Corporate report

Libraries Taskforce: 6 month progress report (April to September 2019)

Published 5 November 2019

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

1. Introduction

Public libraries are a unique and valued statutory public service. They reach and support the whole community regardless of age, gender, socioeconomic status or educational attainment. The annual library statistics published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) on 7 December 2018 show that libraries are popular, with large numbers visiting each year. In 2017/18 alone, there were 194 million physical visits and 94 million digital visits to, and 157 million book loans from, libraries in England. This is more in total than visits to Premier League football games, UK cinemas and English Heritage sites combined. Data for 2018/19 is not available until late 2019.

Libraries and their staff don’t provide a service that sits in isolation; they support other public services that are vital for local and national prosperity and wellbeing. They not only encourage a love of reading, but also provide business support, build digital skills, organise cultural activities, host community events, offer a quiet space to study, and support people to live happier and healthier lives. All this builds on one of the most important strengths of libraries - the trust people have in them to provide objective and accurate information and guidance in a confidential and even-handed way.

Local authorities in England continue to invest in their library services with expenditure in 2017/18 totalling £616m. That’s a relatively small spend given the impact they have on their communities and the outcomes they help deliver.

However, almost every aspect of modern life is changing rapidly. Shopping, learning, leisure and entertainment have evolved considerably from a decade ago, and all can be expected to change radically over the next few years. Libraries are not immune to these challenges.

2. Who we are

The Libraries Taskforce was established in March 2015. Annex A sets out background information on the Taskforce.

The Taskforce undertakes a wide variety of activities through collective and individual member actions. This collaborative approach has helped build stronger links across the library sector, as well as increased the impact we can make in promoting the continuing value of libraries. The Taskforce publishes progress reports every 6 months. This eighth progress report covers April 2019 to September 2019. It includes:

• progress on commitments in the Action Plan to March 2020 that accompanies Libraries Deliver: Ambition for Public Libraries in England 2016 to 2021. Details of both documents are set out in Annex B
• the areas of work the Libraries Taskforce will focus on over the next 6 months

3. What we have done between April and September 2019

3.1 Promoting public libraries to the public and to decision-makers

One of the Libraries Taskforce’s goals is to ensure that the invaluable contribution libraries make to society and local communities is actively promoted to stakeholders such as local government, national government, potential funders and the public.

To do this, the Taskforce and its partners have aimed to revitalise the image of libraries. We are collaborating on establishing programmes of promotional activity, which ensure the inclusion of libraries in key government strategies and achieve greater recognition within local authorities/councils of libraries’ capacity to deliver on their strategic objectives.

3.2 Arts Council England’s sector support and advocacy work

Arts Council England has announced that the post of Director: Libraries will be full time from December 2019. The Director: Libraries and Regional Development Officer have visited and met with all Libraries Connected regional groups and this activity will continue. The Library Relationship Managers are supporting library National Portfolio Organisations and services locally. The Director: Libraries sits on the board of CILIP International Work, our Senior Manager was on the Blueprint steering group, is on the PLSS board and works closely with Libraries Connected on the regional support activity alongside the Regional Development Officer.

The Communications Manager has sourced a number of quotes from high profile advocates and created social cards which have been gaining good traction on Twitter. One has received over 15,000 impressions on the North Area Arts Council Twitter account and is one of its best performing tweets.

The Arts Council commissioned Kerry Hudson, author of Lowborn, to write a blog post that was published on its website to mark Libraries Week which has also received good engagement on Twitter. The national and 5 area accounts also tweeted regularly in support of Libraries Week. Two further blog posts – The Reading Agency’s 20th anniversary and BBC VR in libraries – were published on the Arts Council website and shared on social media and with Taskforce partners. The Communications Manager continues to liaise with Taskforce partners to ensure relevant information is shared internally and externally via our online platforms.

The Arts Council has increased its presence, engagement and national advocacy at various APPGs. It has developed strong rapport and partnerships with bodies supporting library functions beyond those with a sole focus on arts and culture, for example The Wellcome Trust, the Carnegie-UK Trust, Public Health England, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, The National Lottery Communities Fund and the Wolfson Foundation.

The Arts Council continues to use its power as convenors and brokers to initiate and support conversations in the interests of developing public libraries on a regional and national scale.

3.3 Arts Council England’s 10 Year Strategy

On 13 June 2019, the Arts Council England published its draft 10 year strategy for 2020-30. ACE then ran a series of consultation workshops across the country and opened an online consultation which was available until 23 September. Arts Council England is the national development agency for libraries so the library sector and stakeholders have been a vital part of this consultation; and libraries’ role in communities, the welcoming, safe space libraries provide and the free access to literature and knowledge have all been reflected on during the process.

The 2020-30 strategy, to be published in December 2019 will contain the Arts Council’s plans to support the library sector and will come into effect at the beginning of 2020 as the Taskforce comes to an end.

3.4 Launch of LibrariesDeliver.uk

In July 2019, to raise awareness and make a meaningful, long-term impact on the future of library funding, CILIP and the EveryLibrary Institute announced the launch of LibrariesDeliver, an advocacy campaign that connects people from across England in support of their libraries. Funded by Arts Council England, this is an international collaboration between UK-based CILIP, and US-based EveryLibrary.

The core of the campaign is LibrariesDeliver.uk, a new GDPR-compliant advocacy website designed to activate and connect an extensive network of individuals and advocacy groups about library funding and use.

On LibrariesDeliver.uk, library supporters can sign up to become part of the campaign, pledge to support libraries, donate to support libraries, and become better organised and connected. There is also an ambition to create new capacity for library advocates by supporting a national conversation, through targeted training and development, about the future of library funding.

3.5 DCMS Libraries Team

On 10 September 2019 Helen Whately MP was appointed as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism) with responsibility for libraries, and has expressed her strong interest in, and support for, the sector. She succeeded Rebecca Pow MP (appointed in May 2019) who in turn succeeded Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC MP, who had been a strong supporter of the Taskforce’s work.

The DCMS Libraries team works within government to promote libraries to decision makers, seeking to have the value of public libraries acknowledged in a variety of government strategies. This has included the Online Harms White Paper , the Communities Framework and the Connected Growth manual.

Increased reading and literacy

DCMS continued to work with the Department for Education (DfE) on the role of libraries on early years speech and language development. The DfE Hungry Little Minds campaign which aims to improve early literacy and language skills in the years before children start school was launched on 2 July with input and representation from the library sector. DCMS has also connected libraries to LGA peer challenges on early years speech and language development. The LGA has now recruited 5 new library peers.

Improved digital access and literacy / greater prosperity

DCMS has been working with the Digital Skills team to explore ways to anchor library services within their future planning for digital inclusion work. The Libraries Team is on the Cross Government Digital Inclusion Steering Group and continue to contribute to thinking on Local Digital Skills partnerships.

Following the publication of the evaluation of the BIPCs impact, ‘Democratising Entrepreneurship’ funded by Arts Council England, DCMS Libraries and The British Library has been using it to engage with senior officials in BEIS to promote the profile of BIPCs in wider government work to support SME and growth businesses.

The team has engaged with MHCLG on the establishment of the High Streets Taskforce, and with the organisation currently establishing it, to reinforce the role of libraries in its future work; and will build on this as the new Taskforce’s work programme emerges. Arts Council England have asked to be part of this Taskforce. DCMS is starting work on the next phase of a Media Literacy strategy, and will ensure that libraries are involved in this. The team is participating in cross-government meetings on disinformation and online media harms, and promoting some of the work already in train across library services (e.g. the privacy guidelines developed between Carnegie UK Trust, CILIP and Newcastle City Council) as a model that could be used as a springboard for wider learning and application.

Stronger, more resilient communities

DCMS is committed to the development of a Youth Charter. DCMS Libraries policy team is a key participant in contributing both to wider cross-government discussions, and via a working group looking at civic infrastructure to support effective work with young people.

3.6 Providing library services and potential partners with easy access to evidence and data to inform their decision-making

The Taskforce believes that the ability of library services to advocate effectively to relevant stakeholders and make strategic decisions to improve services is strengthened by a strong evidence base. Some of the key goals within the action plan were to ensure a shared approach to data gathering, to maintain and develop the existing research database, to encourage funders to fund further research work and to ensure library staff have an awareness of and ability to use the existing resources.

CIPFA comparative profiles

For the seventh consecutive year, DCMS has funded CIPFA to make the comparative profile reports publicly available. The reports compare data from 2017 to 2018 for those councils that returned data (122 of the 151 library authorities in England). They are intended to support evidence-based decision making and to help library services see how their reported service performance and costs compare with their peers.

Libraries data set

DCMS published basic data on libraries across England (as at 1 July 2016) on 30 March 2017. Since then, this dataset has been expanded to include more information on the libraries listed. We worked with organisations across the sector to define what should be in a wider core dataset - something which all library services will be encouraged to collect, use and publish in a consistent way. DCMS would like this to be used to help inform and improve local library service delivery, as well as for advocacy purposes at a local and national level (when aggregated). There may be other data which authorities choose to collect in addition to this for their own local purposes. Work is also underway to update the basic dataset with the most recent information on static public libraries in England.

Research: building the case for public libraries

Representatives from the Taskforce and Research teams at Arts Council England and DCMS have met and agreed the focus for the research paper. The strategy will look at the 3 strands of library sector activity;

• health and wellbeing
• digital skills and employability
• literacy and reader development

Taskforce team members and the Arts Council research team are currently working on the new strategy with the intention of presenting a discussion paper at the next Taskforce meeting in December 2019.

3.7 Providing clearly signposted, step by step guidance and peer support

The Taskforce believes that national support through toolkits and guidance, as well as the example set by library services that continue to excel in challenging circumstances, are crucial in helping libraries improve. The Taskforce aims to ensure that best practice is shared with the sector, that practical guidance is readily available and that library services are aware and supported in the use of the available toolkits and resources.

• Libraries Shaping the Future: good practice toolkit and case studies
• Community Libraries: good practice toolkit and case studies
• Libraries: alternative delivery models
• Longer-term evidence-based, sustainable planning
• Benchmarking Framework for public libraries
• Makerspaces and Libraries

DCMS has revised the information available on GOV.UK about its statutory superintendence role. This information, used in conjunction with the Taskforce resources, will help to guide and support library services considering major changes to their delivery model.

Libraries Connected has also updated its website with a comprehensive database of toolkits and guidance to provide easy access to the available resources for its users.

Peer reviews update

The LGA in partnership with the Arts Council England ran 9 library peer challenges and 3 cultural services peer challenges between March to July 2019. The LGA’s standard corporate peer challenge has been adapted to meet the specific needs of libraries, helping them to evaluate performance, innovate, and think about the future of their service.

Peer challenges are an improvement tool that offer expert, neutral review and advice, providing constructive analysis of the service and helping to identify further opportunities for innovation. Each challenge is tailored around a service’s specific needs. The sector led peer team is made up of a peer challenge manager, a councillor and a peer officer from the sector. Members of the Taskforce team also attended some of the challenges. Issues explored included options for different delivery models such as community managed libraries and trusts, the role of volunteers in libraries, commercial opportunities and increased partnership working, strategic planning and visions for the future, how to make the most out of library assets and workforce development and skills in the library sector.

The feedback from the challenges has been extremely positive with many of the senior staff at participating councils going on to become peer officers for other LGA challenges.

A further round of 3 peer challenges and 7 library peer challenges has been confirmed for 2019/20.

Community infrastructure levy

The Arts Council and The National Archives (TNA) funded Culture Runner to undertake research into current engagement of libraries and archives with planning departments and to create a toolkit to assist archives and libraries to influence local planning decisions, specifically in relation to Section 106 and the Community Infrastructure Levy.

In January 2019, staff members from both Arts Council England’s libraries team and TNAs’ regional teams met to feed into this discussion and explore how both organisations can better work together to support Archive and Library services regionally.

The guidance was published on 13 June 2019 and is available on both the ACE and TNA websites.

3.8 Helping the sector (paid staff and volunteers) obtain the insights, skills and support it needs for the future

To transform public library services across England, we need to harness the talent and creativity of the people who work in them - both library staff and volunteers. We also need to continue to identify and support the learning and development needs of councillors, commissioners, senior council officers and the board members of new library delivery bodies (such as mutuals and trusts). Equipping everyone involved in public libraries to understand the 7 Outcomes that we’ve identified in Libraries Deliver: Ambition and deliver them successfully.

Public Libraries Skills Strategy

The Public Libraries Skills Strategy (published in 2017) aimed to guide the development of information and library skills, knowledge and qualifications in the public library sector in England between 2017 and 2030. CILIP and Libraries Connected are working together to renew and refresh the strategy. A programme board has been established, chaired by Libraries Connected (LC) President Elect, Carol Stump to take forward the recommendations from the report. The focus this year is on consolidating work in the existing programme plan, especially the new library apprenticeship standard, professional ethics and library leadership (through the short leadership course and mentoring managed by LC).

CILIP also announced that it had won approval for a level 3 Apprenticeship standard for the library and information profession. Over the next 2 years, CILIP will be working with employers across the sector to encourage engagement with and adoption of this standard as well as working in partnership with the sector to explore the development of further appropriate training for staff.

Transforming Leadership Fund

Libraries Connected will receive £342,000 from the Arts Council’s Transforming Leadership Fund to develop a new training programme supporting potential leaders.

The Leading Libraries scheme will recruit 15 emerging leaders from different library services, offering them development training and the chance to lead a project in their region.

Funded by the National Lottery, Transforming Leadership was launched to address specific issues around diversity across leadership, opportunities for emerging and early career leaders, and the development of executive skills at senior levels.

Libraries Connected and CILIP launch peer networks

Libraries Connected continues to host the Innovation Network, which now has over 500 members sharing innovative ideas and good practice. It is also establishing a Heads of Service network, using a similar model of online exchange.

In June 2019, CILIP announced the official launch of its Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Network, led by CILIP trustee, Shirley Yearwood-Jackman.

This is the UK-wide professional network for the BAME community within the library, knowledge and information sector. The network will provide a forum for BAME information professionals to share experiences, support each other and build connections. Working with CILIP and other partners, the network will support the advancement of BAME professionals in the workforce.

The launch of the BAME Network will help to address the under-representation of people of colour within the library and information workforce as identified in the CILIP/ARA Workforce Mapping data (2015).

3.9 Partnership and sector activity

Individual Taskforce members and other organisations in the sector are also undertaking work that, while not directly related to the activity of the Taskforce, still contributes to the Libraries Deliver: Ambition document’s strategic aims (see Annex B).

Arts Council England’s investment in libraries

Arts Council England’s role as the national development agency for libraries has enabled the delivery of crucial activity mentioned throughout this progress report. It, working in partnership with other library leadership organisations, has supported the delivery of important steps for the sector, including among others, Libraries Blueprint, Digital Transformation, Democratising Entrepreneurship, Planning Guidance and the Regional Support Offer.

Arts Council England’s 1 Year of Library NPOs event

On 1 May 2019, Arts Council England hosted an event for its library National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs), entitled ‘Reflections on being a Library NPO: one year on’, attended by staff from all library NPOs and the library Sector Support Organisation (SSO).

Each NPO presented the highlights of its first NPO year, exploring:

• how it was delivering against Arts Council Goals 1, 2 & 5
• one major benefit from being an NPO and one major challenge
• whether being an NPO has increased its visibility in their local arts and culture scene
• what advice would it give to library services considering applying to join the portfolio in the next round?

Chair of the Arts Council, Sir Nicholas Serota, and Director: Libraries and Birmingham, Sue Williamson, then facilitated a brief session to bring together learnings from each other and linking work back to Arts Council Goals. Libraries NPOs found the day to be very useful to reflect on their progress so far and seek inspiration and advice from speakers, other NPOs and Arts Council staff to help them consider and explore ways forward.

Arts Council’s Libraries Team will be hosting another event, on Arts in Libraries, in February 2020. This event will be open to all library staff, not just NPOs, and will offer support, discussion and ideas for library services wishing to explore running creative activities across their branches.

The Arts Council continues to invest in activity to support the sector in areas such as Peer Reviews and challenges, and commissioning research documents. It is undertaking a strategic review of research for libraries, including updating the basic datasets of all library services in England, and considering how it can obtain further data and provide evidence of impact. It has supported the London Boroughs of Merton, Newham and Croydon and Public Health England in evaluating how public libraries deliver PHE outcomes. The Arts Council is planning an event in February 2020 for the library sector to develop greater understanding of the role it plays as national development agency and to encourage collaborative working and more applications to project grants. It continues to support the Living Knowledge Network and BIPCs and the development of the Single Digital presence work in partnership with the British Library.

In August Arts Council England announced 2 major funding programmes in support of Library work: Libraries Connected was successful in obtaining funding as part of the Transforming Leadership programme to support workforce development, and has also obtained a grant to work nationally with libraries and BBC Arts in support of its programming around The Novels that Shaped our World.

Summer reading challenge and evaluation

The Reading Agency ran its 2019 Summer Reading Challenge (SRC) on the theme of Space Chase. It will share the statistics of this round of the SRC after it has compiled the evaluation data in October 2019. Following a very competitive tendering process Renaisi were appointed as the external research organisation leading the evaluation of the Summer Reading Challenge. It led an inception meeting in March attended by partners followed by a workshop with a wider advisory group in April to discuss proposed methodology and agreed timelines.

Following the development of a school sampling framework, recruitment of schools commenced in April with the support of ASCEL regional representatives. This process highlighted some challenges in ensuring both a representative sample within the allocated timeframe and a consistent testing methodology. As these issues would have impacted on the robustness of the quantitative data analysis, it was agreed with ACE that the research schedule would be adjusted to allow more time for school recruitment and for the creation of a consistent testing approach. Work will continue in both of these areas over the autumn to enable the research to take place around the 2020 Challenge.

Every Mind Matters

Reading Agency and Libraries Connected have been working with Public Health England on the delivery of their planned mental health campaign – Every Mind Matters. Public Libraries will be a key partner in the delivery of this campaign providing PHE provided resources and support. PHE will also be signposting to the Reading Well for adult mental health scheme. The campaign was piloted regionally across the Midlands in 2019 and will be launched nationally in October 2020.

Reading Friends

Reading Friends, the UK wide reading befriending programme for lonely and isolated older people, has now been rolled out to 42 sites across the UK. National library rollout is being piloted in the East Midlands and London through a new library subscription model launched in May.

BBC VR in Libraries

In April 2019 the BBC initiated a Virtual Reality Library Pop-Up tour across the UK. Supported by LC who brokered and coordinated participating library services, the aim was to forge a new public engagement model. This was a true community-led partnership: librarians leading and the BBC supporting them with technology, content and guidance. At the time of their interim report, the tour had reached more than 150 libraries where visitors engaged with new forms of immersive and digital stories from a trusted content creator. By delivering high quality engaging VR content of a practical length, the BBC VR Pop Up tour enthused a wide range of people from Fraserburgh to Plymouth via Londonderry and Bridgend.

The 4-month trial demonstrated a simple, replicable engagement model for content sharing between libraries and the BBC. The BBC is collecting and analysing data to understand the value delivered to libraries, the BBC and the wider cultural sector.

The trial also demonstrated that libraries are keen to engage with Virtual Reality and technological innovation. It tapped into a strong network of talented, enthusiastic librarians who could play a pivotal role in future initiatives.

BIPC Network

On 8 July 2019, the British Library published the ‘Democratising Entrepreneurship: Libraries as engines of economic growth’ report which examined the economic impact of their Business and IP Centre (BIPC) Network between January 2016 and December 2018. Arts Council England and the Scottish Library and Information Service requested and funded this research to evidence the economic and social impact of BIPCs.

The independent report showed that the Library’s National Network of 12 Business & IP Centres located in major UK libraries, helped to create:

• 12,288 new businesses, an average of 15 new businesses every working day
• 7,843 additional jobs
• a boost to local economies: £78 million gross value added for Business & IP Centre supported businesses
• an impressive return on public investment: £6.95 for every £1 of public money spent

During this period, the Business & IP Centres supported 43,000 people through direct face-to-face support, including a free programme of mentoring, training and intellectual property advice available to everyone via their local city or town library. This personalised, accessible approach is breaking through traditional barriers to starting and growing a successful business, reaching people who are under-represented in the business community. Of those who started a new business:

• 55% are women – over twice the national average
• 31% are from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic background - over 6 times the national average
• 17% are people with a disability
• 47% are based in the North of England
• 29% are aged 35 and under
• 22% are from the most deprived areas of the UK
• two-thirds are driven by making a social or environmental impact

Businesses that have started with these libraries’ help continue to demonstrate impressively strong survival rates. On average, over 40% of businesses fail after their first year of trading, yet of businesses started with the National Network’s support between 2012 and 2018, 9 in 10 were still trading in 2019.

Partnership with Make it Your Business

As part of its work to expand the BIPC Network, the British Library partnered with non-profit organisation Make it Your Business to launch a national roadshow of informal talks and networking events for women entrepreneurs, set to tour in UK libraries.

Established by entrepreneur, writer and broadcaster Alison Cork, Make It Your Business runs a regular programme of seminars across the country, providing opportunities for women to meet established local female entrepreneurs, learn from their experiences and network with other local aspiring female entrepreneurs in a relaxed and welcoming environment.

The new partnership with the British Library’s Business & IP Centre and its National Network of 13 Centres located in major UK libraries saw the 2 organisations launch a specially curated ‘Libraries Roadshow’of events drawing from the Network’s alumni of successful female entrepreneurs and ambassadors which began at the Library of Birmingham on 28 June 2019.

Start-Ups in London Libraries launch

In May 2019, the British Library’s Business & IP Centre launched Start-ups in London Libraries, a 3-year project to support London’s entrepreneurs from all walks of life to get their business idea off the ground. This coordinated network of free support for start-ups officially launched in over 60 public libraries in September, in partnership with ten London boroughs.

With funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the project is being delivered in the boroughs of Bexley, Croydon, Greenwich, Haringey, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. Open to aspiring entrepreneurs, early-stage start-ups and those people who have simply dreamed of being their own boss, the new services are working with the Business & IP Centre to provide a grass roots solution to business support and equip locals with the skills, information, confidence and connections they need to turn their ideas into viable businesses.

The project is investing in public libraries to transform their current offer. Librarians and newly appointed SME Champions in each borough receive specialist training to work with business experts to co-deliver a comprehensive programme of free 2-day workshops and events, confidential business information sessions and tailored, face-to-face advice. The participating libraries also offer free, walk-in access to business information resources including COBRA (the Complete Online Business Reference Advisor), a programme of live webinars and practical industry fact-sheets.

The 3-year pilot is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the British Library, 10 participating London boroughs and is supported by J.P. Morgan and Arts Council England. If successful, the project could be rolled out across all 33 boroughs and across the country, as part of the British Library’s mission to democratise entrepreneurship in the UK.

Single Digital Presence

British Library is working on an ACE and Carnegie UK funded scoping project to establish the demand for and possible shape of, a single digital presence for UK libraries. The recommendations paper, ‘Digital Transformations for UK public libraries: five approaches to a ‘Single Digital Presence’, sets out what a national online platform (or “single digital presence”) for public libraries could look like, what it could be used for and how such an offering might fit in with existing digital library systems.

British Library undertook a year-long enquiry to examine a range of options for such a platform and has identified 5 potential models that could enable public libraries to benefit fully from recent technological developments and to engage new and existing users at local and national level.

It is now, funded by Arts Council England and Carnegie, conducting a further scoping exercise to explore the feasibility of each of these types of transformation.

The Living Knowledge Network

The Living Knowledge Network (LKN) was a 2-year pilot project funded by Arts Council England which put into action British Library’s vision to make its intellectual heritage available to everyone for research, inspiration and enjoyment.

On 2 April British Library, along with 22 public library partners and the national libraries of Scotland and Wales, formally moved out of this pilot phase.

The nationwide partnership will deliver:

• public impact – creating unique services and memorable experiences for the Network’s audiences
• knowledge exchange – sharing skills and resources for professional development

LKN will continue to develop cultural and learning activities centred on improving the experience of public library users.

Blueprint for Libraries Project

Between November 2018 and March 2019, CILIP and Libraries Connected collaborated on a study to examine the different options for how libraries service can be delivered in the future.

The study, funded by Carnegie UK, consulted with stakeholders on the best way for Libraries Connected and CILIP to work with national funders to support the public library sector and looked at contrasting models for public library delivery internationally, including those found in Northern Ireland, Australia, USA, Holland and Finland.

The final report was published on 26 September 2019.

Regional Support Offer

Libraries Connected completed work to scope a regional support offer for libraries, to complement the support offered nationally by the family of library leadership bodies, funded by Arts Council England. Funding from ACE and the Taskforce will allow LC to take forward phase 2 of the project to develop LC regional networks’ capacity and to pilot support for individual services. This is one of the 7 proposals within Libraries Blueprint.

Libraries Connected Universal Offer review

Libraries Connected’s review of its Universal Offers has been completed and a report published on its website.

The refreshed Universal Library Offers demonstrate work that every public library service does to enrich the lives of individuals and their communities. The 4 revised offers are:

• reading
• digital and information
• culture and creativity
• health and wellbeing

The 4 offers were announced after an 8-month independent review, carried out by Shared Intelligence. This involved extensive discussion with heads of service, library staff, funders and other key stakeholders.

The review confirmed that the Universal Offers have been welcomed by libraries and funders over the last 6 years. They have provided a powerful strategic tool to demonstrate the core impacts libraries make, and have supported partnership development and funding applications. They have also created a valuable ‘store-cupboard’ of practical tools and guidance to help staff to deliver high quality events and activities to the public.

Over the years, the offers have grown organically and the review has now streamlined them into a simplified structure. A range of planning tools will help library services show how their activities link to the strategic outcomes of their councils, funders and other key stakeholders.

The review was also a timely opportunity for the library sector to discuss the unique impact it makes on people’s lives and confirmed that reading remains at the core of all libraries’ work.

Libraries Connected commercial activities

Libraries Connected appointed a commercial director in June, to develop its existing national commercial project (Front End Services for visa applicants). He is now on track to triple the level of activity and income by December 2019 and to ensure this is a financially viable project that also delivers a good service for visa applicants. Libraries had handled 35,000 applicants by end August, and is expected to reach 51,566 by end of Year 1 in October 2019. The target for Year 2 is 160,000 visa applicants which will be 20% of the total. In addition, a further 20% of visa applicants will be handled in library sites by Sopra Steria staff.

Libraries Connected is using insights from its live commercial projects to scope a capacity building programme for library services. This will develop their commercial skills, and also establish a firm national network for the delivery of commercial and commissioned work.

Reader development

Libraries Connected has submitted a major bid to ACE for a reader development programme in partnership with the BBC. This will use the BBC’s celebrations of 400 years of the English novel as a starting point for library events and activities to encourage more people to read, enjoy reading and to read more widely.

The BFI Player Project

Libraries Connected is continuing to work with the British Film Institute (BFI) to develop a bespoke version of BFI-player to provide library users with access to BFI archive content. The project involves technical development of the interface, an extensive programme of rights clearance and content curation and plans for proactive audience engagement campaigns, where library staff are supported to develop relevant skills.

Working internationally

CILIP has begun a 2-year programme supported by ACE, promoting relevant, accessible and valuable international collaboration for public libraries in England. The project will provide a platform to promote and celebrate successful international projects through:

• parliamentary engagement activities and advocacy
• establishing a Working Internationally for Libraries conference
• establishing a grant programme

3.10 Our reporting

The Taskforce monitors progress against its action plan at every meeting. In line with our Terms of Reference we’ll continue to present these narrative progress reports to DCMS Ministers and to the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Culture, Tourism and Sport Board every 6 months and publish them on GOV.UK.

We publish minutes of our meetings on GOV.UK - links to those which took place during this reporting period are listed in Annex A.

Progress is also reported to Parliament via the DCMS Annual Report to Parliament on Public Libraries.

4. What we will achieve in the next 6 months

• review of the Action Plan
  • report on initial data schema progress
  • report back on Libraries Week
  • establish a research strategy proposal for decision at December LTF
• exit strategy
• closure report

5. Annex A: Information on the Taskforce

5.1 Background and structure

Information on the background and structure of the Taskforce is set out on GOV.UK. Our Terms of Reference were last reviewed in February 2019.

The Taskforce reports to the DCMS Libraries Minister, and to the LGA Culture, Sport and Tourism Board. The Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism is Helen Whately MP. Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson chairs the LGA Culture, Tourism and Sport Board.

The Taskforce adopted an action plan to March 2020 , which was published on 7 March 2018. This set the goals for 2018, 2019 and 2020, and the potential direction of travel after March 2020. After consultation with Taskforce partners at the 22nd Taskforce meeting in December 2018, a new set of actions points were outlined which set the goals for the period up to March 2020. The new action plan was agreed at the 23rd Taskforce meeting in March 2019.

5.2 Taskforce meetings

Over the period covered by this progress report, the Taskforce held the following meetings:

Holborn Library/Arts Council England

The Curve, Slough

5.3 Taskforce membership

Helen Williams and Kate McGavin, who job-shared the role of Deputy Director for Arts, Libraries and Digital Culture in DCMS, left in March 2019 to take up the role of Director for Devolution in Cabinet Office. The new Deputy Director is Louise Smith.

The Reading Agency Chief Executive, Sue Wilkinson, stepped down from her role in July 2019. She has been succeeded by Karen Napier.

The Taskforce would like to put on record its appreciation to all these members for their insight and participation.

The Taskforce also welcomed a new member in June 2019 - Diana Gerald, representing BookTrust from June 2019.

5.4 Funding for the Taskforce

DCMS provided initial £250,000 funding for 2015 to 2016 to set up and support the Taskforce. Continued funding of £500,000 per year to March 2020 was confirmed as part of the DCMS Spending Review on 25 November 2015. This covers the costs of the core staff and Taskforce administrative costs (such as Taskforce publications and the workshops, sector forums and events the Taskforce runs). The Taskforce identifies other funding and resources to support delivery of its main priorities.

5.5 Taskforce staff

The dedicated Taskforce team in Arts Council England consists of 4 staff; Senior Project Manager, Communications Manager (3 days a week), Governance and Business Support Officer and Regional Development Officer.

DCMS has retained 2 posts from the budget to support libraries policy and advocacy work; Head of Libraries Strategy and Delivery and Libraries Project Lead.

6. Annex B: Libraries Deliver: Ambition for public libraries in England 2016 to 2021

6.1 Developing a vision for public libraries in England

In November 2015, DCMS asked the Libraries Taskforce to develop a vision for the next 5 years, providing a framework to stimulate and inform discussion about library services at local and national levels. To develop the document, we drew on the knowledge of Taskforce members, information gained from visits to libraries, meetings with library staff and stakeholders, and previous reports such as the Independent Library Report for England and Envisioning the Library of the Future. We also consulted widely through an online questionnaire and wide range of events run throughout England.

6.2 What the document covers

We published a document on 1 December 2016, which is endorsed and supported by central government and the LGA (on behalf of local government), and sets out the context that libraries operate within. It looks at how they are adapting and developing their offer in response to these changing needs and circumstances and will need to do so in future. It describes the Taskforce’s vision for public library services in England and details the 7 Outcomes that the public library network supports:

• cultural and creative enrichment
• enhanced reading and literacy
• increased digital literacy and access
• helping everyone achieve their full potential
• healthier and happier lives
• increased prosperity
• stronger, more resilient communities

It also explores:

• how leaders of councils and other public services can invest in libraries to achieve their strategic objectives around the future health, well-being, strength, happiness and prosperity of local people and communities
• objectives around the future health, well-being, strength, happiness and prosperity of local people and communities
• how libraries can innovate and adapt to meet the changing needs of users and communities
• how strong local leadership of libraries can be complemented and supported by nationally co-ordinated initiatives
• ways to support libraries’ longer-term financial resilience and sustainability by looking at new delivery models and financing approaches