Shining a Light – The Future of Public Libraries in the UK
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
1 like•76 views
Jenny Peachey, Senior Policy Officer, Carnegie UK Trust- CILIPS Conference 2017
Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (12)
Similar to Shining a Light – The Future of Public Libraries in the UK
Similar to Shining a Light – The Future of Public Libraries in the UK (20)
More from CILIPScotland
More from CILIPScotland (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Shining a Light – The Future of Public Libraries in the UK
- 1. Dr Jenny Peachey, Senior Policy Officer
- 2. The Trust
- 3. Why shine a light on public libraries?
- 4. Methodology Territory Method Fieldwork dates Sample Ireland Telephone 1 – 15 June 2016 1,011 adults 15+ Scotland Telephone 6 – 12 June 2016 1,000 adults 18+ Wales Face-to-face 6 – 19 June 2016 1,011 adults 16+ England Face-to-face 1 – 12 July 2016 1,341 adults 15+ N Ireland Face-to-face 15 Aug – 7 Sept 2016 1,013 adults 16+
- 5. Key Findings – all jurisdictions • of people use the library • of library users use the library at least once every month • of people say libraries important to the community • of people say libraries important to them personally
- 6. Key findings - Scotland
- 7. Key findings - Scotland Predictors for library use • Having children in the household • Being relatively younger (25-34) • Being a ‘prolific’ reader • Not working full time
- 8. Key findings - Scotland Library use by gender
- 9. Key findings - Scotland Library use by households with children
- 10. Key findings - Scotland Library use by age
- 11. Key findings - Scotland Library use by working status
- 12. Key findings - Scotland Library use by Socio-economic Group
- 13. Key findings - Scotland Most popular suggested service improvements – Offering more events – Providing better information on services – Café or coffee shop on site
- 14. • Users • Events • Better information • Range and quality of books • Non-users • Events • Café/coffee shop • Better information Key findings - Scotland
- 15. Key findings - Scotland • Add value • Replace all
- 16. Interesting fact 1: well used…
- 17. Interesting fact 2: …but frequency of use under pressure
- 18. Interesting fact 3: value-action gap
- 19. Interesting fact 4: challenging stereotypes Library use by age in 2016 (%) England Ireland N. Ireland Scotland Wales All 46 50 43 50 46 15-24 years 51 62 45 48 51 25-34 years 46 55 45 58 52 35-54 years 47 49 53 55 49 55+ years 43 41 32 43 41 Base: All respondents 1,341 1,011 1,013 1,000 1,011
- 20. 30% 21% 24% 21% 23% Interesting fact 5: non-readers use the library
- 21. Interesting fact 6: communication challenge
- 22. Interesting fact 7: appetite for change
- 23. In summary…
- 24. Lessons or the ‘so what’?
- 25. Lessons or the ‘so what’?
- 26. Lessons or the ‘so what’?
- 27. Lessons or the ‘so what’?
- 28. Lessons or the ‘so what’?
Editor's Notes
- On 10 April we published our shining a light research which looked at how people use public libraries and what they think of them. This afternoon I wanted to talk through: Who we are Why we did this research How we did the research What we found Headline findings for UK&IRE Headline findings for Scotland Interesting findings for UK&IRE 5 lessons drawn from the data for how libraries can continue to improve people’s wellbeing today and into the future.
- Independent endowed foundation – established in 1913 by Andrew Carnegie, Scots American Philanthropist Remit – to enhance the wellbeing of the people in UK and ROI 1913-2004 Grants – range causes – incl libraries - in first 50 years more than a third of the Trust’s income was spent on library services library buildings (660) creating an effective rural service, creating the national infrastructure which allowed for the development of inter-library loans, and addressing the needs of people who found it hard to access the service (seafarers, the blind) supporting the first professional training for librarians. 2004 - Operating trust – proactive vs reactive; working at a more strategic level to seek to change public opinion, policy and practice; fund our own research and look for partnerships. Advocacy resource CLL – innovation and leadership Nat strat pub libs Scotland Together w SLIC commissioned research on measuring impact on libs Research
- Why shine a light? As you may know first ran this research in 2011 under title “New Chapter”– Time the Trust getting a lot of calls from people in England worried about the future of their library Trust was also very aware of the challenges facing the sector: public sector reform; cuts; digital developments and changes in the way people were reading and seeking information – in the age of google and smart phones. Trust looking to re-engage with libraries. CIPFA – management data (didn’t include IRE) Taking Part; SHS; NI HS – diff ways data collated hard to compare 2016 – public libraries facing same challenges but these have intensified! We also began to see the emergence of two ways of looking at public libraries among policy makers, media and library sector: Image of: service in decline, less buildings, less staff, less book borrowing, less resources and compromised models of service delivery (volunteer run, mutual, arms lengths). Image of: service w positive future, new ‘super’ city libraries, strong community support, unique and growing role in the knowledge economy, and of enhanced digital offers eg coding clubs of pioneering models of service delivery. Truth in both views, but also a severe tension in how talk about future of libraries and campaign for them Hope was that research would be able to reveal the state of play and highlight priorities for further policy and practice activity. Take away point: This is the only available research on public libraries that enables comparisons to be drawn between the jurisdictions of the UK and Ireland. Notes: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35707956 and http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35707956 [Accessed November 2016] 50 new libraries have opened 2011-2016 and there has been considerable press attention on the refurbishment and opening of Manchester, Liverpool and Exeter central libraries. There has also been growing diversification in the management and governance of library services, including arms-length trusts, social enterprises, staff mutual and community managed libraries, and an increasing number of co-located library services. There has been a 330% increase in the number of coding clubs run in public libraries between March 2016 and November 2016 (http://goscl.com/coding-clubs-in-libraries-on-the-rise-330-increase-from-march-2016/ [Accessed November 2016]); the Good Things Foundation and others have been working with libraries to deliver digital inclusion projects; the first library-based digital fabrication lab opened in the UK in 2014; library hacks have been run; and there is an emerging interest in the role public libraries can play in supporting citizens to better understand and navigate data privacy issues.
- Methods: Ipsos MORI conducted omnibus polls across UK and Ireland in 2016 Interviewed around 1000 people in each jurisdiction (over 5000 in total) The same number of interviews were held in 2011 * (Data we published was the result of over 10,000 interviews) In terms of what people were asked about in the polls: library use frequency of library use their attitude to public libraries (importance to community and to themselves personally) what would encourage people to make more use of public libraries Attitudes towards volunteers
- Around 1 in 2 of us use public libraries across the UK and Ireland Over 2/5 of library users in the use the library at least once every month Around ¾ of us across the UK and Ireland say libraries important to the community Around 2/5 say libraries important to themselves personally If asked – stats are as follows: Around 1 in 2 of us use public libraries across the UK and Ireland Scotland and Ireland top – 50%; England and Wales next (46%); NI (43%) Over 2/5 of library users in the use the library at least once every month Scotland and Ireland top (49%); England next (46%); NI (45%); Wales (41%) Around ¾ of us across the UK and Ireland say libraries important to the community Ireland top (79%); Scotland (77%); Wales (76%); NI (74%) and England (72%) Around 2/5 say libraries important to themselves personally Ireland top (44%); England (40%); NI, Scotland&Wales (37%)
- USE – good news& not so good: -11pp biggest drop in use across all js (NI&W went up) But in terms of overall use S= joint TOP w IRE (E&W=46%; NI 43%) FREQ USE -7 pp (biggest drop -16 Wales) In terms of overall freq use S joint w IRE (E 46%; NI 45% and W 41%) S only j where drop USE>drop FREQ use COMMUNITY +1 since 2011 2nd highest IRE 79%; S: Wales 76%; NI 74% and Eng 72% PERSONALLY -10 since 2011 – biggest drop of all Js 3rd highest joint w NI and W Ire 44%; Eng 40%; S+NI+W
- Worth reflecting on similarities and differences between top three changes users and non-users say would encourage library use Also worth noting that overall users more likely to say suggested improvements would increase library use than non-users.
- This slide is about attitudes towards volunteers. Two sections: attitudes towards volunteers adding value to services of paid staff attitude towards using volunteers to replace all paid staff Almost 3/5 of those surveyed are in favour of volunteers adding value to services Below 1 in 10 in favour of volunteers replacing all paid staff Worth bearing in mind what people say and what they do can differ – so if it’s a choice bw not using al library and using a volunteer run library – people may well use it What can say is the response is a marker that people trust and value libraries run by staff
- Public libraries are well used! Although Scotland and England see drops (-4 and -11) Use is up NI and Wales Drop in Ireland is marginal -1 Shows: Sustained level of voluntary citizen engagement Worth noting that in 2015 Ned Potter did some number crunching that revealed (for the UK): Public libraries are visited 282 million times each year This is more than twice as many visits IN A WEEK as Alton Towers gets IN A YEAR – 5.4 million This is a whole football stadium’s worth of people every single HOUR of the year – 32,191 (Leicester’s King Power Stadium) Celebrate – cornerstone of evidence based arguments for public libraries
- But frequency of use is under pressure USE has seen drop of 1-4pp w 11pp drop in Scotland FREQ USE has seen drop of 6-8 pp w 16 pp drop in Wales I would add here – Scotland is the only jurisdiction that has seen a bigger drop in use than in frequency of use
- ¾ people say libraries ess or v imp to communities – but this is not matched by equivalent level of use Why? They think library has nothing to offer them or Library actually has nothing to offer them Worth noting this is a similar story for other popular public services like post offices Not unusual to have nostalgic attraction for certain services Data will allow us to dig a little deeper to think about who is using libraries I’d be interested to see what you think of this: Is it a problem Who you think these people are
- Data challenges stereotype that libraries are for ‘old people’ 15-24 year olds more likely to use libraries than over 55s 15-24 most likely in E, Ire, NI 15-24 year old predictor for likelihood of library use E, I, Wales If these were stats for a business you’d be happy – got young people using and engaging – you’d be concerned if your main market were over 55s with little engagement with younger folk.
- Data showed that being a prolific reader is a predictor for the likelihood of library use BUT 21-30% of people who rarely or never read books use the library
- This graph shows is that 42-59% of people said they would use the library more if they could look for or reserve books online. Scotland stats&user/non user - But you can already do this. It is a universal service. (The only exception is Ireland where it only became a universal service in March 2017 – although reasonably widespread before then.) Something is being lost in translation – people don’t know what libraries offer. And just to add to that 52-67% of people said they would use the library more if they had better info on what it offered.
- …and speaking of changes, there is a clear increase in proportion of people who would be encouraged to use the library if changes and improvements were made. In E, IRE, WALES Most popular changes across the board were: Offering more council services in the library Providing better information on what services offer A café or coffee shop on-site Offering more events Worth mentioning that improving the range and quality of books was not the most popular suggested change by ay demographic group (gender, age, working status or socio-economic status) With the exception of social grade B in Ireland So the data allows us to understand what users want rather than projecting our own assumptions or preferences onto users
- So, Libraries are well used and highly valued – but frequency of use is under pressure Libraries are highly valued but value isn’t met by equivalent levels of use Library users may not be who we assume they are (older, readers) There’s a real comms challenge There’s an appetite for change
- Following from that, to help libraries continue to improve people’s wellbeing today and into the future we drew the following lessons/priorities for further policy and practise activity We saw that public libraries are well used and highly valued SO there is work to be done around Demonstrating value to policy makers, decision makers and funders to maximise public and other investment
- We saw that extraordinary level of value isn’t met by levels of use and library users aren’t who we think they are SO there is work to be done around Increasing focus on tailored, personalised services whilst maintaining a focus on delivering a universal service Ie. Is whilst public libraries are a universal service there is no such thing as a universal set of needs So is it worth targeting people who say libraries imp for others (but not selves) – find hook; young; non readers – and communicating these targeted offers effecetively? We saw that people are either choosing not to use the library as much as they once did – or are finding is more difficult to do so – freq library use dropped SO is there work to be done around Accelerating the development of a user-centred, data rich service with a strong online presence
- We saw that people are either choosing not to use the library as much as they once did – or are finding is more difficult to do so – freq library use dropped SO is there work to be done around Accelerating the development of a user-centred, data rich service with a strong online presence
- We saw that there is an appetite for changes to the service But the point is less to implement changes on the basis of what people told us And more: there is a need to inculcate flexibility and adaptability to continually respond to changing needs and demographics SO there is work to be done around Investing in innovation, leadership and outcomes-based partnerships
- The data shows that there are similarities and there are differences bw jurisdictions Eg. Scotland gap in library use by gender isn’t significant – everywhere else it’s women that are more likely to use… Eg. age as predictor- 15-24 yrs old predictor SO is there work to be done around Enhancing learning between libraries and across jurisdictions What might this look like – who should be doing it