The Good Library Blog

SCRUTINY REVIEW FOR LIBRARY & INFORMATION SERVICE:
18th May meeting of the Recreation & Heritage Policy Review Committee
I am writing on behalf of myself and of the chairman & the committee of Winchester City Residents' Association, following our deputation to you on 17th November 2005.

We note there is an item on the Agenda to consider whether the above Review is still appropriate under Terms of Reference previously agreed, following changes in composition/ scope of the Recreation & Heritage Policy Review Committee.

Whatever these changes may be, may I say we would be deeply concerned if the Review is not carried out as envisaged.

History
The resolution to hold this review was passed at committee of 15th September 2005 and confirmed on 17th November 2005, when Terms of Reference were agreed. It was then also agreed all members of the R&HPR committee would take part; and that it should take place after conclusion of the Arts Review (which concluded before March 2006).

The Leader of Hampshire County Council confirmed in writing that the review should take place early in 2006. It is now May 2006; so we would be most grateful to know if there has been any progress in agreeing a start date.

Issues of concern re Discovery Centre policies
These were outlined in papers submitted in our deputation of 17th November 2005, on behalf of Winchester City Residents Association's committee. As stated then, we respect & sympathise with the aims behind Discovery Centre policies and understand their rationale, but find them unacceptable when resulting (as practically happens) in decreased space/funds for books. This is combined with long term underfunding of the book fund, resulting in a decreased service for genuine library users, including those on a low income which may include many pensioners, who are forced to exit to the private book sector.

We are deeply concerned about implications for teenage literacy, and well aware of the problems the library service has to face in making the service more attractive to them, and the honourable motivations of the Discovery Centre policies in this respect. We are sure a huge amount of good and hard work is being done, and pay tribute to this. But we think the shift to an IT culture has implications that councillors need to consider very seriouslyin far more depth than has yet taken place, by consultation with teachers and other informed stakeholders. These problems have never been publicly answered or debated by HCC, another reason we feel a genuine review is very necessary.

WCRA contains many traditional library users who energetically voiced similar concerns about Winchester Cultural Centre at an AGM attended by Cllr Margaret Snaith and Richard Ward in November 2005.

The same factors are still present as much as ever, viz:-
1. Hampshire County Council spends the least amount of any English county on books; it only achieves 5 out of the 10 public library service standards.
2. the Gosport Discovery Centre 'increased visitors' only by activities already supplied by (and perhaps more appropriate to) recreation and community centres but without increasing overall literacy; it saw a 13.5% further decline in bookloans, and at the cost of shallow, superficial inadequate bookstocks. This policy needs revision at Gosport and its implications are serious for Winchester.
3. Winchester Cultural Centre is shortly to be put under construction and will result in a permanently curtailed space for books: it will only accommodate a maximum of 58,000 books (as in the current building, where stock has been run down from an original library of 80,000). This is not the 'flagship library' we were originally promised.

Finally, let us say:

Consultation & evaluation exercises re Discovery Centres so far have been inadequate because:
(a) consultation in Winchester over the £7m Discovery Centre has never included any public meeting whatsoever
(b) stakeholder groups such as teachers and school librarians have been not been adequately consulted, or their views heard by councillors; some are expressing concern at the degree public libraries are being taken over by IT when so many IT facilities already exist in schools, and are attempting to renovate their school libraries to restore emphasis on books
(c) evaluation exercises, such as the Gosport Pathfinder, are conducted internally and presented by departments committed to Discovery Centre policies, whose interest is to vindicate them. When presented, results are very inadequately scrutinised & debated by the Policy Review Committee. This was clear from the meeting of 17th November 2005.
(d) questionnaires and evaluations only take in a small sample of users and bypass disgruntled or ex users, who have abandoned the Library service for bookshops because of long term underfunding of the book loan service. Most people are unaware of such surveys or consultations. Small MORI samples are no substitute for full public discussion, even though they may suit the decision making process.
(e) views of focus groups are ignored where inconvenient (City of Winchester Trust)
(f) questions frequently appear designed to get the answers wanted. For instance, questionnaires never clearly explain upfront the implications of choices, in terms of decreased support for books (eg, at Winchester the consultation exercise failed to inform the public that bookstocks had been run down from 80,000 to 58,000 and that the space allocated for books in Winchester Cultural Centre would make this run down of stock size permanent).

Winchester Cultural Centre will only provide, at most, space for about 58,000 books, while the cultural facilities brought under the one roof will duplicate and remove facilities already in place elsewhere. This Discovery Centre will soon be under construction, and the issues remain.

We would be grateful to be kept informed of progress on the issue of the Library & Information Services Review.

With thanks for your attention,