MEDIA RELEASE
Tuesday 11 February 2003
For immediate release (Please copy to online discussion lists)

'ESSENTIAL' PUBLIC LIBRARIES NEED RESOURCES TO DO THE JOB

DCMS strategic vision for public libraries correctly identifies challenges but money is still an issue

Framework for the Future, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's strategic vision for public libraries, correctly identifies the challenges that the service faces but leaves several important things unsaid, says CILIP.  In particular, DCMS still needs to address the decades of under-investment that many library authorities have faced, and should make the proposed three-year development plan the basis of a bid to the next Spending Review.

"Government clearly recognises the importance of public libraries to its policies, including lifelong learning, social cohesion, promotion of reading and literacy, and access to technology" says CILIP's Chief Executive Bob McKee, a member of the DCMS project stakeholder group that advised on the strategic framework, "and there is much to be welcomed in this report. It recognises the quality and innovation of the best public library services, it builds a vision for the future based on the historic strengths of the service, and it offers clear guidance on what government wishes to see the public library service deliver - while acknowledging the importance of local delivery through local government connecting with local communities."

"The report gives an honest appraisal of the challenges, too," adds Dr McKee: "deteriorating bookstock, inadequate opening hours, the difficulty in attracting staff that all public services face.  Much has been done in recent years to improve and in many cases to transform public library service - but there is still much to be done."

Concerns arise, however, when the report turns from outlining the vision to discussing delivery.  There are questions over the future of library plans and standards, and over the way public libraries are championed and funded.  "The report talks quite rightly about the importance of local authority managers but doesn't mention the need for political championship by elected members," Dr McKee continues.  "The example of those library services which have been awarded Beacon Council status shows that wholehearted support by local councillors is essential if the public library is to be properly recognised as an essential community service."  

The absence of any mention of the future of Public Library Standards is a further cause for concern. The publication of Standards by DCMS has helped to increase investment in a number of library authorities, and it is not yet clear how the new local authority performance management framework mentioned in the report will impact on library services.

Uncertainty over methods of performance management is compounded by the fact that responsibility for the public library service comes under one government department while resourcing comes under another.  "As the report acknowledges, money for public libraries comes not from DCMS but from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister - and the Department for Education & Skills also has a strong potential interest, which is already recognised by the Education Secretary," Dr McKee points out.  This fragmentation of the funding base is a systemic weakness referred to in the report, and Dr McKee believes that it contributes directly to the variation in standards of public library service across the country. "Much of the innovation praised in the report comes from fixed-term project or partnership funding which is not always provided through central government," Dr McKee notes, "The core funding for the Reading Agency, for example, comes from various arts bodies and from CILIP."

This point is reinforced by Barry Cropper, Chair of CILIP's Executive Board, who points out that this raises issues of sustainablility which are not addressed in the report. "Investment to create the Peoples Network has been very welcome," says Mr Cropper, "but how is it to be sustained now the money from the New Opportunities Fund has come to an end?  Talk in the report of a new relationship with business is no substitute for adequate core funding. The public library service is statutory; and should be properly supported by public spending." 

"With this in mind," Dr McKee suggests, "we need measures to counteract the years of under investment in library services, and I propose that the three-year plan that DCMS has asked Resource: the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries to prepare should be drafted on the basis of a substantial bid to the next government Spending Review."

The report recognises that public libraries contribute to the achievement of key social and educational objectives and are fundamental to the government's agenda for harnessing and exploiting the benefits of information technology.  However, Dr McKee points out that it could also have emphasised the contribution that libraries make to the economic agenda of regeneration and competitiveness, and said more about the contribution made by libraries to the richness and diversity of our cultural life.

 "Public libraries are a highly effective, well regarded and relatively low-cost service reaching into every neighbourhood and community in our society," Dr McKee concludes.  "This report presents an important vision of what that service can achieve throughout the country.  But for this to happen, there are serious issues of funding and performance management that need to be addressed. The report issued by government today is a promising base on which to build. The proposed development plan - and the next government spending round - will determine whether that promise can be fulfilled."

Contact:        Tim Owen, Head of External Relations.
                Tel: 020 7255 0652.     Email: [log in to unmask]

Notes to Editors

CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals is the leading professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers, with around 23,500 members working in all sectors.

CILIP's goals are to: position the profession at the heart of the information revolution; develop and enhance the role and skills of all its Members; present and champion those skills, together with new ones which will be acquired through continuing professional development; and ensure that individuals, enterprises and not for profit organisations have ready and timely access to the information they need.

- Ends -


Tim Owen, Head of External Relations
CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals
7 Ridgmount St, London WC1E 7AE.
Direct line: +44 (0)20 7255 0652.  
Email: [log in to unmask]

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