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 December 2008 Volume 6(6)

Public libraries

A model for success

Helen Dewar describes the service model for libraries in Aberdeenshire that is reaping rewards and helping to build stronger communities.

Aberdeenshire Council has invested heavily in libraries in recent years and the faith and confidence placed in the library profession is reaping dividends. School and community engagement has improved and tailored library services serve all ages of learners through support for information literacy, reader development and preparation for further and higher education and for the workplace.

’Community library thinking’ – taking professional library advice and services beyond the library walls to the wider community – has been put into practice. Professional librarians, known as ‘Network Librarians’, are based in academy libraries and have responsibility for the cluster of public libraries within their network as well as their link with feeder primary schools. Pupils, parents, teaching staff and members of the public are customers, and the Curriculum for Excellence is fully supported and delivered in home, school and community settings.

Community planning
Each network librarian is responsible for developing a community profile and drafting an annual plan, which includes joint school and community targets. Library staff work across school and public libraries. The integrated service brings different skills and knowledge together. Network librarians bring their knowledge of learning styles, behaviour management, resources and curricular requirements from the academy setting; branch staff bring their knowledge of local people and places and the framework and fabric of community life; and support staff based at library headquarters ensure that systems, practices, standards and training programmes are consistent across the shire and that resource levels are appropriate.  

Senior managers represent the service in the formal education setting and in a community planning forum and ensure that an element of local variation exists which allows sites to pilot new services tailored to local needs: Aberdeenshire covers a wide demographic across a large rural area. All staff and customers have access to a pool of over 650,000 media resources shared across Aberdeenshire.

Measuring success
All library staff input to the planning framework and are tasked to promote lifelong learning and community health and wellbeing and to work with partners to achieve agreed outcomes. Tasks and responsibilities are delegated to staff in a way that encourages personal and career development and a sense of ownership of the services provided.

The service is delivered through a mix of purpose-built new community libraries and the existing stock of academy and public library buildings.

Purpose built community libraries
Since 2002, purpose-designed community library facilities have been introduced at Meldrum Academy, Portlethen Academy, Kintore Primary School, and Rosehearty Primary School. Library membership and issue figures for these new libraries rose markedly in the first year of opening.

Community libraries in Portlethen and Meldrum  Academies were designed with conference suites, ICT suites, interview rooms, teaching areas and children’s areas. Public areas are sited at the entrance to the building with links to community learning providers as well as the specialist services provided by psychologists, family support workers, Surestart workers, police and health workers.

Network librarians engage in dialogue with all of the above as well as with teaching staff. They work with the Information Literacy Librarian to design and develop      programmes from primary to secondary school through to tertiary education. The model and method of engagement is the same whether the network librarian is based in a community library building or a traditional academy setting.

Portlethen Community Library: All library assistants are given responsibility for their own remit which is expressed in two key areas of the network development plan. A reader development programme and an information literacy programme are in place. These include:

• Writers’ workshops run annually for Advanced Higher pupils as well as for local residents as part of a programme of visiting writers and speakers 
• Support for local primary school reading festivals
• Adult Literacy tutors working in the library, either in the open area or the small meeting room, with access to      tailored literacy and life skills resources
• A delivery service for housebound readers is being developed
• Community Learning and Development run sessions with victims of domestic abuse who can access careers and other material to help build confidence and prepare for the workplace.
• A ‘Friendship club’ for older residents. Inter generational work is encouraged and the older people are willing partners for senior pupils working on a range of dissertations.
• Internet safety sessions for parents.

Community Libraries on Primary campuses
Community libraries based in Kintore and Rosehearty Primary Schools are designed on a smaller scale. They are open fewer hours than the academy based community library and operate without a network librarian on-site.

Uptake at both primary campus sites has increased and this model offers many opportunities for service development, although the limited hours and the absence of a professional librarian on site does mean that the pace of development has been slower.

However, many of the facets of service development at Portlethen are also seen here. For example, ICT supported sessions are offered, the local college also delivers ICT classes, literacy tutors work within the library footprint, library staff support parents, grandparents teachers and pupils, and the opportunity to develop intergenerational work is present.

The expectations of the teaching staff have risen significantly since they have gained access to a wider range of resources.

As part of preparation and planning, a training programme for library assistants was put in place to help them deal with the ‘new to them’ customer groups of pupils and teaching staff, and an induction training programme for teaching staff was also developed. Future plans include joint training for teachers and library staff and closer links with cultural service partners.

The mix of school and public library service provision has required an operational re-think and public lending rules have had to be revised in light of the feedback from the primary pilot schemes, particularly in relation to fines and charges. The model has been useful to develop and test an Information Literacy Programme for primary school children, now available Aberdeenshire-wide. The SKIL package has been well received by teaching staff.

Library Assistants transferring from a public library service do need a professional role model and a considerable commitment of time from the network librarian, particularly in the early days of establishing a new service.  Library assistants can be expected to deal with practical issues, they help customers of all ages access resources, deal with difficult behaviours, and introduce prepared programmes, but professional librarian input is needed to support both teaching and library staff in literacy and skills development work.  The Network Librarian also has to be part of the community school operational group as the professional representative of the library service. The service is working well to date and offers opportunity for further development.

Benefits
The community library acts as a focus for activity in a school setting in a way that traditional academies and primary schools cannot. The casual drop-in link and the meeting of professionals across the agencies are crucial to these developments.

Parents increasingly see the library as an approachable door to the school. Primary schools buy in more to the services of a librarian too. They see the library as a service they can use to access a range of speakers, to promote summer reading activities, to contribute to homework support and to work with the early intervention team.

School-based ICT gives access to a wider bandwidth than the public library service can offer. Video conferencing facilities offer still more opportunities. The librarian’s knowledge of teaching and learning is used to community advantage. Resources are selected from their knowledge of all ages and stages of learning and cover the whole gamut of information provision.

Cross-generational work is easier. Groups interact, older people see pupils at work and see their achievements on display, this creates a good impression and counteracts the negative presentation of young people so often conveyed.

Librarians with responsibility for school and community services enjoy their role, they find it more challenging, are prepared to deal with more of the unexpected, are aware of what is happening and who is making it happen in the local community and better understand how this can and does impact on pupils, teachers and other customers.

Helen Dewar is Cultural Services Team Leader, Aberdeenshire Council.

www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/libraries/events

Information Scotland Vol. 6(6) December 2008

Information Scotland is delivered online by the SAPIENS electronic publishing service based at the Centre for Digital Library Research. SLAINTE (Scottish libraries across the Internet) offers further information about librarianship and information management in Scotland.