Editorial

One of the things one learns early on in libraries are that events, if they’re to be done properly, need a fair bit of planning and resources. It’s therefore good to see extra images and information on Libraries Week becoming available. It’s never been more important to get the message out about libraries and I look forward to seeing all the things happening in, eek, only a month or two’s time.

Changes

National news

  • Councils announce more cuts to library services – Big Issue. ” library users in east England were devastated when North East Lincolnshire Council unveiled its plan to slash libraries opening hours across the area, including the closure of four libraries completely one day a week” … “Meanwhile, Powys County Council in Wales has announced plans to cut £250,000 on its library service over the next two years. The cuts could affect 11 libraries, with council bosses looking at “community partnerships” to keep the venues running. And in Newport in south Wales, a new report has revealed opening hours fell 22% last year after the council’s library services budget fell by 10%.”
  • Get ready for Libraries Week this October – CILIP. “Monday 9 to Saturday 14 October 2017 is a call for people to discover the range of things they can do at their library. CILIP and a UK-wide network of libraries, partners and supporters will work together to showcase excellence in our libraries. We will encourage everyone to discover what libraries can do for them – and tell their friends! The theme is ‘discovery’, with the message ‘discover something new’.” … “Libraries Week assets will be available online from the end of August, including English and Welsh language logos, downloadable publicity material including posters, templates, supporter boards, social media graphics and signs.  We’ll have a local PR toolkit to help you to interest local media and key figures in the run up to Libraries Week and to win coverage after; and some basic marketing tips to help you spread the word.”
  • More than a house for books – Arts Council England.  Podcast about the many positive aspects of libraries, including theatre/cinema screenings, libraries as performance spaces, “I think it’s the first introduction to books and choice of books that young people have. The art of storytelling, it’s the realisation that there are so many different types of stories. I think particularly, as Owen says that once you start to bring creative arts into a library, it could be the first time you see a theatrical performance, things that might seem intimidating, like Shakespeare. If it’s done in a library, it can become much more accessible. I think libraries are hugely important”
  • Scotland’s Library and Information Professional of the Year – CILIPS. “You only have 10 days left to nominate your library and information professional of the year – don’t miss the chance to put yourself or a fellow professional forward for this new annual recognition award being presented by CILIP in Scotland”

An online bookclub from Axiell
International news

IFLA Global Vision from IFLA .

  • Global – IFLA Global Vision voting – IFLA. “With the Online Voting, we are offering all librarians and library friends the easiest way to contribute to and influence the global conversation about shaping the future of the united library field. Below you will find a set of 6 questions and 10 choices, out of which you are welcome to select up to 5 that you feel strongly about. The answers are based on outcomes of the Global Vision kick-off meeting and six regional workshops organized by IFLA between April and July 2017. The meetings gathered library leaders from more than 140 countries, who were expressing their views on the issues included in the questions. Your votes matter. We want the Global Vision discussion to be your discussion and a true bottom-up activity. Along with the outcomes from the meetings organised by IFLA as well as the self-facilitated ones organised by librarians across the world, the results of your voting will inform IFLA’s Global Vision report – a roadmap to help define the agenda to create a more united library field. In the face of increasing globalisation, we need libraries to be connected and stronger than ever before.”
  • Turkey – Turning libraries into houses of wisdom and Turkey’s library statistics – Daily Sabah. “According to 2017 statistics, 265 million visits are made to public libraries in Great Britain each year and there are 3,917 public libraries across Great Britain. This is a huge number given that U.K.’s population is only around 65 million. In Canada, 2010 library statistics revealed that 100.2 million visits were made to libraries each year while Canada’s population was just over 36 million in 2016. In Australia, the number of visits is even higher. According to 2014-15 statistics, there were over 114 million visits to public libraries in Australia where the population was just over 24 million in 2016. Unfortunately, the number of visits to libraries in Turkey is nowhere close to those in any of these countries. According to recently published statistics from Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), the number of people who used public libraries in 2016 is barely over 24 million compared to country’s population of almost 80 million. This is significantly low compared to the other countries.”
  • USA – Queens Library pulls an all-nighter with 31-hour marathon in Rockaway“ – New York. “The Queens Library is keeping its Peninsula branch open for 31 hours straight next weekend as part of a broader community outreach effort. That means the library will be open at 2 a.m. Sunday in case you get the urge to take part in a karaoke dance party. If not, come back an hour or two later for “Board Games for Insomniacs.” Outdoor screenings of “Finding Nemo” and “Jaws” will take place just steps from the sand along with sunrise yoga on the beach, live music and story time throughout the day.”

Local news by authority

Cheshire West and Chester - Librarians taking pride at Chester Pride

Cheshire West and Chester – Librarians taking pride at Chester Pride

  • Devon – New Topsham hub gets funding boost – Exmouth Journal. “Topsham-based charity the Estuary League of Friends is building the hub on the former site of Topsham Library. Andrew Leadbetter, county councillor for Wearside and Topsham and trustee of the charity, championed an application, which was awarded £15,000, to the Investing in Devon fund. The £2million hub will feature a café, a library run in partnership with Libraries Unlimited, an exercise room, treatment rooms, wet rooms, laundry, office, meeting room and a free-to-use cash machine when it opens next summer.”
  • Dumfries and Galloway – Dates set for launch of town’s new-look library – DNG 24. “Offering an update on the integration of library, registrar and customer services into the town hall, council officer James Cox said: “The actual work will start on site on September 25; this is the proposal.” Mr Cox says the customer service centre will shut on September 18, the week before work begins, and moved to the library on Charles Street, while registrar services relocate to Ednam Street. Speaking at a meeting of Annan’s community council on Monday, Mr Cox said: “Nine weeks of work will be completed on November 24, and this will then mean migrating books across from the library to the town hall.””
  • Havering – Boy, 2, missing from Romford library found safe and well – Romford Recorder. “The toddler was said to have run out of the library, through the subway and into Laurie Walk. On Facebook, a post on Havering Libraries page said: “The police were called immediately and both staff and customers searched for the child. “Thank you to all. Fortunately he was found safe and well by the police. “The whole incident was over in about 15 to 20 minutes. It seemed longer to us and I’m sure it seemed like a lifetime to [his] mum.””
  • Lincolnshire – Upsurge in visits to Lincolnshire libraries – Lincolnshire Today. “1.76 million visits were made to the county’s libraries in the 12 months to April 2017. Moreover, popular activities such as messy mornings, knit and natter, and kids coding clubs saw attendance rise by 171% between April 2016 and January 2017. National library and literary promotions including Harry Potter Book Night and Where’s Wally’s 30th Anniversary boosted community engagement and allowed staff and customers to show their creative side with artistic window displays and costumed events. Meanwhile, the Roald Dahl-themed 2016 Summer Reading Challenge saw staff double the usual number of activities delivered in core libraries and as a result there was a 30% increase in participation compared with 2015. In addition, GLL’s Annual User Survey in July 2016 showed satisfaction amongst Lincolnshire library users at 99%.”
  • Liverpool – Plan to save Liverpool Jobcentres threatened with closure – Liverpool Echo. “The council’s plan would see Norris Green Jobcentre staff move into Norris Green Library and One Stop Shop in Townsend Lane, a short walk from the existing Jobcentre.”
  • Newport – Newport’s library opening hours are down – South Wales Argus. “opening hours in Newport have fallen by 20 per cent over the past years, new figures have shown. A Newport City Council report revealed the city’s libraries were open for 112 hours per 1,000 people, or 16,688 hours in total, in the 2015-2016 financial year. But in the following year this fell by 22 per cent to 87 hours per 1,000, or 12,963 hours overall. This is far below the Welsh Government’s target of 120 hours per 1,000 people, which would amount to 17,880 hours across the year in Newport.”
  • North East Lancashire – Council will consider plans to close North East Lincolnshire libraries one day a week – Grimsby Telegraph. “The council will consider plans to close libraries in North East Lincolnshire on one day a week as visitor numbers fall. North East Lincolnshire Council’s cabinet is set to look at a series of proposals to reduce library opening times and implement one day a week closures” … “NELC say that in order to deliver the service “within budget” for next year, the current proposal is to tailor opening hours at the four core libraries based on use of the facilities. If plans are approved, service users and staff will be asked about their views on changes to opening hours.”
  • North East Lincolnshire – ‘I don’t know what I’d do without it’ – Library users urge council to shelve closure plans – Grimsby Telegraph. Student says “She said: “My house is really loud and hectic so I come here where there’s no distractions.”It’s a place where I don’t have to think about anything else. I don’t know what I’d do without it. “It’s amazing how it is open like it is. I’d have to cut down on how much I use it.”
  • North Yorkshire – Rewind Skipton – Libraries Taskforce. “We have at least 16 Reading Hacks year round at Skipton Library who initiate and deliver activities and promotions within the library linked to the Universal Offers. In 2016, they organised and delivered events for Harry Potter Night, National Libraries Day, Shakespeare Week, Big Friendly Read, and Get Reading to name but a few. In the 2016 Summer Reading Challenge alone, Skipton Library’s Reading Hacks delivered 529.5 volunteer hours. It’s really wonderful to hear their ideas and give them the trust, support and resources to deliver. They’ve developed confidence and organisational skills and they come up with ideas which we would never have dreamed of.”
  • Powys – Powys County Council aims to halve cost of running libraries – Shropshire star. “Powys County Council is looking at cost-cutting measures in a bid to save 50 per cent of its running costs on libraries. The authority wants to make £250,000 of efficiency savings between 2016 and 2019 on its 11 libraries. It has said that £100,000 is to be found this year, and £150,000 next year. Discussions on the 11 branch libraries have taken place, and ‘community partnerships’ are planned to be put in place to save half of the money. A major consultation was carried out in the spring and summer of last year with councils and schools.”
  • Staffordshire – Summer Reading Challenge Attracts Over 8.000 Children – A Little Bit of Stone. 8000 joined in first two weeks.
  • Walsall – WP3304 – 4A Pleck Library Community Asset Transfer – Contracts Finder. “Walsall Council is offering the opportunity for a voluntary and community sector organisation to occupy the various current Library premises through the council’s Community Asset Transfer programme.
    Walsall Council welcomes expressions of interest from voluntary and community sector organisations or several organisations working as a consortium who have the necessary expertise and imaginative proposals to take over the occupation of these buildings and make them available for use to the wider community.”
  • Wolverhampton – Plans for new bridge and ‘learning quarter’ in Wolverhampton city centre – Express and Star. “A bridge linking Wolverhampton’s city-centre library with new college buildings could be built under plans for a ‘learning quarter’, the Express & Star can reveal.” … “The library will continue to serve the public, but would also provide resource facilities for college students”