Information Scotland

The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland

August 2003 Volume 1 (4)

Profile: Karen Cunningham

Learning city

Making a difference in Glasgow

Glasgow City Libraries are a success story in anyone's book, and Karen Cunningham has played no small part in it. Before taking over as Head of Libraries following Martyn Wade's appointment as National Librarian last November, Karen was Service Development Manager. In the development of new services city-wide, lifelong learning was a priority for her and setting up the innovative REAL learning centres a key task.

Before that, her role in Policy Development across the whole council included forward planning - and working on the Best Value Review (BVR), which came up with some harsh criticism of the library service. Being a librarian by profession, was it a welcome step back into libraries? "Actually, it took a lot to tempt me back, but moving back into libraries was a good opportunity to put my money where my mouth was, and not walk away from consequences of what I had put into policy development."

There was also the exciting potential to make a difference, knowing the scale of need: "I was naturally upset at the criticisms of the service in the BVR - lack of progress for one thing - but I recognised the reality of the situation. It was comparable to a lot of other local authorities then, and similarly most have now woken up to the challenge."

In a city with woeful records in health, educational attainment and deprivation, delivering a good quality learning programme with a variety of entry levels is still Karen's number one challenge. The Learning City initiative led to the innovative partnership with Scottish Enterprise Glasgow and the setting up of city-wide REAL learning centres. "We persuaded them that libraries were ideal partners to lead lifelong learning in the city. SEG match funded and we were able to put this with the People's Network money allowing us not just to meet the demands of the PN but to exceed them in level of provision."

For Karen, the REAL branding is crucial: "It was important to me that we didn't only make the technology accessible but refurbished the buildings as well. I feel most strongly that the REAL branding allows the public to expect the same quality wherever they are. The public has higher standards now. To say they should be grateful to have a publicly funded facility is simply not what the people of Glasgow deserve."

With the Council's Adult Community Education now part of the library service, libraries play their role in boosting literacies - traditional and IT. They also concentrate on the 'softer skills'. "We have 'learning cafés' to teach confidence skills, presentation and social interaction, as well as confidence in handling ICT. And as so many young people are leaving schools without qualifications, we have set up homework clubs, and try to engage them in the fun side of ICT."

Setting standards and sticking to them is also a priority. A 'Core Programme' aims to pull together events and classes into a comprehensive prospectus, to guarantee equity of access to the public wherever they live in the city. "Our services have to appear seamless - an individual should be able to know that if their local library isn't running the course they want another one will be."

As well as improving the physical infrastructure, the service has been through a complete staffing restructure - one of the BVR recommendations. "It was absolutely fundamental to our cultural shift and to refocus the service. I must stress how wonderfully the staff have coped with enormous change and the new challenges they have been presented with. I have an extremely strong team and their level of commitment to the library service and to the city is great."

Karen explains that the profile of libraries and their staff have been raised so much that they are taking on new roles within the Council. For example, libraries have recently taken over the development of the Council website. The shift in their public and corporate profile has also meant the ability to attract other partners of the calibre of SEG, and has established the importance of information in the life of the city.

REAL has been a measurable success. A recent target of 32,000 registered REAL learners, considered ambitious at the time, was exceeded. Now there are 56,000 - nearly 10% of the population. The challenge ahead, now that the structures are in place, is transmitting this investment into a better quality service at the frontline. "New libraries, such as the recently opened Springburn, demonstrate that where we make an investment it makes such a difference, and issues go up - but how do we translate this into greater uptake of our other services?".

Another priority for Karen Cunningham and her team is to make the Mitchell the hub of information provision for the city - it may be the largest reference library in Europe but use is declining. A new visitor centre is planned and improved access for the public, businesses, and visitors to the city.

Karen is looking forward to the opening of the new Gorbals library and cybercafé, with partnership funding from SEG and the Digital Inclusion Fund. She is also looking forward to attending the Public Libraries Conference later this month where she will learn whether the Anniesland REAL centre has won a Public Library Building Award - and where she is keen to learn from colleagues from all over the UK: "I will take new ideas from anyone if I think they will help us!"

A lot of work goes into engaging the politicians, not least to make sure they know how much their constituents appreciate the service: "It means a lot to some of our communities to have a bright new library, when they have little else. They are now so much more than 'public buildings that provide books'. It's a great time to make a difference with libraries."

Information Scotland Vol. 1 (4) August 2003

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Last updated: 13 February 2004