Information Scotland

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

April 2005 Volume 3 (2)

New opportunities

A special focus on social inclusion and libraries, with a look at activity around Scotland.

Supporting learning in the Gorbals

Closed in 1984 due to a decline in use, the new Gorbals Library and Real Learning Centre lies at the heart of offering new opportunities to local people. Wilma Moore explains how the three-year Gorbals Digital Inclusion Project is aimed at the most excluded members of the community.

The library and learning centre is the centrepiece of the three-year Gorbals Digital Inclusion Project. It aims to assist both its project partners and the community in ensuring that the people of Gorbals are aware of the opportunities offered by ICT both in terms of increasing employability, in widening skills, and interests and developing confidence in ICT.

The previous library was closed in 1994 due to a shifting population and the resultant decline in use. Glasgow City Council had identified a gap in library service provision within the Gorbals area; the opportunity to reinvest in library and learning provision came with the regeneration of the area led by the Gorbals Social Inclusion Partnership (SIP).

The new Gorbals Library and Learning Centre opened in May 2004, and officially launched by First Minister Jack McConnell. The Centre serves a population of 13,000, seven days a week. Designed for the 21st Century, it is intended to attract those who might not normally consider entering a traditional library. The design, by prestigious Glasgow firm CuriousOranj, is flexible. It offers new concepts in service, aiming to convey accessibility and inclusion, an inviting space for all the community to learn in.

As well as being a centre of excellence for IT within the community - it has 38 PCs, eight apple macs and eight wireless tablets - sofas and low tables allow people to relax with a coffee and meet with other users. Swapping experiences is an invaluable part of learning. Providing a supportive learning environment performed an integral element in the success of the project and contributes to social inclusion.

The three-year Digital Inclusion Project is a user-friendly, bottom-up approach aimed at the most excluded members of the community. At the same time, it is community-based. It is part of a three-year Scottish Executive Digital Inclusion Initiative which aims to ensure that all citizens have access to digital technology and the skills and confidence to use it, helping to combat the ‘digital divide’.

With funding from the Scottish Executive, Scottish Enterprise Glasgow, European Regional Development Fund and Glasgow City Council, the Project involved close consultation with the local community. One of the fundamental criteria of the project is that it be defined by potential users.

Accordingly, a Community Consultation Group was established to enable local residents to voice their requirements. Volunteers from community groups were trained as digital champions to work with their peers and, through visits to similar initiatives, determine best practice in design and use for the new learning centre.

A Community Engagement Team was then set up. This included Glasgow City Council’s Cultural and Leisure Services (CLS), Gorbals SIP, Gorbals Community Forum, Gorbals Initiative and Glasgow College of Nautical Studies. Visits to other centres were organised; development of content for learning programmes and progress paths were key areas of discussion.

Engagement, learning, content and support is continued through the dedicated Digital Inclusion Team. The team comprises a Digital Learning Manager, a Learning Support Officer and an Outreach Officer. This resource is complemented by the area based staff who manage the day-to-day operation of the library and learning centre.

Over the three-year life of the project specific targets to be met include:

To engage with 6,000 Gorbals residents
To progress 150 local citizens into employment (68 of whom should be under 25 years of age)
To support at least 40 Gorbals projects to form part of a larger ICT network in the community.

Within the first year of the Gorbals Digital Inclusion Project 3,854 people from the Gorbals community have been engaged and 28 projects linked to the ICT network, significantly outstripping forecasts.

Building on this positive start the essential task continues to be:

to attract as many users as possible from all sections of the community
to build community defined content which will attract to the project the currently digitally disenfranchised
to contribute to the improvement of economic activity
to contribute to the achievement of social inclusion.

Wilma Moore is Community Libraries Network Manager, Glasgow Libraries.

Information Scotland Vol. 3 (2) April 2005

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Last updated: 11 May 2005