CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals
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News from CILIP
Wednesday 1 December 2004
For immediate release (Please copy to online discussion lists)
Libraries turn the key to knowledge, leading information professionals tell MPs
CILIP calls for "well supported workforce" in evidence to Culture, Media and Sport Committee inquiry into public libraries
Clear vision, additional resources, firm regulation, and a well supported workforce are the recipe for a successful public library service, says CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. The UK's leading organization for library and information professionals, CILIP delivered this uncompromising message to MPs yesterday in its oral evidence to the Select Committee on Culture Media and Sport Inquiry into Public Libraries.
"The Department of Culture, Media and Sport's 'Framework for the Future' for public libraries is right to focus on reading, learning and libraries as a community resource," said the Institute's Chief Executive Bob McKee. "DCMS needs to work in partnership with the Department for Education & Skills and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to champion the value of public library services and help libraries deliver those cultural, educational and social policy outcomes."
"It's about turning the key to knowledge and unlocking the social, cultural and educational benefits," commented CILIP's President Maggie Haines in response to questions from Gerald Kaufman MP and his colleagues on the Committee.
Giving evidence alongside colleagues representing the Society of Chief Librarians (SCL), the Advisory Council on Libraries (ACL) and the Audit Commission, CILIP's representatives contributed to a powerfully consistent set of messages to the Select Committee.
Countering the assertion that some public libraries are failing to attract sufficient users, Bob McKee emphasized the need for increased investment. "No-one wants to spend their time in a tatty place," he said, urging the need - also expressed at the hearing by ACL Chair Bill MacNaught - for capital resources to improve library buildings.
Both CILIP and the Audit Commission supported the need for stiffer regulation of the service, with the Audit Commission helpfully urging a review of the regulations surrounding School Library Services. Also highlighted by witnesses was the important influence of the Government's Comprehensive Performance Assessment for local authorities on the decisions councils made on service priorities. "A level playing field for libraries in terms of CPA weighting would strengthen the case for resources at local level," argued CILIP's Maggie Haines, with support from SCL President Catherine Blanshard.
The library and information profession needs to be more bullish about the contribution it makes to society, agreed Bob McKee, promising a more aggressive approach to lobbying by CILIP in future. He also agreed on the need to build on the positive brand value of the word 'library'. Committee Chair Gerald Kaufman MP offered to "lie down in the street" to defend the 'L' word and Dr McKee offered to join him. "The library is a trusted local institution," Dr McKee concluded. "What other public service can say that it is trusted as well as valued by its local community?"
"All the witnesses giving evidence emphasized the need to develop the workforce," noted Maggie Haines after the hearing. "We need to develop a new mix of skills, build the capacity for leadership, learn from peer review and share best practice. We also need to address issues of pay and status, and apply CILIP's new Framework of Qualifications for information professionals, in order to help public libraries make their contribution to the shared priorities of central and local government."
Contact: Tim Buckley Owen, Head of Membership, Marketing & Media.
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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 23,000 members working in all sectors, including business and industry, science and technology, further and higher education, schools, local and central government, the health service, the voluntary sector, national and public libraries. For more information about CILIP, please go to www.cilip.org.uk or visit us on stand 168 at Online Information 2004, which continues at Olympia on Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 December.
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