NEWS FEATURE
How libraries fit into the Arts Council’s Delivery Plan 2021-24
Arts Council England’s 10-year strategy, Let’s Create, was published just before Covid-19 lockdowns started in England. After delivering an emergency response to the pandemic, the Arts Council has now published a delivery plan. CILIP reporter Rob Mackinlay takes a closer look at the implications.
THIS is the first of several delivery plans that Arts Coun- cil England (ACE) will publish, setting out how it will deliver on the vision set out in Let’s Create (
www.artscouncil.org.uk/letscreate). The new plan covers 2021-24 and ACE has highlighted that it will take a place-based approach alongside the other funding and support it delivers across England, including UK City of Culture and Stronger Towns. It said: “As part of our plan for achieving Let’s Create, we’ve identified 54 places across England in which our invest- ment and engagement is too low, and opportunity for us to effectively increase investment and engagement is high.”
And according to the Delivery Plan: “Public libraries will be at the heart of work in developing our place- based approach,” it goes on to say: “We will work closely with them to ensure that they play a central role in supporting levelling up and commu- nity building, developing employa- bility and helping to deliver health, wellbeing and loneliness strategies and helping to close the digital divide.”
Setting priorities Prioritised places will see an in- crease in Arts Council intervention, both financial and through staff development time. The impact will also be tracked, looking at cultural engagement, the impact on the local economy, stronger social outcomes for people and places.
ACE said: “In all of this work, we plan to link more of our investment to evidence that local communi- ties have been engaged by cultural organisations in helping to shape their local cultural offer.”
14 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
Sue Williamson, Director of Libraries at ACE, said: “As National Development Agency for Public Libraries, Arts Council England works closely with key sector stakeholders Libraries Connected, CILIP, the British Library and Local Government Association to support growth and resil- ience in the sector. We also have a Heads of Service sounding board group that provides intelligence from the ground. We know that Public Library services, with over 3,500 outlets including Mobile Libraries, are able to reach right into communities in need of support and look forward to being a key part of delivering that support in the 54 priority places.”
Wider picture
While the Delivery Plan will focus on these areas, ACE continues to support projects and funding that either benefit, or are open to, the whole sector. These include:
l The Library Improvement Fund, a new capital investment programme to support the refurbishment of libraries;
l Increased funding for the British Library’s Single Digital Presence project;
l Supporting the delivery of the four Universal Library Offers (Reading, Health & Wellbeing, Digital & Information, and Culture & Creativity) by ensuring support from National Lottery Project Grants;
l Encouraging more library services to apply to become National Portfolio Organisations from 2023 onwards.
Funding When Let’s Create was published it set out three outcomes for its vision to be achieved:
l Creative People – Everyone can develop and express creativity throughout their life;
l Cultural Communities – Villages,
towns and cities can thrive through a collaborative approach to culture;
l Creative and Cultural Country– England’s culture sector is innova- tive, collaborative and international
In February 2020 Sir Nicholas Serota, chair of the Arts Council told Information Professional: “When we look at the way in which we will build cultural communities 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.” The Delivery Plan gives some pointers on funding, saying it will work with the DCMS to deliver the Cultural Investment Fund – which includes the Libraries Improvement Fund – and in November it launches a “refreshed National Lottery Project Grants programme” including one strand to support libraries to deliver against the four Universal Library Offers – Reading, Culture and Crea- tivity, Information and Digital, and Health.
Sue Williamson said: ”Public activity in libraries has been badly affected by the pandemic. As we see our library services emerge from the restrictions that prevented them from engaging fully with this change to National Lottery Project Grants, we look forward to seeing more applications around the Universal Offers, which will enable the develop- ment of library practice in support of communities.”
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www.artscouncil.org.uk October-November 2021
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