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 2006 Volume 4(3)

Information & society

It all began during the course of discussions with former Police Inspector and Tayside Drugs Officer, Chris White, who now chairs the Board of the Wishart Centre, one of Dundee’s leading drug and alcohol treatment centres. I had got to know Chris well through our mutual interest in matters maritime and I asked him if he thought there was a role for libraries in assisting the rehabilitation process. The conclusion we jointly reached was that “it’s what libraries should be doing anyway”.

The planning process had already begun when the SLIC Innovation and Development round was announced. This was seen as the perfect opportunity for kick-starting the process and bringing in some expertise to ensure a high level of quality in methodology and assessment. Shonagh Morrison, who has worked as a volunteer with rehabilitation programmes and is former Librarian of Dundee High School, was recruited. Amina Shah, Central Library’s Senior Library and Information Worker with extensive diversity experience, was a valuable addition to the Team.

Then disaster struck. First of all the principal partner, the Wishart Centre, was effectively obliged to close down and restructure. As a result, anyone associated with the Wishart was viewed, quite unjustifiably, with a certain level of distrust by some of the other agencies we had hoped to work with. We made contact with the Axis Dundee, but this project decided to decamp from the Wishart Centre premises and became virtually uncontactable.

Fortunately Shonagh managed to strike up a very good relationship with the staff at Tayside Council on Alcohol. As a result we have provided tailored support for this organisation:
>>Advice on expansion and exploitation of library and information collections
>>Provision of additional materials
>>Provision of a mirror collection in the Central Library (for when TCA and other agencies are closed)
>>Provision of a professionally produced database of materials (ongoing)
>>Publicly available version on DCC website (forthcoming)
>>Training for TCA staff in use of ICT and retrieval of materials (planning stage)

Shonagh and I met with the Dundee Drug and Alcohol Action Team earlier this year and were gratified to learn that our proposals were “just the sort of thing they were looking for” (a recurring theme). We were then referred to one of the DDAAT’s client organisations for which a programme of support and training is currently being planned. In the meantime, we had finally managed to make contact with the elusive Axis Project and we are now embarked on a very favourably received programme for an average of eight rehabilitating drug users. This comprises:
>>1:1 training on computers in the library learning centres
this core activity sometimes combined with other elements below
>>demonstration and use of local history resources
>>opportunity to trace family tree
>>possible opportunities for volunteering
>>introduction to a range of library resources
>>introduction to reading groups (based on Prison Service experience)
>>formation of a reading group
>>group diary detailing history of abuse and routes to rehabilitation
>>library membership encouraged
>>independent use of the library encouraged
>>old fines cancelled
>>return of old overdue materials without penalty established
>>new fines and penalties not waived!

Much of this depended on the wholehearted co-operation and enthusiasm demonstrated by certain members of the library’s staff, who are all volunteers. A wide range of staff was canvassed initially. Some didn’t turn a hair and immediately embraced the concept, whilst others were obviously quite uneasy about the prospect and politely but firmly turned down the opportunity. There has been no adverse comment whatsoever and the staff generally appears to view the experiment with much goodwill.

Since Chris White and I are leading members of the Maritime Volunteer Service, we saw this as a golden opportunity to provide the project with an extra dimension by offering the DCLDAP clients a boating experience on the Tay. There are a number of possible themes emerging, including an hour long trip round the Dundee stretch of the river and dolphin watching. There is also the chance of further training where there is a desire to do so, and progression to Royal Yachting Association qualifications for those with aptitude – plus possible progression to yachtmaster and/or employment prospects. In addition, there is also scope for voluntary work onboard the North Carr lightship, and then integrating the strands – studying for qualifications and skills through library resources.

This is a model which has already been employed with NHS Tayside’s Strathmartine Hospital whereby two institutionalised patients have been undergoing a similar process over the past year. The view of the supervising consultant psychiatrist is that the patients have benefited greatly from the opportunity, an achievement we hope to improve further on during the course of DCLDAP.

What have we learned so far?
>>the agencies in the field are initially difficult to pin down
>>they are very receptive to ideas of this nature
>>it’s all about welcoming people back into mainstream life
>>AND – enhancing their opportunities
>>libraries should be providing these services
>>it can be done
>>it’s only a small part of a wide-ranging process
>>it’s far from easy
>>the results are very difficult to assess
>>BUT – probably far outweigh the time and effort invested.

David Kett, Team Leader: Reference Services, Central Library, Dundee

Information Scotland Vol. 4(3) June 2006

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