioning the Library of the Future"

So what can we expect, a rise in charges and fines? Well no as they say they are looking for 'significant income generation' which examples of can be found at; http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/campaigning/increasing-income

So the next time you issue a book to someone, if you ever get the chance due to self-serve, ask them the question "do you want fries with that?", your library buying new books or providing kids events might depend, in the future, on the the answer being "yes and a large coke"!

A library 'solution' without the staff!

Last night, Mick Fortune, an expert on library technologies especially RFID, reviewed a new product from Bibliotecha, a fully serviced staff-less library. It's called Open + and is described by the company itself as;

“a complete solution which extends library opening hours and improves service to the community” which “can automatically control and monitor building access, self-service kiosks, public access computers, lighting, alarms, public announcements and patron safety.”

Apparently the model has been piloted in Leeds and 60 users signed up for the service in the first 3 weeks of operation, which to me seems an incredibly low figure.

Now there are many who would argue that volunteer-led libraries are basically staff-less and that the whole concept is not a new one with Denmark, Taipei, US and Ireland leading the way but one thing that worries me is that this 'new' model will be used by councils purely as a cost cutting exercise.
You've got to remember that the public library sector especially in England is incredibly fragmented with no real leadership, standards or strategy, with each local authority cutting, closing and divesting until a legal challenge lands on the desk of the borough solicitor.

Mick has pointed out to me that the Danish model didn't result in job losses and says in his review that;

"Bibliotheca make it very clear in all the marketing literature that their intention is NOT to accelerate the demise of the public librarian"

But, and its a big but, this is not how most local authorities will see it.

Mick also goes on to mention 'My Community', another Bibliotecha product, which although is not RFID or library related is being marketed by the company as an add-on for self-serve, it basically allows library users to access other council services, which could be seen as library budgets being used to hasten the downfall of other public services. Basically if you can pay for your council tax through a library kiosk then councils could use this to cut dedicated & trained council tax staff. Lambeth Libraries have recently invested in this product.


Bibliotecha also claim that Open+ will;


"increase community value

Increasing library access and new service delivery to meet the needs
of the whole community. Increase membership, footfall, value and secure
a resilient and relevant service for present and future generations."

 

 

 

now some might say that this is a highly contentious and inflammatory statement, especially in the current climate. Do communities want staff-less libraries? Have they got a choice? Is there a mandate for this? Is a library a library without library staff?

In Ireland recently a union representing library staff, Impact, called on it's members not to cooperate in plans to pilot staffless libraries there so it will be interesting to see what response, if any, there is here to all this.

"So, for the cost of some computer cameras and a card-based door entry system, your library can also get rid of all of its staff apparently. While I am not opposed to a holds-pickup station somewhere in your community, I do think it’s a bit of a stretch to call it a “library.”
http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/2009/12/stafflesslibrary.html


for more on unstaffed or staff-less libraries see:

http://dontprivatiselibraries.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/unstaffed-libraries-contradiction-in.html
http://slq.nu/?article=volume-46-no-3-2013-5



 

A library glossary #2

In January 2012 I wrote a post listing some of the new library buzz-words/concepts and my interpratations of them see;
http://dontprivatiselibraries.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/library-glossary.html

and it's now time to add some more.


'Associate Libraries' - volunteer-led 'libraries' in Sheffield.

'Co-operative Libraries' - volunteer-led 'libraries' in Bexley.

'Community Book Exchanges' - what most library campaigners prefer to call volunteer-led 'libraries'.

'Inspiring Libraries' - what Hertfordshire CC calls it's plan to cut libraries.

'An enhanced online offer' - what Hounslow Council call their plans to cut the book budget by 50%.

'Community' - often used by local authorities, councillors, politicians and policy holders when describing a decision, new model of service or/and cuts that have been forced upon a community, for example 'community hub' or 'community library' see my post on this http://dontprivatiselibraries.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/lets-reclaim-community.html

'Save or Saved' - often used by the local/national press, councillors, volunteers etc to describe what happens when a library becomes volunteer-led, when in fact all that really has been achieved, in many peoples view, is keeping the building open. For a classic example see; http://www.theguardian.com/local-government-network/2013/dec/12/library-cuts-volunteers-saved-camdens-libraries

'Little Free Libraries' - tiny wooden structures containing books, which are not 'public libraries', often found in the US but now appearing in some trendier UK communities, if you can call Walthamstow trendy?

Public Sector Mutual - an agenda being pushed by the Cabinet Office to offload more public services and open them up to the rigours of the market. York Libraries and Archives have gone down this route with Birmingham maybe to follow.
Not, and i repeat Not, a road to Damascus moment when the government suddenly decided that it wanted more worker control in the public sector.

'Co-operative Councils' - a model favoured by the Fabians and the Labour Party to dress up cuts, with Lambeth as the testing ground. Not, and i repeat not, a road to Damascus moment when the Labour Party suddenly decided that it wanted more worker control and community involvement in the public sector.

'Devon Centre' - a collocated, shared services kind of library type thing in Devon.

'Library Consultation' - a process whereby a council makes a decision to cut, close or divest libraries then asks the public to ratify it and even if they say NO they still go ahead with it. See Lincolnshire, Herefordshire, Doncaster, Gloucestershire etc.

'Broader Community Offer' - no one is quite sure what this means but it's been heard mentioned in Devon.

'Working Smarter or leaner' - delivering a service with fewer staff.

'Service reform/Synergies/Doing more with less/Restructuring/Reorganisation' - delivering a service with less staff and a reduced budget.

'Library Core, Library Local and Library Extra' - a 3-tier library structure in Staffordshire with town centre folk getting more and rural folk getting less.

'Customer Service Assistant (CSA)' - a library assistant.

'Innovate don't save' - a phrase beloved of the self-styled library guru who has given up the fight and expects everyone else to. Can also be replaced with "if all people hear is 'saving' then no wonder they think libraries are dying". Uniformly hated by the vast majority of campaigners/supporters.

'Outreach Libraries' - What Manchester City Council calls unstaffed 'libraries' based in community centres, housing offices etc.

'Buddy Library' - a 'library' in Manchester that supports an 'outreach library'.

'Flagship Super Hub' - a massive co-located service centre containing a library presence in Cardiff.

'Community Partner' - what Lambeth Council are looking for to help run Waterloo Library, could be a voluntary organisation, SocEnt or volunteers?

Modernise - a word used by councils, recently by Bristol, to justify cutting services. For a good example see;
"Seven libraries in Bristol could close under plans by the city council to save money and "modernise" its service."

'A new chapter' or 'turning a new leaf' - a favourite headline used mostly be local journalists to describe the handing over of a library/ies to volunteers.