Extract from A NEW CULTURAL FRAMEWORK published by the Department of
Culture, Media  & Sport. Full text at

http://www.culture.gov.uk/TEXTDSR.HTM


Libraries and Archives

Main decisions following consultation

          * we will establish a new national body for libraries, museums and
archives, to be called the
          Museums, Libraries and Archives Council

* subject to legislation, we will ask the new national body to take on the
role currently performed by the Advisory Council for
Libraries

* in the meantime we will give the LIC the additional resources necessary to
take on the role of an IT Development Agency

* we will transfer the British Library's research function to the LIC from
April 1999

* we will establish a task group led by the LIC to explore the scope for
greater cooperation between the libraries and
educational sectors

          * we will develop the contribution libraries can make to lifelong
learning, particularly by developing
          the public libraries network through NOF's new Lottery funded
initiative on which we are currently
          consulting

* we will extend the DCMS Challenge Fund to cover 2000-02

* we will help improve co-ordination within the archives sector by reviewing
the terms of reference and membership of the
Inter-Departmental Archives Committee

* we will refocus the uses to which DCMS expenditure is put by withdrawing
financial support from some small grant schemes

* we will encourage the development of regional structures for libraries and
archives

We have considered carefully the views expressed in the consultation on the
case for merging the Museums and Galleries
Commission and the Library and Information Commission; we believe that the
arguments in favour of bringing the two sectors
together are sound. However, rather than merge the two bodies, we believe it
would be better to create an entirely new body
which would also encompass the archives sector. Archives share many
functions of museums and libraries, and their inclusion in
the new body will enable a more holistic approach to be taken on key
strategic issues. The new body will also incorporate the
functions of the current Advisory Council on Libraries.

An implementation group is being set up to work with the sectors to consider
the remit and functions of the new body - to be
called the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council - and the practical
issues associated with its establishment. We intend to
have the new body in operation from 1 April 2000.

We want to start the process of broadening the LIC's role in advance of the
creation of the new Council, and will therefore
transfer to it the British Library's research function with effect from 1
April 1999. We will also provide the LIC with sufficient
additional funds to enable it to act as a focal point for the development of
the "New Library" IT network. The LIC's new role
will also encompass work on promoting access to library services by blind
and visually impaired people, using funds previously
allocated to the RNIB. We will also announce the terms of reference and
membership of the LIC's education task force
shortly. These changes will help reinforce the LIC's role in providing
strategic leadership to the sector.

The Department remains committed to seeking ways of improving funding for
the sector as a whole. Our proposals in the
consultation paper New Links for the Lottery will help develop community
access to lifelong learning by contributing to the
infrastructure needed for the "New Library" network. In the light of
responses to our proposals on other possible uses of
Lottery funds to help libraries, we do not intend to proceed with the
introduction of specific powers to develop an HLF stream
for library books. The responses demonstrated significant and widespread
concerns about consistency with the purposes for
which the HLF was established, and the risks of such a scheme being used to
reward failure and penalise success. We propose
instead to investigate the scope for broadening the HLF's statutory remit to
allow it to fund projects relating to our literary
heritage. We will also consider whether any other steps are necessary or
desirable in the light of our current assessment of
Annual Library Plans, and responses to New Links for the Lottery. The
DCMS-Wolfson Challenge Fund for IT in public
libraries will continue for 1999-2000. The Department has also set aside
,2million in each year for a public library challenge
fund in 2000-01 and 2001-02 and is exploring the possibility of further
involvement with the Wolfson Foundation. To help
refocus DCMS funding, we will withdraw from our historical legacy of
providing grant to the National Manuscripts
Conservation Trust.

To help raise the profile of the archives sector, and to ensure that its
voice is heard in the developing regional structures, we
have asked the National Council on Archives to help us to develop regional
arrangements which will address strategic issues
for the archives sector. This work will complement our plans to help give
libraries a voice in the new regional structures and will
be taken forward alongside a review of the terms of reference and membership
of the current Inter-Departmental Archives
Committee, with the aim of improving co-ordination and strategic leadership
in the sector.

Funding

The figures below show the Library and Information Commission as a separate
body. When the Museums, Libraries and
Archives Council is established the funding for the LIC will be added to
that for the MGC shown in the museums section
above. Allocations in the library sector for 1999-2002 are:

,m

1998-99 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002

British Library 80.45 83.2 84.5 88.5

Library &

Information Com. 0.7 1.0 1.0 1.0

RCHM 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.1

Public Lending

Right 4.9 5.1 5.2 5.2


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