Library strategy - Our delivery
In order to deliver high-quality responsive and inclusive services we will be doing the following.
Providing safe and welcoming library buildings for residents
- Investing in library buildings to ensure they are sustainable and fit for purpose in the 2020s
- Making every effort to place and anchor library buildings in the heart of their communities as safe spaces
- Investing in staff and recruitment to ensure they are the right people with the right skills to adapt and respond to changing local need
- Working to maintain our position as a high performing and responsive lending service
- Listening to local people and learning how we can adapt buildings and services to meet their post-pandemic needs
- Offering library buildings and services, including sharing facilities, that residents can be proud of, places where they feel they belong and which they can rely on to be cool/warm havens during difficult times
Offering ‘libraries without walls’ via digital services
- Investing in our digital offer to ensure residents can find more materials they need online for reading and learning
- Continuing to campaign via our national bodies for reforms in eLending, leading to more choice for residents
- Regularly reviewing our digital services to ensure the right services are available to both meet and anticipate need
- Ensuring accessibility for all when using library services – ‘you read and learn in your own way’
- Removing physical boundaries to participation and engagement with libraries
- Reaching out to residents through channels such as eNewsletters and social media to inform them of service offers
Taking services out into the community to reach those most in need
- Targeting local people in need with tailored service offers to engage and inspire them
- Promoting national campaigns (e.g. Bookstart, Summer Reading Challenge) to improve literacy and life chances
- Reaching out to people struggling with health and mental health to help them improve their wellbeing
- Involving local people in how services are delivered via consultation and volunteering programmes
- Removing invisible boundaries to participation and making services inclusive and friendly with representative staffing
- Taking advantage of consortia and partnerships to improve quality and range of services available
Updated: 21 April 2023
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