Although this is helpful, even more helpful was the person in Nottingham
who provided us with a link to uncorrected transcripts of the first
evidence session, can we have more of those on this list? Thanks
-----Original Message-----
From: Tim Buckley Owen [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 01 December 2004 08:54
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Libraries turn the key to knowledge, leading information
professionals tell MPs
CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals
7 Ridgmount St, London WC1E 7AE.
Tel: 020 7255 0500
Textphone: 020 7255 0505
Fax: 020 7255 0501
Email: [log in to unmask]
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.
Tel: 020 7255 0652. Email: [log in to unmask]
<Mailto:[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 23,000 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.
- Ends -
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