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*Apologies for cross-posting* Apologies too for the delay in summarising! I received the following responses to my plea for help. Durham's reports will be available shortly to anyone who would be interested (let me know if you would like copies). As we thought, it proved a difficult issue in a strategic level review of Cultural Services & we had to revert to service level details in the end. Although no academic libraries expressed interest in competing for these services we considered this option in the competition element (along with trusts, private & voluntary/community sectors, social enterprises etc). One authority is "piloting supplier selection for our fiction. The supplier is using professional librarians to do the selection based on profiles developed by our librarians. Early indications are that whilst on the surface it would appear to be a cost-effective solution the quality element needs working on. We have had some 'teething' troubles with books being supplied which are 'out of profile' which then means that the professional staff who were previously doing the selection are spending time 'monitoring' and feeding back." "UNISON haven commissioned several excellent reports and have a great deal of expertise on Best Value. ALso, the Centre for Public Services, a consultancy based in Sheffield, can provide alot of advice and information about Best Value and Competition. Dexter Whitfield is the contact there." Another is considering outsourcing Bib. Services. Options they are considering are consortia, partnership with another library, or the commercial sector. "Competition was a difficult area to explore as very little has been done in this area. It is worth looking at some of the inspection reports that are on the Audit commission BV site as well, Matthew Watson in Gateshead was particularly helpful, as were Staffordshire. Contact is Carol Woolley, Network of libraries Project Team Tel 01905 426600 [log in to unmask] " DETR report that was published earlier this year:- Martin, Steve. Improving public services : final evaluation of the Best Value Pilot Programme. London: Department of the Environment, Transport and Regions, 2001. 1851124683 £15.00. "Instant Library is currently managing library services on behalf of the London Borough of Haringey. We would be very happy to talk to you about our experiences of the competition element of Best Value." Contact is Diana Edmonds, Managing Director. www.instant-library.com In Sheffield's experience "the Inspectors made no specific comment on the competition section so we assume it was acceptable. Their only comment was: Applying the 4Cs - compete 1 The review considered the scope for market testing elements of the service, but it failed to develop any firm proposals for doing so. We note that the Council's new procurement strategy has strong links to the methodology of best value. This procurement strategy now specifies criteria for assessing the potential for market testing services and this should assist the library service to take a systematic approach to reviewing its future procurement arrangements. 2 The improvement plan includes commitments to: * market-test discrete parts of the service; and * consider Trust status for the whole service " Contact - Keith Crawshaw, Head of Leisure Services, Sheffield City Council Tel: +44 (0) 114 273 4700 I have copies of the following attachments but have not included them to save space! Please email if you would like copies. Worcestershire Best Value competition part 2.doc & Options for Competition.doc Sheffield Libraries Best Value Review - Final Main Report.doc Many thanks to all who responded, Kay Winter, Best Value Team Durham Arts, Libraries & Museums