Agenda item

The Board gave consideration to a report of the Head of Heritage, Libraries and Arts which provided an update on Oldham Council Libraries’ Performance, highlighting the outreach work to reach non-users and disengaged readers.

Members were informed that Oldham Libraries vision was to be among the best library services in the country; a service that was synonymous with high quality, creative and innovative service provision.

 The vision would be achieved by ensuring Oldham’s libraries were:

·             rooted within, and responsive to, the communities served

·             welcoming, animated and flexible spaces

·             offering a wide range of free accessible books, information and digital resources, and cultural experiences for all ages

·             staffed by skilled, knowledgeable and happy staff

As a statutory service it was committed to being open and accessible to all residents and users. Finite resources and the on-going need to find efficiencies presented challenges to the ability to reach everyone in the borough. Only through the systematic and effective use of data, partnership working and process review could the Library Service ensure it continued to offer a comprehensive and efficient service as required by the 1964 Act.

The report highlighted the Library Service’s outreach activity which aimed to reach and engage with non-users of the service, those that were traditionally hard to reach or those that had disengaged from the service.

Members were informed that the use of library cards enabled statistics to be assembled. These could be drilled down to Ward level and could be correlated with community data. The data that could be gathered and used was limited by GDPR restrictions and staff capacity.

The census in 2021 would be wholly online and this would be used as an opportunity to facilitate and offer assistance to those that needed it, and consult with those who were not usually library users.

The impact of the removal of fines continued to be monitored and early positive indicators showed that there had been an increase in library membership figures since fines were removed in August 2019, compared to the same period last year.

As the service had evolved, some provision could be accessed without a library card. The extensive trail-blazing activities, including those to reach out to the homeless and the development of Libraries of Sanctuary, in addition to those tackling loneliness and social isolation were highlighted to and welcomed by the Board. The continuing and developing work with children and families was also considered and praised.

Members asked for and received clarification on the following:

·       Were buildings fit for purpose – all buildings were accessible but not all could offer the full library experience. There was an upgrade programme in place to make libraries more attractive.

·       Was the technology sufficient to deal with the demands of the census – it was accepted the census would be a challenge. The aim was to ensure the maximum take-up for those who could not complete it at home and there would be a capacity issue to address.

·       Could user statistics be broken down into adults and children, and book users by library – this could be done.

·       Plan for “At Home” service – this was under review and there would be further consultation. The aim was to work with partners to grow the service.

·       Bringing in homeless people to share their life experience – this would be looked into.

·       Welcoming refugees - £45,000 was available to be shared between Bolton, Oldham and Manchester, largely for activities to engage communities.

·       Engagement of older groups – the provision of adult story-walks was in development.

·       Encouragement of local writers and artists – there were already events and groups that encouraged local creativity, including Live at the Library and a short festival for young people with unfinished works. There were active reading and writing groups and many young volunteers. Oral history was encouraged informally, through the various groups and the Local Studies Library could go out and collect stories.  

The Board offered its congratulations to Subnum Hariff-Khan on being awarded the British Empire Medal in the New Year’s Honours List.

Resolved that:

1.     The update be noted.

2.     A report to be brought to a future meeting on the relationship with schools.

3.     The Board’s congratulations be passed to the Service on its development.