Libraries that inspire and literature that sparks the imagination will be key strands of ACE’s Let’s Create strategy.
by the time you publish this it may have got more complex. So when we look at the way in which we will build cultural com- munities one of those priorities is going to revolve around the role of libraries. That’s lifting libraries higher up the priority list than they were in 2011/12 but having said it’s a priority, I don’t know how we’re going to do it yet. We’re going to have to find a way of allocating some funding that will turn that priority into a reality.” He mentioned the library sector’s Na- tional Portfolio Organisations adding “through to the period 2022 to 2026 it would really surprise me if we were not funding more libraries in that way, espe- cially in rural communities, where libraries have a big part to play as places with which individuals can identify and enjoy congregating in and seeing each other.”
Breadth of opportunity
The strategy sees the second outcome (cultural communities, the one most rele- vant to libraries) as the glue for the other two outcomes. So how could libraries interpret their role in the first outcome, creative people? This is the outcome that turns the cultural consumer – whether that be gallery visitor or book reader – into a producer of cultural content. While there is the option of promoting new overt creative activities, the engagement with the creative people outcome could just as easily relate to existing public library activities or goals. In the digital age all library users whether they be reading groups or local researchers, are potential content creators. “At a time when local newspapers are giving way to online publications, and with more people using the medium of working online to commu- nicate within small communities – clearly
26 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
already the case through WhatsApp groups and other media – I think there will be more self publishing and creative publishing in small groups whether that’s through digital means, or if it results in a print form, but I think libraries can be a forum for that… and many already are acting in that way.”
He added that: “In an age where many people get their information from a whole range of sources it’s one of the challenges for libraries to place themselves in the community where they can function in a way that is relevant to as many people as possible.”
Asked if that could ever include some- thing like public libraries providing a safe home for personal data he said: “I think most people would more readily have their personal data banked with a public library service than with Amazon or Google in terms of trust but to estab- lish a system of that kind would involve pretty significant investment. The British Library is currently exploring the potential for a Single Digital Presence for libraries, which could include this, and is looking at the options for its delivery – this work is being funded by Carnegie-UK and the Arts Council.”
He said that while this issue might not be central to the ACE agenda, he said: “It’s pretty central to what we should be thinking about in terms of the position of individual citizens in contemporary society… and a possible arena for public libraries.”
Core service
But while he acknowledges that “it is a challenge for libraries to think about new ways of presenting what they offer in a fashion that is going to compete
with a smartphone or Wikipedia...,” he also acknowledges the core content of libraries – books – and their role in the wider book industry. Asked to compare the relationship between art galleries and their content providers (artists) to libraries and their content providers (writers) he said: “Galleries have a pretty important part to play in encouraging artists and art schools by showing diversity of work. If a gallery never shows black or ethnically diverse work, or women artists then it’s not an encouragement to young people to pur- sue a career in the visual arts.” “I think libraries have a responsibility to encourage and then literally promote a very wide range of literature from many different sources. Children’s liter- ature has been remarkably narrow in its range of reference. That’s changing but I think we need to encourage it. You’re more likely to read books that have some representation of you in them or something in them with which you connect.”
He cites a number of examples, from Exeter to Manchester, where libraries have transformed themselves success- fully, saying: “Persuading local councils to invest in their libraries is in part a question of persuading them to look at what success means or has meant in other places and if you look at the successes and models you can see why it might be worth investing in the library in your own community but if you don’t have any experience of that, part of the Arts Council’s task is to act as an advo- cate to try and draw people’s attention to the successes.” IP
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www.artscouncil.org.uk/letscreate March 2020
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