passions, skills, and experience into commercial products and services – for both personal financial and community benefit. Products and services might include sandwiches, cakes and drinks, photography, art, flower arrangement, local crafts, fresh fruit and vegetables, auctions and daily deals. The list is endless;


l post and parcel services, with e-com- merce facilities generating national pro- motion and distribution for certain of the “local” products and services mentioned above;


l digital learning zones for those lack- ing confidence in or access to the latest technology;


l digital health hubs;


l digital democracy – encouraging communities to engage in local political processes regularly, rather than in a once-every-four-year visit to a polling booth;


l meetings spaces – for individuals to combine and work together to identify and improve facilities and amenities to deliver greater community cohesion and resilience;


l entertainment – locally-produced and


CJ and its partners will provide relevant information to enable Steering Com- mittee members to consider the merits of its proposal. Once convinced, those members who are regular communi-


Figure 1: the CJ community engagement model.


imported – film, drama, music, fashion etc; l career centres.


Libraries have always been banks! It can be argued that libraries have always been a form of non-financial bank. They have been the repository and supplier of information and entertainment through literary means. The breakneck speed of advances in digital technology now affords them endless opportunities to extend their roles, activities and impor- tance.


Research has clearly shown that a commitment to continuous improvement and innovation is fully justified. As an example, research commissioned by Suf- folk Libraries demonstrated that for every £1 invested into its programmes, £8.04 is returned in social value created. This impressive level of return indicates the substantial impact its activities, delivered across local communities, are having for a wide range of stakeholders. Just imagine the social impact values if its programmes were reaching the huge numbers who, through having low literacy levels, don’t use its library services.


And just imagine, too, on a wider, national scale, the cost savings which


cants with large swathes of local commu- nities will take on the newly-fashionable role of “influencer.” As such, their recom- mendations, supported by a continuous flow of information, will reach out even-


might accrue to the NHS, when those social values are converted into monetary amounts.


So, let’s now examine how the instal- lation of CJ branches into libraries can, and will, attract and engage “the other half,” and help them gain access to and understanding of health information, in so doing giving them longer, happier, fully-inclusive lives in better health.


The CJ approach to and model of Community-driven engagement marketing


CJ has varied Bendigo’s successful com- munity engagement process into a formu- la expressed mathematically as: Support + Influence = Engagement.


The driver of that formula is “support,” an element which libraries, the most respectable of institutions, are capable of organising. Support is constructed through the appointment of a Steering Committee, ideally comprising the local MP, local authority, charities, self-inter- est groups, local businesses, well-known local personalities, local media and, of course, libraries themselves, which also provide perfect settings to house commit- tee meetings. Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of this model.


tually to entire communities. CJ has committed to providing infor- mation about all elements of its offering in an interesting, engaging, perhaps even interactive, fashion. Thus, the inclusion of entertainment within branches as one of its non-banking elements.


Steering Committee


supporting Community Groups


Research has shown that 84 per cent of young people are fascinated in the crea- tive arts associated with music, drama, dance and fashion. They are also the most prolific users of digital technology, easily becoming expert at every new innova- tion. The participation of young people at this juncture is the link intended to connect those economically inactive to mainstream social and economic activity, including acting as tutors to those unac- customed to using digital technology. By these various means, the many mil- lions experiencing exclusion and health inequity will be motivated to engage in prescribe action to eliminate their dis- advantages, taking the lead themselves, rather than having solutions foisted on them from above.


Community Group Members to direct action


January-February 2023


Libraries and CJ in collaboration, as this article demonstrates, possess the capa- bilities of helping people get to the end of that journey. Now, that can’t be a bad thing!


If you would like to know more about how your library service can work with Community Junction, contact Jeff Payne at jeff.payne@communityjunction.co.uk. IP


INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 35


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