Information Scotland The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland ISSN 1743-5471 Issue contents | Journal contents | About the online edition of the journal June 2003 Volume 1 (3)

Parliamentary information

A Network for the People

Paul Anderson explains the scheme to get Scottish Parliament information to the public.

After one Session, four years, fifty-seven Acts and thirty-five thousand parliamentary questions, the Scottish Parliament is now into its second term.

Since 1999, the cost of the Holyrood building, the rights and wrongs of fox-hunting and the affordability of free personal health care for the elderly have all dominated the headlines. Committee visits throughout Scotland, combined with the short-term relocation to Glasgow and Aberdeen (when the Church of Scotland reclaimed the Assembly Hall for its General Assembly), show that this is indeed a Parliament for the whole of Scotland.

In addition to these media-friendly efforts, but less widely trumpeted, has been the Parliament's ongoing efforts at making itself truly open, accountable and participative at a community level. The Parliament has continuously since 1999 been involved in innovative schemes to ensure that the message about how its decisions affect the lives of Scottish citizens is prosthetylised to the community at large. One of the ways in which this has been achieved is through the Partner Library Network - a scheme of 80 public libraries throughout Scotland which act as focal points in local communities for information from and about the Parliament.

The Network is supported through the free supply of official parliamentary publications, as well as through staff training and development delivered by the Parliament's Library Liaison Officer. This training focuses on developing information-seeking and handling skills with regard to Scottish Parliament publications, and also covers the Parliament's website. In addition, Partner Library staff can call upon the Network's Enquiry Support function which offers a 'one-stop-shop' information service to assist in answering Scottish Parliament related enquiries.

The Partner Library Network has always been about more than merely supplying official publications to public libraries. One of the key objectives has been to use Partner Libraries as platforms for engagement opportunities between the Parliament and local communities.

During the first parliamentary session, a number of high-profile events were held in Partner Libraries involving MSPs.

A new team: a new approach

The Partner Library Network recently came together with the Education Service and Gaelic Service to form the Education and Outreach Team. Bringing together the Parliament's three most high-profile outreach services in this way means that Partner Libraries now provide an ideal platform from which to host a whole range of information and learning events relevant to local communities.

This re-alignment of the key public-facing information services is a demonstration of the Parliament's commitment to make more proactive use of the Partner Library Network to enhance opportunities for real and meaningful engagement with local communities. As a major element within this, the Education and Outreach Team has launched a new strategic initiative which will result in more visible parliamentary outreach activity 'on the ground'.

The Partner Libraries Focus Project

The Partner Libraries Focus Project will involve local schools, community groups, Gaelic speakers and others in making use of the range of information and learning opportunities available in Partner Libraries. The Project will run for a pilot 18 months initially and will focus on three areas: Glasgow City (with ten Partner Libraries) East, North and South Ayrshire (five) and the western Highlands (including the Western Isles) (six).

The Project will involve staff from the Education and Outreach Team working closely with Partner Library staff to organise participative information and education-orientated events. It is hoped that MSPs will be involved in all community-based outreach efforts. The events will include, for example:

• Meet your MSPs / MSP Q&A sessions
  Arranging for MSPs to visit Partner Libraries for Q&A sessions with constituents - focusing on specific groups from within the local community - e.g., young people, elderly/retired, ethnic minorities, other communities of interest, etc.
• Education Service Presentations
  Presentations by our Education Service staff to pupils and school teachers.
• Gaelic Outreach
  Using Partner Libraries as locations for events aimed at engaging Gaelic speakers.
• General Scottish Parliament Awareness
  Focusing on local or topical issues community groups will be invited to have their enquiries answered by Parliamentary staff and receive guidance in the use of Scottish Parliament publications and website.
• Greater MSP involvement
  Encouraging MSPs and their constituency office staff to make more use of Partner Libraries - for example, by encouraging more MSPs to hold constituency surgeries in Partner Libraries.

Each event will be tailored to the practicalities of the individual Partner Libraries concerned. Where a Partner Library is unsuitable for such an event - for example, through lack of a public meeting area - the Project will seek to utilise local schools, community education centres and other suitable learning and information locations.

What will be key to the success of the Project is that these outreach events are relevant to the local communities involved and reflect local issues and concerns.

Linked Libraries

An exciting element of the Partner Libraries Focus Project is the development of 'linked libraries' - i.e., library and information services of organisations which serve specific communities of interest. They will receive a limited service provision in order to enhance engagement between their users and the Parliament. The two institutions selected for the pilot stage are Glasgow Women's Library and Sabhal Mòr Ostaig - the Gaelic further and higher education college in Skye.

The Project, which will be launched over the summer, meets many of the social inclusion criteria cited in local and national library and information initiatives.

Further information
Information about any aspect of the Partner Libraries Focus Project can be obtained by contacting Paul Anderson, Library Liaison Officer at paul.anderson@scottish.parliament.uk

Information Scotland Vol. 1 (3) June 2003

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