Aims & objectives

These are the aims and objectives of the Libraries in Central Scotland Forum.

Aims

• The Libraries in Central Scotland Forum (hereinafter referred to as “the Forum”) aims to promote the reading habit and a culture of lifelong learning among all members of the community, both for its own intrinsic value and to stimulate personal development, social inclusion, local economic regeneration and re-skilling and access to the employment market.
• It aims to make available services, facilities and materials for local access in support of the public’s lifelong learning needs at any required level of formal or informal education or training, from basic to advanced; for any age group; and on any subject or in pursuit of any generic skill within the terms of the partners’ service provision.
• While providing services for regional and local community needs, it aims to enable these services and facilities to form a part of the wider national grid for learning and participate fully in national and international initiatives.
• By collaboration it aims to make the widest and most cost effective use of available facilities and services and promote the widest range of access to learning at all levels to members of the public.
• It aims to ensure that both the technical and support infrastructure in pursuit of these aims is in place and remains adequate to meet changing and expanding demands.
• It aims to ensure that any member of the public able to access any of these services is adequately trained and supported in their use of them.

Objectives

• To establish and maintain an organisational framework in which the partners can pursue these aims.
• To identify and establish areas of collaborative service and materials supply and set up mechanisms to introduce them as quickly as possible.
• To consider and plan for further expansion and development of such services in response to actual or perceived needs of the public.
• To assess the infrastructure and training requirements of member bodies and take such steps as are immediately feasible to satisfy them.
• To prepare submissions of specific projects in pursuit of these aims for possible grant support from regional, national or EU sources as opportunity arises.
• To contact any bodies or organisations which might seem to share or be able to contribute to these aims, and to invite and as necessary facilitate their participation.
• To publicise the services and activities of the Forum among member clienteles and more widely to both the library and information profession and the general public.
• To exchange experience, views and expertise among members.
• To identify for use within the Forum, or more widely, suitable content materials available from members.
• Generally to do such other things as the Forum shall consider necessary or appropriate to achieve the aims and objectives set out in this Minute of Agreement.