Public libraries work with readers a shared mission

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Public libraries work with readers a shared
mission

• Aim to create a shared mission for libraries
  work with readers
• Produced with and for the library workforce  
• Covering work with adults and children
• An agreed rationale for our work with readers
• Linked to MLAs national vision/marketing work

• A shared platform for strategic thinking,
  advocacy and planning
• Can be adapted for regional and local use  
• Framework for better collection of impact
  evidence  
• Send any evidence useful for national advocacy to
  Society of Chief Librarians alison.bramley_at_virgi
  n.net

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Development process
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Libraries work with readers a mission for
public library staffTo create clarity, ownership
and motivation To support national, regional and
local planning and advocacy.
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AIMS of libraries work with readers This section
is to guide national, regional and local planning.

• Improving learning literacy
• To support learning through reading
• To build individual, family and community
  literacy
• To work with partners to raise levels of literacy

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STRATEGIES This section is to guide planning at
national level

• Develop portfolio of national reading offers for
  priority groups
• Integrate IT and reading services
• Create programme to transform library reading
  spaces

• Build partnerships to inject vibrancy and reach
  new people
• Develop fundraising strategies
• Establish research programme to understand
  readers needs

• Create advocacy programme to establish value of
  work
• Develop better ways of measuring impact of
  reading activities

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THE VALUE OF READING This section is to help
library staff articulate the value of their work
with readers
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THE VALUE OF READING - 1
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THE VALUE OF READING - 2
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DEFINITIONS
Reading or reader development describes the
active way libraries and others work to create
the best possible reading experience for everyone.
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LIBRARY USPs This section is to help build
partnerships and stronger advocacy by identifying
libraries unique contribution

• Reading is free
• Community space
• Access through huge network
• Reaching out to the community

Reading is free in libraries The library remains
a location where market forces lose some of their
powergoods are handed over for free and communal
trust is part of the deal Tom Sutcliffe, The
Independent 23 However nice they are in
bookshops..theyre a business, they obviously
want you to buy something


Library user 25
Trusted, unpressurised and creative community
spaces for reading Libraries are used by a wide
cross section of the public Im at home here
Im welcome here
Male library user
25 The library space is..a sanctuary, a place
where one may sit, read, browse, sleep and remain
unharrased nobody is judged and therefore nobody
is found wanting Liz Greenhalgh Ken Worpole
12
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LIBRARY USPs
Reaching out to the community Libraries reach out
with reading beyond their buildings - to the
housebound, babies, looked after children, young
people at risk, adults trying to improve literacy
skills I had no idea that babies like books,
but Tom just loves them.The scheme has really
opened my eyes to how babies absorb everything
they are shown. Bookstart parent 27
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LIBRARY USPs
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POLICY LINKS/ADVOCACY 1 This section shows how
libraries work with readers supports national
and local policy priorities
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POLICY LINKS/ADVOCACY 2

• Libraries complement the work of schools and the
  teaching of basic skills to raise reading
  standards. They encourage wider reading and
  reading for enjoyment.
• 95 of library services offer children schemes to
  support their reading in the breaks from school
  16
• The Summer Reading Challenge clearly has a
  positive impact on children's reading progress
  during the break from school, helping them to
  become independent, discriminating readers
• Dept of Education, University of Surrey 8
• 88 of library services build support for adults
  with low literacy levels into their planning and
  87 work in partnership with adult basic skills
  providers 26
• I never imagined I'd learn to love reading so
  much. The wonderful thing is that it makes you
  feel youve got substance. I can hold my own in a
  discussion about books with my peers
• Essex basic skills learner involved in libraries
  support work 26

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POLICY LINKS/ADVOCACY 3
There are 4,500 library led reading groups As a
resident of only 2 years I feel part of the local
community and have got to know a wider circle of
people Lancashire library reading group member
30

• Reading activities in libraries bring people
  together, building new networks through the
  shared language of books and reading
• 96 of library services offer families under 5s
  story and rhyme times. 16
• 49 of parents use the library every week. 1

Libraries celebrate diversity and promote
cultural understanding I joined because I
wanted information on what was happening in the
black community. I also wanted to find out about
the latest black books on the market and discuss
aspects of the book with other reading group
members 29
Involvement in reading-based activities supports
vulnerable people who feel excluded When I was
well I used to use the library all the time. Now
they bring the books to me at homeits really
helped as I feel that to some extent Im still
functioning. Ive still got something to offer
and I feel as if its brought me back into
society Female library user 25
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POLICY LINKS/ADVOCACY 4
Given the number and variety of the creative
activities going on in libraries, they should be
seen as one of the primary means by which the
government can fulfil the cultural pledge given
in the green paper The Next Ten Years John
Holden, Demos 13
Reading is a creative act which develops the
imagination and new ways of thinking One must
be an inventor to read well Ralph Waldo Emerson
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POLICY LINKS/ADVOCACY 5
Reading provides a lifeline in difficult life
circumstances It is lovely to be part of the
Visually Impaired Readers Group at Newbury
Library. It has made such a difference to my life
especially since I lost my husband last year If
someone asks me to go out with them on my VIP
Readers day, I say No I am going to the
library and thats special. 29
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POLICY LINKS/ADVOCACY 6

• Libraries help people develop new skills and
  improve their life chances through reading
• After taking part in the summer reading challenge
  77 of children felt they were better readers 18

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References
1. Audit Commission - Building better library
services, 2002 2. BML - Reading the situation
book buying, reading and borrowing habits in
Britain. Book Marketing Ltd. and the Reading
Agency, 2000 3. Bragg, Melvyn writing in The
Sunday Mirror, 9.7.96 4. Brophy ,Peter The
Peoples Network moving forward. MLA, 2004 5.
Carey, John, Pure Pleasure , Faber, 2000 6. CIPFA
PLUS surveys, IPF, 2002 7. CIPFA Public Library
Actuals statistics, 2002-03 8. Collins, Fiona and
Graham, Judith Evaluation of the Summer Reading
Challenge, Dept. of Education, University of
Surrey, 2003 9. CRISP Quentin writing in The
Observer, Jan 1986 10. DCMS - Framework for the
Future, Department of Culture, Media and Sport,
2003 11. Emerson, Ralph Waldo - The American
scholar, 1837, quoted in A. Manguel A history of
reading, Flamingo, 1996 12. Greenhalgh, Liz
Worpole, Ken Libraries in a world of cultural
change, UCL press, 1995 13. Holden, John
Creative Reading, Demos, 2004 14. Jennings, Frank
G. This is Reading, 1964 15. LISU Library
information statistics tables, 2003. Library
Information Statistics Unit, Loughborough,
2003 16. LISU - A survey of library services to
schools children in the UK, 2002-2003, November
2003 17. Pullman, Philip fund-raising speech for
NLB, November 2003 (www.nlb-online.org) 18. The
Reading Agency - Inspiring learning key
findings, TRA, 2004 19. Reading for Change, OECD,
2001 20. Silver, Cathy Evidence to the Commons
Education Select Committee, May 2004 21. Social
Trends, 1999 22. Stanislavski, Constantine as
quoted in Poetry as Therapy, PhD dissertation
by Perie, J. Longo. Studies in poetry therapy.
Poems in the waiting room, Research Note 2. 23.
Sutcliffe, Tom - writing in The Independent,
30.4.97 24. Telegraph, Nov.1 2001
(www.literacytrust.org.uk) 25. Toyne, J and
Usherwood, B Checking the Books the value and
impact of public library book reading, University
of Sheffield, 2001 26. www.vitallink.org.uk 27.
www.bookstart.co.uk/parents/quotes.html 28.
www.readingagency.org.uk 29. The Reading Agency
A National Public Library Development Programme
for Reading Groups, TRA 2004 30. Recent survey of
Public Library Reading Groups, Lancashire Library
Service 2004
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