Chair: Neil MacInnes Committee support: Helen Drakard
Date/Time: Wednesday 18th January 2017 10am – 3.30pm
Location: Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Rd, London EC1R 3GA
Present: Sue Ball, Medi Bernard, Andrew Bignell, Janene Cox, Tracy Cox, Helen Drakard, Mark Freeman, Peter Gaw, Julie Griffiths, Anthony Hopkins, Ayub Khan, Neil MacInnes, Simon May, Sarah Mears, Lesley Sim, Alison Wheeler, Sue Wills, Marie Brett, Fiona Williams, Janet Wood, Ciara Eastell and Elizabeth Elford.
Apologies: Steve Hardman, Mike Cavanagh, Helen Osborne, Carol Stump, Julie Spencer, Carol Boswarthack
MINUTES
Item / SubjectNeil MacInnes welcomed everyone to the meeting and offered his congratulations to Ciara Eastell on being awarded an OBE, Ayub Khan on being appointed CILIP’s Vice President and Alison Wheeler for being accepted on to the CILIP board.
1 / Orwell 1984 Event
Stephanie Le Lievre gave a presentation about The Orwell Prize charity. The charity run a variety of events including the Orwell Prize and the Orwell Youth Prize for writers, they also make resources available online.
They have recently moved to new premises at UCL and to celebrate this new partnership they are organising a live literature event called ‘1984 Live’ where the novel 1984 will be read live over 14 hours from Senate House. The event will be free, accessible and streamed live across the country on Tuesday 6th June 2017 9am – 11pm. There will be around 40 readers including writers, journalist and public figures.
Stephanie asked SCL if they would be able to support the event and encourage libraries to help them widen their reach and gain national coverage by running satellite events, broadcasting the live reading and making links with local book clubs etc. The Orwell Prize will be able to support libraries with display materials and publicity.
Exec members discussed the details with Stephanie. The main points of the discussion were -
· It was suggested that The Orwell Prize could link with the BBC through the network of local radio stations.
· Neil MacInnes was suggested as a potential reader to represent libraries.
· More structured support is available but The Orwell Prize was happy for libraries to use their initiative and link to the main event in their own way.
· It was suggested that a Twitter tag would help libraries share their activities using social media.
· SCL offered to help link to school and health libraries through SCL national partnerships i.e. Publishers Association and Book Sellers and School Libraries Association.
· SCL agreed to add the ‘1984 Live’ event to the reading offer calendar and proposed using the event map on the website to log events.
· To evaluate the event The Orwell Prize will be analysing coverage and viewings etc.
Actions
· Helen Drakard to pass the BBC radio contact details to Stephanie.
· Neil MacInnes to pass contact details for the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) to Stephanie.
· Janene Cox to discuss plans further with Reading Offer Group.
· Sue Ball to discuss plans further with ASCEL and Schools Library Association.
· Sue Wills to pass health library contacts to Stephanie.
2 / Universal Offer Updates:
1. Learning Offer
Julie Griffiths gave an update on the Learning Offer projects -
· The North West region has been chosen to pilot the Ada Ada Ada project.
· There are now nearly 400 Code Clubs running in libraries, this is a huge increase from the 200 recorded last year, and some are beginning to become ‘star clubs’.
· Common Vision (CoVi) has been appointed to carry out the family learning research. Further information will be circulated soon and there will be an update for March Executive meeting.
· Cracking the Code - Charlotte Self from Leeds has blogged about the event and an evaluation will be released alongside the blog towards the end of January.
2. Digital Offer
Ayub Khan gave an update on the Digital Offer projects -
· Single Sign On
o The first pilot is due to go live in Bournemouth in the next week.
o Discussions are taking place with the publishers most used by public libraries to encourage them to join the federation. Without signup from these companies libraries are less likely to see the value in the service.
o Capita have suggested they may need to charge extra for the service. They have been encouraged to offer the resource for free but there may still be a charge if an engineer is required to go out to libraries. The alternative (to be piloted) is for local IT staff to carry out the work using instructions provided by Capita.
o Some negotiations around the cost of the service have taken place and Jisc are looking at using a charging model based on population size.
o Ayub outlined the potential risks based on the experience of the pilot to date.
o Ayub stressed that is was important for libraries to begin building this requirement into their tenders for LMS suppliers.
· BT WIFI Pilot
o BT has confirmed that the pilot project will finish at the end of July and they have been asked to explain what will happen after this. The Taskforce negotiated the pilot originally and Neil agreed to raise this issue with them.
o Regional Leads were asked to update library services within their region.
· Public Lending Rights
o Public Lending Rights now include e-lending.
o CILIP is preparing a briefing on the issue.
o There have been some challenges to the new clause and it was agreed that SCL would send a letter supporting the inclusion to DCMS.
· TV licences for libraries has been raised again with Kathy Settle and DCMS.
· A single digital presence event had taken place. It was chaired by Martyn Evans from Carnegie and introduced by Darren Henley from ACE. There was interest from the majority of people present and a follow up session is planned.
Actions
· Regional Leads to share the update about the BT Wi-Fi pilot with their local networks.
· Neil MacInnes to raise the BT Wi-Fi pilots with the Taskforce.
· Ayub Khan to draft a letter of support for the inclusion of e-lending in the Public Lending Rights.
3. Reading Offer
Janene Cox gave an update on the Reading Offer projects -
· The process for reviewing the Summer Reading Challenge (SRC) has been agreed. Part of the work will be looking at the reasons for the drop in take up and how to address this, taking into account the changes in the way libraries work, to develop a sustainable model going forward. It is proposed that the changes would be introduced for the 2018 scheme.
· The Reading Agency framework toolkit has been launched https://readingagency.org.uk/news/blog/reading-outcomes-framework-toolkit.html In 2016/17 the goal is to use the framework to evaluate 5 or 6 pilot projects and then use the learning from that process to refine it further.
· Celebrating Shakespeare – finale event very successful and lots of positive reactions on social media during project. 29,200 people took part at a cost of just £3.33 per head.
· As a follow on to the #LovetoRead campaign library staff are being urged to become reading ambassadors and a newsletter will be circulated late this week. SCL is working with partners to negotiate use of the BBC’s #LovetoRead brand.
· A draft reader development report has been written by Katie Pekacar and presented at last Books and Reading meeting. The report and case studies show that there are a number of innovative projects taking place in libraries and provide a number of interesting models that can be developed. Regional Chairs were asked to encourage authorities that haven’t completed the survey to fill it in. A summary report will be produced in February 2017. Two blogs per month are planned based on case studies.
· The survey has also highlighted the role of volunteers in reader development and identified the need for co-produced training resources. Helen Drakard will be leading on a project to develop and pilot a training package, working with Leicestershire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire.
· A tender for online training to support soft skills in reader development “Starting conversations about reading” will be produced in February 2017, with the aim of commissioning a third party to develop an e-learning module. The aim is to have published the new training on the SCL online training portal by May 2017.
· The Reading Outcomes evaluation toolkit will be piloted in Kirklees and Cumbria during the first half of 2017.
· Funding for additional face-to-face training on “making the case for reading” and evaluation approaches has been included in the NPO bid to Arts Council England.
Actions
· ASCEL to discuss the changes to the Summer Reading Challenge and feedback to the working group.
· SCL Exec members sign up to become Reading Ambassadors by 31st Jan http://www.publishers.org.uk/campaigns/reading-for-pleasure/become-a-reading-ambassador/
· Regional Chairs to encourage authorities that haven’t completed the reader development survey to fill it in.
4. Health Offer
Update to be circulated after the meeting.
5. Information Offer
Medi Bernard and Lesley Sim gave an update on the Information Offer projects -
· The Information 4 Living websites has seen an improvement in the uploading of local data. Designers are working on an enhanced presence on SCL website and a launch is planned to take place on 7th February 2017. The launch will link with Safer Internet Day and focus on libraries provision of quality assured information.
· Learning Pool modules have seen an increase in take up and completions. There are plans to increase the number of people that can access the reports to make local evaluation possible.
· SCL have been successful in their first bid to the AD-DI framework. The project has a tight timescale and will run from Feb – Jun 2017. A call will be taking place next week to agree the full details.
· Training Days on consumer health information have been organised for SCL SW and SCL SE regions in partnership with Public Health England and NHS. They will take place in May/June in advance of Health Information Week.
· The information group are planning to go out to tender to find a company to carry out a needs assessment for library staff and volunteers.
Actions
· Helen Drakard to investigate a shared access platform that could be used to list all live surveys and be accessible to SCL members.
6. Culture Offer
Neil MacInnes and Sarah Mears gave an update on the Cultural Offer projects -
· MetaValue have been appointed to carry out the development of this new offer.
· A survey of libraries has taken place and its findings confirmed that most libraries are already providing cultural activities.
· MetaValue are organising a series of regional consultation workshops and also having calls with key partners and stakeholders. Executive members were asked to encourage staff to attend the regional meetings.
· Cultural Educational Partnership and Libraries seminar is taking place on 27th Feb in Birmingham.
· MetaValue will be attending the March Executive meeting to give a full update about the Culture Offer.
· Plans are to launch the new offer in Spring/Summer 2017.
Alison Wheeler suggested contacting libraries applying for NPO status as they will be offering much more cultural/arts opportunities and may be able to suggest more ideas for ‘stretch’.
7. ASCEL/Children’s Promise
Sus Ball gave an update on ASCEL and the Children’s Promise projects –
· The Children’s Public Library Health Offer survey is now closed and the returns will be analysed to map existing public library provision and to identify gaps.
· Pre-birth library toolkit for parents-to-be, called ‘Bump Booster’ is being progressed by Diane Dixon Associates. The closing date for applications from library authorities wishing to test pilot pre-birth activities/projects to support the case studies is 16th January.
· ASCEL regions are contributing to the Summer Reading Challenge (SRC) review through a series of questions discussed at regional meetings. Feedback will help to inform the development of the SRC.
· A small ASCEL sub group has been set up to make recommendations for an ASCEL Review. The purpose of the review is to ensure that ASCEL remains a strong and robust support organization that is sustainable and fit for the future.
· Sue Ball has been invited to represent SCL and ASCEL on the Children’s Laureate steering group.
· Arts Council England has asked Sarah Mears to contribute to a panel discussion for a podcast series being produced for them. This is a three part series highlighting the important contribution that libraries make. The first episode focuses on the formative years and the impact libraries have on shaping young minds.
· A one day seminar will be held on 7th February at Warwickshire SLS to enable a more in-depth follow up on conference discussions around the issues, challenges and opportunities facing Schools Library Services.
· Shakespeare Birth Place Trust is being funded to put together activities for Shakespeare Week 2017. Libraries are encouraged to use the logo and register events on the website
8.Six Steps