** Apologies for the cross-posting**
PRESS RELEASE 16 December 1998
EARL: the Consortium for public library networking
EARL's RESPONSE TO THE DCMS REPORT:
NEW LINKS FOR THE LOTTERY: PROPOSALS FOR THE NEW OPPORTUNITIES FUND
EARL welcomes the recent publication of the DCMS report: New Links for the Lottery: proposals for the New Opportunities Fund.
With the aim of ensuring that the benefits of the lottery are more widely and fairly distributed, EARL supports the Government's proposals to bolster NOF money with an additional £400 million for new initiatives within the areas of health, education and the environment.
HEALTH
Under the initiatives of Cancer Prevention, Detection, Treatment and Care, EARL endorses the need to ensure that citizens have access to health information, and wishes to emphasise the vital role that libraries have to play in fulfilling this need.
ENVIRONMENT
Within the Green Spaces and Sustainable Communities' initiatives, EARL recognises the need for communities to care for and understand the environment. The Consortium underlines the importance of libraries in providing access to and highlighting environmental information.
EDUCATION
EARL supports wholeheartedly the Government's proposal to further Community Access to Lifelong Learning through grants from the NOF.
The Consortium endorses the need to increase access to ICT through the funding of a network of centres for community learning and is pleased that the report acknowledges libraries as being 'obvious candidates' for community access to information via ICT.
EARL wishes to underline the central role that the Public Library Network (PLN) will play in developing on-line resources and agrees that this must be achieved cross-sectorally in collaboration with the University for Industry (UfI) and the National Grid for Learning (NGfL) as well as organisations in the wider community. The Consortium recognises the opportunities that NOF will provide for public libraries to achieve the necessary infrastructure as the PLN is built.
The need to provide access to education and training for those with disabilities, the socially disadvantaged and to others who face significant hurdles in attaining lifelong learning is acknowledged and wholeheartedly supported.
EARL welcomes the proposal to extend funding for summer school activities, encouraging partnerships within the wider community.
EARL: THE CONSORTIUM FOR PUBLIC LIBRARY NETWORKING
The publication of New Links for the Lottery has helped to secure the foundations of the PLN. The window of opportunity currently facing public libraries has never been greater, and in order to maximises this, the EARL Consortium advises all public libraries to give due consideration to the proposals outlined in this report.
The finer details of the PLN have yet to be determined. In order to facilitate its development, EARL has put together a special programme of events in the first quarter of 1999 including content workshops aimed at developing the new ways of thinking for the electronic environment, and discussion forums on issues of information quality, equality of access and charging for networked services. These aim to help public library policy developers and practitioners to implement New Library effectively
Over the last four years the EARL Consortium, which is now made up of 165 partners, has raised awareness in the public library community of the issues associated with New Library as part of its Framework for Development. In collaboration with its partners and associate partners from a range of sectors, EARL has developed a range of exemplar networked services to demonstrate what is possible in the electronic environment. At the recent EARL AGM, unanimous support was given for the Consortium to play a full and sustained role in Building the New Library Network, and we look forward to doing so.
A full response will be issued to DCMS in the near future.
Notes to Editors:
For more details about the EARL Consortium or its programme of events please contact Helen Baigent, Liaison Officer, at the EARL office on 0171 702 2020 or email [log in to unmask]
Helen Baigent, EARL Liaison Officer
Tel: 0171 702 2020 Fax: 0171 702 2019
[log in to unmask]
http://www.earl.org.uk
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