Post by Aldeburgh Library Steering Grp on Aug 22, 2011 15:25:15 GMT
From the Aldeburgh Library Steering Group
Please find statement below following the Steering Group meeting with SCC on August 18th.
Green light for the Aldeburgh Triangle knowledge hub
During Suffolk County Council’s review of library services launched at the beginning of this year, and the very wide public response that followed, the Aldeburgh Library Steering Group submitted a carefully considered proposal to the County Council at the end of April for the future of library services locally. This was published on-line, with copies available in the Library.
Before doing so, the Steering Group held a third well-attended public meeting to hear people’s views and explain the purpose and content of its plans. These were not just to preserve the existing service, but to develop it progressively into a thriving ‘knowledge hub’ at the heart of the community - the Aldeburgh Triangle – in which reading, learning and sharing knowledge can help to shape society’s future well-being. Reflecting the changing needs of the town’s population, the challenges facing its local economy, opportunities for lifelong learning, and the potential of the library to help build community cohesion, the plans are ambitious but practical and achievable.
The Steering Group said it would tell Aldeburgh’s people as soon as the outcome of its proposal was known. Over the spring and summer, the County Council has considered all the hundreds of views expressed in response to the review, including the petitions thousands signed in support of library services. It also had recommendations from its own Scrutiny Committee, to which the Aldeburgh group gave verbal evidence in July. A key outcome for all is the intention to try to keep all libraries open, despite the formidable financial pressures from greatly reduced public service budgets across the board. Another is the recognition that all libraries are important, so there is no distinction between ‘county’ and ‘community’ libraries.
Suffolk has recently revealed the new policy it intends to pursue. The County Council has confirmed that the Aldeburgh proposal plays a significant part in the next stage of developing the County’s strategy, as one of the eight different pilots that will test the potential for a modern library service fit for the 21st century. Joint discussions have now started, with the Aldeburgh group and County Council officers working together to resolve the many operational details over the autumn and winter, so that the Aldeburgh model of local management can ‘go live’ next April and be evaluated by all partners over 2012-13.
Chairman of the Aldeburgh group, Clive Fox, said:
“At the heart of our proposal was the strongly held view that the way forward must be through genuine partnerships between the County as statutory library authority and local people, who should be trusted to know best what they need and how to achieve it. I am delighted to find that concept has been wholeheartedly embraced, and we are now working together for a common objective.
Our Aldeburgh business plan set out key principles for devolving many aspects of central management to the local level, with a realistic view of costs, and it has been accepted as a whole.”
It is still early days in this next phase of planning the future library services in detail, but people naturally want to understand what lies behind these decisions. Some are asking, ‘if the County is to keep all libraries open anyway, why should we have to get involved in running ours; and why be a pilot – does it mean we will be raising funds, while others won’t need to?’
Clive Fox pointed out that the financial pressures have not gone away, for anyone. The UK, Europe and the USA will be digging themselves out of the holes caused by public debt for some time to come; so there can be no “status quo” for any libraries or other services. No one will be going back to the previous arrangements. He asked,
“Do we want a library service left to decline on reduced budgets and no investment, (which in my own personal view would probably mean it would close anyway within five years); or do we want to join forces to develop the services we will need in future, getting involved in deciding how they should be run for us?”
He pointed out that there are considerable benefits from being one of the pilots. Across the County, different libraries will be changing at different speeds. Setting the pace will put the pilots in the best position to develop first, in the ways they want. They will become the models for the future.
It also means they can help to shape the new County structure that will form the centre of the Suffolk library service, following decisions to be taken by the County Council’s Cabinet in November. Those central models are being tested now, and the pilots can contribute. All libraries will continue to need access to County services, including book supply, so the relationship with the centre will matter to Aldeburgh.
The Aldeburgh Steering Group’s website continues to provide a route for asking questions or expressing views, and there will be another public meeting later in the autumn.
22 Aug 2011
Please find statement below following the Steering Group meeting with SCC on August 18th.
Green light for the Aldeburgh Triangle knowledge hub
During Suffolk County Council’s review of library services launched at the beginning of this year, and the very wide public response that followed, the Aldeburgh Library Steering Group submitted a carefully considered proposal to the County Council at the end of April for the future of library services locally. This was published on-line, with copies available in the Library.
Before doing so, the Steering Group held a third well-attended public meeting to hear people’s views and explain the purpose and content of its plans. These were not just to preserve the existing service, but to develop it progressively into a thriving ‘knowledge hub’ at the heart of the community - the Aldeburgh Triangle – in which reading, learning and sharing knowledge can help to shape society’s future well-being. Reflecting the changing needs of the town’s population, the challenges facing its local economy, opportunities for lifelong learning, and the potential of the library to help build community cohesion, the plans are ambitious but practical and achievable.
The Steering Group said it would tell Aldeburgh’s people as soon as the outcome of its proposal was known. Over the spring and summer, the County Council has considered all the hundreds of views expressed in response to the review, including the petitions thousands signed in support of library services. It also had recommendations from its own Scrutiny Committee, to which the Aldeburgh group gave verbal evidence in July. A key outcome for all is the intention to try to keep all libraries open, despite the formidable financial pressures from greatly reduced public service budgets across the board. Another is the recognition that all libraries are important, so there is no distinction between ‘county’ and ‘community’ libraries.
Suffolk has recently revealed the new policy it intends to pursue. The County Council has confirmed that the Aldeburgh proposal plays a significant part in the next stage of developing the County’s strategy, as one of the eight different pilots that will test the potential for a modern library service fit for the 21st century. Joint discussions have now started, with the Aldeburgh group and County Council officers working together to resolve the many operational details over the autumn and winter, so that the Aldeburgh model of local management can ‘go live’ next April and be evaluated by all partners over 2012-13.
Chairman of the Aldeburgh group, Clive Fox, said:
“At the heart of our proposal was the strongly held view that the way forward must be through genuine partnerships between the County as statutory library authority and local people, who should be trusted to know best what they need and how to achieve it. I am delighted to find that concept has been wholeheartedly embraced, and we are now working together for a common objective.
Our Aldeburgh business plan set out key principles for devolving many aspects of central management to the local level, with a realistic view of costs, and it has been accepted as a whole.”
It is still early days in this next phase of planning the future library services in detail, but people naturally want to understand what lies behind these decisions. Some are asking, ‘if the County is to keep all libraries open anyway, why should we have to get involved in running ours; and why be a pilot – does it mean we will be raising funds, while others won’t need to?’
Clive Fox pointed out that the financial pressures have not gone away, for anyone. The UK, Europe and the USA will be digging themselves out of the holes caused by public debt for some time to come; so there can be no “status quo” for any libraries or other services. No one will be going back to the previous arrangements. He asked,
“Do we want a library service left to decline on reduced budgets and no investment, (which in my own personal view would probably mean it would close anyway within five years); or do we want to join forces to develop the services we will need in future, getting involved in deciding how they should be run for us?”
He pointed out that there are considerable benefits from being one of the pilots. Across the County, different libraries will be changing at different speeds. Setting the pace will put the pilots in the best position to develop first, in the ways they want. They will become the models for the future.
It also means they can help to shape the new County structure that will form the centre of the Suffolk library service, following decisions to be taken by the County Council’s Cabinet in November. Those central models are being tested now, and the pilots can contribute. All libraries will continue to need access to County services, including book supply, so the relationship with the centre will matter to Aldeburgh.
The Aldeburgh Steering Group’s website continues to provide a route for asking questions or expressing views, and there will be another public meeting later in the autumn.
22 Aug 2011