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N September 2021 I was fortunate enough to represent CILIP RPG (Retired Professionals) at the conference: Supporting Local Libraries: Protecting Essential Centres of the Community & Supporting Them in the Digital Age.
The event was a virtual roundtable on Zoom, managed by Public Policy Exchange with speakers from the Library Campaign, Dorset Libraries & Archives, Libraries Connected, Greenwich Leisure Limited and the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Libraries. The event covered many aspects of the work of local libraries in the digital age, but I felt that the key one was helping to fight loneliness by exploiting traditional skills and making creative use of the digital world.
Loneliness can be difficult to define as it affects people in different ways, and for this reason four distinct types of loneliness were identified: emotional, social, situational and chronic. As the workshop unfolded different local libraries had clearly identified loneliness as an issue accelerated by the pandemic and tried to tackle it in different ways.
As a schoolboy working for
Nottingham Public Libraries, I noticed that the public library attracted some unusual people but it never crossed my teenage mind that many of these people were lonely and that the library was a place of refuge where it was acceptable to spend time, be yourself and feel part of something worthwhile. Using the UK loneliness statistics as a spring board, many public libraries have recognised that the pandemic would keep more of us indoors and adopted a digital approach to maintaining library use and breaking down some of the barriers linked to loneliness.
January-February 2022
Getting people into libraries is why many of us became librarians but isolated people need to get online.
Breaking down barriers Dorset Libraries and Archives had worked out that despite having a broad range of e-material including 15,000 books, 3,000 magazines, 3,000 comics and almost 10,000 audio books, digital use increased from just over 150,000 in 2019/20 to just under 200,000 in 2020/21; 11 per cent of Dorset residents were offline and almost one third of Dorset residents struggle to access digital services. This challenge was a constant theme from those who were lonely: many did not have the digital tools to take advantage of facilities to fight loneliness. With 1.5 million homes still offline in the UK any service that could help close the digital gap is worth investigating. Dorset’s response ensured that local communities had access to the quality information, digital services and skills by providing free Wi-Fi, computer access, digital skills training and support within the public libraries and other community buildings. Other authorities explored the concept of attracting more people into libraries with themed events such as Manchester Libraries “age friendly hour” each morning for older residents with over 12,000 using the hour since reopening the July 2020 launch. Norwich Libraries’ “Time Travellers” offers older people a chance to explore the library’s heritage collections and share their memories.
Getting people into libraries is why many of us became librarians but isolated people need to get online. Merton Libraries started a project to extend the reach of Merton Libraries and reduce digital exclusion by enabling vulnerable and isolated residents to borrow IT equipment from the libraries. Over 200 devices are on offer, including laptops and tablets as well as pre-paid mobile broadband. Volunteers support residents taking part in the scheme and IT courses are available from Merton Adult Learning.
Ian Orton (
chair.rpg@cilip.org.uk) is a Senior Library Professional and RPG Chair chair.
Merton, like many authorities realised early in the day that we cannot work alone and that partnership working was the only way forward.
See the second annual report on loneliness –
https://tinyurl.com/ Loneliness2021 published January 2021. I suggest that we all need to review the data available, check out the resources and create our own action plan.
Building your network See the list of CILIP groups that members can join for free at: https://tinyurl. com/Cilipgroups (login to CILIP website required).
There is a separate process for signing up to receive email updates from the various CILIP special interest groups (including RPG) and member networks: you can join any or all of the groups free of charge.
Select your email preferences using the form at:
https://tinyurl.com/CILIPemails Anyone can join the CILIP:
Library, Information and Knowledge Professionals group for free on LinkedIn. The group has over 23,000 members and you can request access at:
www.linkedin.com/ groups/1730267 (a free LinkedIn account is required).
RPG welcomes feedback and questions from across CILIP and beyond. You can find us at:
https://tinyurl.com/CILIPRPG – or email us at:
chair.rpg@cilip.org.uk IP
INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 49
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