September 2008 Taking stock: the future of our public library service TAKING STOCK: An independent report for Contents THE FUTURE OF OUR UNISON by Steve Davies Executive summary 4 Staffing, skills and training 30 PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE Senior Research Fellow Adequate resources and funding for Table 10: Staff in post (SIP) (at 31 March 2007) 30 Cardiff School of Social library services, staff and premises 4 Figure 5: Total staff in post 1997-98 to 2006-07 30 Sciences Empowerment of staff and communities Table 11: Staff in post 1997-98 to 2006-07 31 to shape services together 5 The public sector ethos 33 Partnership working between libraries The public service reform agenda 34 and councils across the UK to share Figure 6: UK Government’s public service information and good practice 5 reform agenda 34 Responsiveness to library users The PricewaterhouseCoopers proposals 37 from all backgrounds 5 Figure 7: Competitiveness and maturity of key Provision of staff training and local government market sectors 37 Steve Davies is a Senior professional development 5 Figure 8: Overall trends in procurement Research Fellow at the expenditure in local government 38 Centre for Global Labour Introduction 6 Research based in Cardiff History of public libraries 7 Discussion and conclusions 44 University’s School of Social The state of the library service Adequate resources and funding for Sciences. Over the past and the challenges ahead 13 library services, staff and premises 44 twenty five years, he has Empowerment of staff and communities conducted extensive research Key dates in the development to shape services together 44 on public sector reform, work of the UK public library service 11 and employment relations Introduction 13 Partnership working between libraries and councils across the UK to share at UK, European and global Governance and funding 14 level. information and good practice 45 Table 1: Distribution of UK library authorities 14 Responsiveness to library users from Measuring value and quality 15 all backgrounds 45 Funding and costs 18 Provision of staff training and Table 2: Total net expenditure on the UK professional development 45 library service 18 References 46 Table 3: Public Library Expenditure and GDP 1965-2000 (England) 19 Annex 54 Charging 20 Table 12: Territorial Library Spend 2006-2007 54 Table 13: Total visits to UK public libraries Library visits and usage 21 1997-98 to 2006-07 54 Figure 1: Total visits to UK public libraries Table 14: Total book stock 54 1997-98 to 2006-07 22 Figure 9: Book acquisitions 1997-98 to Table 4: UK visits and usage 22 2006-07: UK and constituent countries 55 Book stocks, acquisitions and issues 23 Figure 10: Book acquisitions 1997-98 to Figure 2: Total book stock 23 2006-07 Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland 55 Figure 3: Total UK public library service Table 15: Total visits to libraries in the UK book acquisitions 24 (selected years with territorial breakdown) 56 Table 5: Book acquisitions per 1,000 population Table 16: UK libraries total stock and issues 56 2005-06 to 2006-07 (by territorial unit) 24 Table 17: Changes in book stock 2006-07 Figure 4: Total book issues 24 by territorial unit 56 Library facilities 25 Table 18: Book stock per 1,000 population 2006-2007 by territorial unit 56 Table 6: Library closures and openings in government regions in 2006-07 (England) 25 Table 19: Book acquisitions 1997-98 to 2006-07 57 Table 7: Percentage of all service points open Table 20: Total UK public library service book 60 hours a week or more (territorial units) 25 acquisitions 57 Table 8: UK library service points 1975-76 to Table 21: Total book issues 58 2006-07 26 Table 22: Total service points open 10 hours a Table 9: UK library service electronic facilities 26 week or more and population per service point 58 Figure 11: Professional and non-professional The Private Finance Initiative 27 staff in post 58 2 3 TAKING STOCK: Empowerment of staff and communities THE FUTURE OF OUR Executive summary PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE to shape services together Libraries rest on a bed of goodwill from local communities. They are valued and trusted. But much more could and should be done to involve both the staff and the local communities in the For over 150 years, Britain’s public library service has made an essential contribution to the shaping of the service. This should involve current users, the ‘Friends of the Library’, supporters social, educational, cultural and economic well-being of local communities throughout the groups, but should also develop means of reaching out to those who currently do not use the country. In 2006-07, there were over 337 million visits to more than 4,700 public libraries; 315 library as well. New and imaginative methods should be deployed rather than relying on the blunt million book issues from a total stock of 103 million books; 8.7 million issues of audio, visual or tools of market exit. electronic items; 64 million visits to library websites and a budget of over £1 billion. More people visit libraries than either football matches or the cinema. Partnership working between libraries And yet despite this, the service is regarded as being in crisis. This is primarily due to the long term nature of the impact of decisions which cut expenditure, building budgets, staffing, and and councils across the UK to share training. The policy of commercialisation, privatisation and cuts in public spending pursued by the Conservatives in the 1980s and 1990s resulted in falling book acquisitions, a decline in information and good practice library visits and book issues and a deterioration in the building stock. Many library authorities have pioneered new ways of working and this needs to be more widely shared. Innovative methods of delivering the service within a publicly accountable The two decades of neglect have yet to be reversed despite some additional funding since framework should be encouraged within each library authority and lessons shared across council Labour came to power in 1997. Unfortunately, the government’s public service reform boundaries. agenda has disinterred some of the failed ideas of the previous administration – in terms of commercialisation and contracting out. For example, without any hard evidence, the PricewaterhouseCoopers proposals recommend a programme of change which would push the Responsiveness to library users from all library service into the orbit of the private sector and change irrevocably the character of the backgrounds service. Libraries should reflect the society that they serve and should be welcoming places to all Greater demands are being made on libraries at a time when there is a squeeze on public sections of the community. The very best already do this, but more could be done to ensure that spending. Local authorities need to ensure that the library service is not lost among the the library is firmly rooted in the locality. general leisure services remit of over-stretched Cabinet members and should see the network of branches as a priceless – if often underused – link with the community that the elected Provision of staff training and professional members serve. Local people (both library users and potential users from all backgrounds) should have the opportunity to work with library staff to shape the service to suit the needs of the development local community, within the context of a broader library service. As part of an attempt to cut costs, some authorities are deskilling the library service, replacing professional librarians with less skilled staff and permanent library staff with volunteers. Skills UNISON has called on the government and local authorities to adopt a five point plan to maintain possessed by qualified librarians should be valued and deployed effectively, rather than regarded and improve the library service. The basic needs of libraries are fairly straightforward. A as an unfortunate over-head. Staff training should be increased for all staff and a discussion commitment to these five broad objectives can be the beginning of a real debate on the detail opened up with the union both nationally and locally, involving the library schools, on the skill and implementation: set likely to be required of tomorrow’s library staff. This is especially urgent for library assistants who have suffered cuts to their pay and grading through single status. They would particularly Adequate resources and funding for benefit from training to enhance their skills to meet the new demands of the service. Such library services, staff and premises training should also assist them to follow a coherent career path. Central and local government need to ensure that libraries have sufficient funds to maintain and One of the great strengths of the library service, and a source of the trust with which it is develop an attractive book stock. They also need to be able to provide the traditional range of regarded in the community is that it is not a commercial service. Public libraries are an integral services, in terms of children’s, reference and local studies sections. Online access to reference part of local public services and should remain so. sources and general use of the internet should be maintained and developed but should not The public library service should build on its past successes; learn from the failed experience be done at the expense of the book stock. The library premises need to be both attractive of contracting out other public services and go forward as a well-funded, publicly provided, top and functional – for both the public and the staff that work there. Library users and, just as quality public service fit for the 21st century. importantly, potential users, need to be able to access libraries at times that are convenient for them, so opening hours and working patterns have to be adjusted. UNISON is appreciative of the need to make the service more consumer friendly however, such changes cost money and need to be negotiated with the staff’s union representatives and staff – who are predominantly female – should be reasonably compensated. Technological advances that make using the library easier – whether that is in the library building itself or online, or through improvements to procurement and cataloguing – should be embraced as part of negotiated discussions with the union.

4 5 TAKING STOCK: THE FUTURE OF OUR Introduction History of public libraries PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE

A great library contains the diary of the human race. …people have too much knowledge already: it was much easier to manage them 20 years George Mercer Dawson (Moore, JR, 1998: 296) ago; the more education people get the more difficult they are to manage Conservative MP arguing against the passage of the 1850 Public Libraries Act. Quoted by Lord McIntosh in Lords debate, 17 March, 2004 Last year, there were over 337 million visits to over 4,700 public libraries, 315 million book issues from a total stock of 103 million books, 8.7 million issues of audio, visual or electronic Moore (2004) divides the history of British public libraries into four periods, beginning with the items, 64 million visits to library websites and a budget of over £1 billion (CIPFA, 2008). The passage of the first piece of legislation – the 1850 Public Libraries Act: Audit Commission (2002a: 14) noted that the library service is ‘one of the most valued and high profile services that councils provide’. Yet the Commission also said that it was ‘a service under • 1850-1900: origins pressure’ (ibid) and the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee described public • 1901-1919: early growth libraries as a ‘service in distress’ (2005a: 14). • 1920-1964: consolidation For over 150 years, Britain’s public library service has made an essential contribution to the • 1965-date: the modern public library social, educational, cultural and economic well-being of local communities throughout the country. However, for almost 20 years – between 1979 and 1997 – library services like other There are, of course, different segments within these broad time periods, as well as a ‘pre- parts of local government faced growing problems as Conservative governments turned to cuts in history’ before the first legislation. In fact, Moore (2004: 28) himself says that the 1850 Public public spending, commercialisation and privatisation. Libraries Act ‘was, in many ways, giving legitimacy to provision that had already been made’. Confounding the expectations of many of its supporters, the New Labour government elected The parliamentary pressure for the Act came from the radical Liberal MPs William Ewart and in 1997 and re-elected twice since then committed itself to a variant of public service reform Joseph Brotherton, helped by the Chartist Edward Edwards (who became first librarian of the which, in many respects, continues and deepens the policies introduced under the Conservatives. Manchester Free Library). Hewitt (2000: 62) argues that during the 19th century, ‘the combined The increased role of the private sector (and to a growing degree the voluntary sector) as a impact of the spread of literacy and the dominance of the voluntary principle brought an provider of services, the purchaser-provider split and the introduction of internal markets within unparalleled multiplication of library provision’. He might have added that for working people, public services – and latterly the squeeze on public spending – are all too familiar to public the ‘voluntary principle’ was a matter of necessity in the absence of any provision by the local or service workers in general and library staff in particular. national state. This report examines the current position of the public library service in the context of its history The demand for (and provision of) public libraries was often associated with working class and within the wider public service reform programme advocated by the current government. organisations like the trade unions. It was also a small but significant part of the same Victorian In particular it evaluates the proposals from the PricewaterhouseCoopers report commissioned public reform programme that saw the beginnings of universal education, school meals and by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). It assesses these ideas in municipal utilities. In fact Hewitt (2000: 63) claims that before the educational reforms of the the context of the experience of the library service itself and also the wider public service more 1870s began to have an impact, ‘the public library was perhaps the most substantial direct state generally. intervention in the 19th century public sphere’. Although associated with working class ‘self- improvement’, they were supported by many Victorian industrialists as a counter attraction to the The report reviews the relevant academic literature as well as government and parliamentary pub for their workers and also widely used by the middle classes more generally (Black, 1966). papers, media reports and documents produced by industry bodies, consultants and trade unions. In addition it benefits from discussions with UNISON full time and lay officers, attendance The tension at the creation of the UK public library service between the democratisation of at a UNISON library members’ seminar and draws upon a small scale survey of seminar knowledge and intellectual emancipation on the one hand and its use as a form of social control participants and an email survey of UNISON branches with library staff membership. and economic investment on the other, remains today. For example, the People’s Network and universal access to the internet through libraries is portrayed as a modern democratic reform and part of the government’s social inclusion programme but Goulding (2001: 3) says that there is another side to this:

a primary, if not the ultimate, aim of government investment in ICT is to benefit the economy through the ‘upskilling’ of the populace and by enabling businesses to take advantage of new markets brought about by the information economy. The original Public Libraries Act 1850 did not direct councils on the setting up of a library service. Rather it permitted them to do so within very severe constraints. Responsibility for the decision was located at local level and the national legislation simply allowed councils to provide library services to the public if they chose to do so. However, this was only for local authorities with a population of over 10,000 (this was later reduced to 5,000). Units of local government were much smaller at this time than they are today, so it had a limited potential. The council could ‘adopt library powers’, but were not committed to actually providing the service and for many there was quite a long delay between adoption and provision of the service. Although national government did not want any involvement in the service, it placed financial limits on the extent to which councils could spend on a library service. Expenditure was limited to 6 7 TAKING STOCK: ½d rate and the finance raised could only be used for accommodation – nothing was to be spent The Act itself had four key elements: THE FUTURE OF OUR on either books or staffing. This illustrates the continuing influence of the voluntary principle • the provision of a ‘comprehensive and efficient’ public library service became a PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE of Victorian public services in that it was clearly understood that libraries would be staffed by volunteers and books would be donated (Moore, 2004: 28). statutory requirement • the basic lending and reference services should be free at the point of use Given the timidity of the legislation and the various hurdles placed in front of councils, progress was slow in the provision of library services. The 1855 Public Libraries Act removed some of the • In England and Wales the Secretary of State was given responsibility for supervising and restrictions, for example raising the expenditure limit to a 1d rate. Nevertheless in the first 30 promoting the service years of the legislation, just 70 councils had adopted library powers – mostly in the industrial • the effective lower residential population limit for a public library authority was set at north and midlands. 40,000. Philanthropy continued to play a major part in the early growth of the library service with many In addition, the Act also required libraries in Wales to take a responsibility for promoting the councils receiving donations for their library service from two particular benefactors – Andrew Welsh language and culture (De Almeida, 1997: 145). The impact of the Act was such that Moore Carnegie and Passmore Edwards. Moore (2004: 30-31) records that by the time of Carnegie’s (2004: 41) describes the decade that followed as ‘the golden age of public libraries in Britain’. death in 1919 ‘more than half the public library authorities in Great Britain had received grants A massive infusion of resources took place – in England for example, councils increased library and over 380 public library buildings in the UK as a whole were associated with his name’. spending by over 50% in real terms, staff grew by 40%, training provision for professional librarianship expanded, book stock increased, and there was an increase of almost 60% in the The 1919 Act removed the 1d limit and also extended the reach of the library service beyond number of libraries open for more than 10 hours a week. the industrial conurbations to rural areas by allowing counties to become library authorities. During the 1920s, 57 out of 62 counties adopted the Public Libraries Act, and by 1926, 96.3% Within this picture of general growth there was also a greater diversification of services with of the population of England and Wales were covered by library areas. This did not mean either an expansion of children’s and reference library services (especially technical and commercial that these people all had access to a library service or that what services existed were of a high information services); better school support, particularly in the rural areas; the widespread quality (Ellis, 1970). availability of sound recordings collections and the establishment of programmes of extension activities. Unsurprisingly the library service suffered from the effects of depression and war throughout the period until the end of the Second World War. However, despite slow growth and shortages This ‘golden decade’ was soon brought to an end by economic crisis, with first an end to caused by economic restrictions and wartime rationing of paper, the library service was firmly expenditure growth followed by actual cuts. Economic problems brought on by the oil price rises established and gradually expanded its coverage. Early attempts to codify the level of resources of the mid 1970s saw governments of both major parties look to public expenditure restraint. required by libraries were made by the Library Association, recommending that ‘a public library Local authorities found it easier to make cuts quickly by cutting back on books and materials required a minimum stock of 250 books per 1,000 population’ (Moore, 2004: 33). rather than on staff, and authorities also hoped that the cuts would be reversed and therefore were reluctant to lose staff. The stagnation of the 1930s was followed by the shortages of the 1940s but after the end of the war, reconstruction of the library service became a part of the general recovery of the In the meantime an effort was made to keep the recently expanded range of service points open, country’s infrastructure. The establishment of the welfare state and improvements in education even though there was reduced expenditure. However, natural wastage through retirements and health introduced by the post-war Labour governments affected demand and provision of and staff leaving also meant that staff numbers dropped as posts were left unfilled. Books were library services. After the 1958 lifting of building restrictions, a new library building programme, replaced less often meaning that their condition deteriorated. Service points declined slightly but increased spending on books and a growing relationship with schools all assisted in laying the opening hours declined markedly. foundations for a modern library service. During the 1980s and 1990s, under what Hendry (2000: 442) calls the ‘malign neglect’ of the Moore (2004) traces the modern British library to 1965, the year that the 1964 Public Libraries Conservatives, the service first stagnated, then declined. The proportion and number of qualified and Museums Act came into force. The new reforming Labour government brought with it an staff fell as a cheaper skills mix was adopted by many authorities. Loans began to fall, raising expectation of change captured in Prime Minister Wilson’s phrase about the ‘white-heat of the average cost of borrowing. The 1990s saw the beginnings of major decline. Expenditure on technology’. The new Act rested on previous reports under the Conservative governments of materials fell and the number of books bought dropped. This resulted in the rate of additions the late 1950s and early 1960s. The most important of these reports was the Bourdillon Report per 1,000 population plummeting to 184 which Moore (2004: 46) describes as ‘quite possibly which systematically set out a series of recommendations for the level of resources required by a the lowest rate in the post-war period and well below the Bourdillon standard of 250 additions public library. These included: per thousand population.’ Overall spending in real terms fell by over 10%, with books and other materials carrying a disproportionate share of the cut of over 25% (Moore, 2004: 45). • annual additions to stock should be not less than 250 volumes per thousand population • at least 90 of the 250 should be adult non-fiction In an effort to counterbalance the effect of reduced expenditure, libraries bought more paperbacks, a short term solution to a longer term problem. For the very first time the number of books in • one member of staff for every 2,500 population served stock in the public library service actually fell. The number of visits to libraries, the number of • 40% of staff should be qualified librarians staff overall, the number of professional staff, the proportion of professional staff to all staff, the number of loans and the average number of books borrowed per person all fell during the 1990s. • no one, except in rural areas, should live more than one mile from their nearest library service point. Because of the long term nature of the impact of decisions over expenditure, building, staffing, National averages at the time just about met these targets (although there were wide variations training and so on in the library service, the problems that began in the 1970s only began to across the country) but this simply illustrates the fact that these were recommended minima to be fully revealed as a crisis in the 1990s. The ‘service in distress’ – identified by the Commons provide a basic service. Obviously an authority that wished to provide a good or excellent service Culture, Media and Sport Committee (2005a: 3) – is a result of over two decades of neglect and would be expected to exceed these minima. outright damage. 8 9 TAKING STOCK: In 1997, the year that the new Labour government was elected, UNISON (1997, cited in Hendry, THE FUTURE OF OUR 2000: 442) published a report with the Local Government Information Unit and the Library PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE Campaign, which commented: 1850 Public Libraries Act Many parts of the free public library service feel increasingly caught in a twilight world where the cumulative effects of cuts has led to an unbreakable cycle of reduced 1852 The first free public library opened in Manchester opening hours and fewer branches, fewer book issues and reduced usage. The library 1853 Act extended to Scotland and Ireland service feels that local authorities see themselves as being in a position of having an obligation to provide a statutory service but without the necessary means. 1855 Public Libraries Act. Limit on rates that could be levied for library services raised to 1d. 1877 Library Association founded. A professional association for libraries and librarians, one of its early aims was the introduction of accredited library qualifications. 1912 Workers Educational Association (WEA) establishes the Central Library for Tutorial Classes (CLTC) 1915 Adams Report on Library provision and policy. This report to the Carnegie Trustees made the case for the urgent establishment of libraries in rural areas. 1916 Carnegie Foundation provides funding for transformation of CLTC into Central Library for Students. Foundation invested enormous sums in new library buildings at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries (some 380 across the United Kingdom as a whole). 1919 Public Libraries Act. Removed the penny rate limitation and allowed counties to become library authorities. 1927 First codifying of resources for libraries. The County Libraries Section of the Library Association recommends that a public library requires a minimum stock of 250 books per 1000 population. 1927 Report on public libraries in England and Wales (Kenyon Report). Published by the Board of Education, Libraries Committee, 1930 Central Library for Students became the National Central Library. It became the foundation for inter library loans and later became a part of the British Library. 1942 The public library system of Great Britain (McColvin Report) published. Commissioned by the Library Association, the report set out a blueprint for post-war reconstruction of the library service. 1959 The structure of the public library service in England and Wales (Roberts Report) published by the Ministry of Education. 1962 Standards of public library service in England and Wales (Bourdillon Report) published by the Ministry of Education. Outlined benchmarks for the ‘basic requirements for an efficient public library’. 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act 1995 Department for National heritage set up the Library and Information Commission (LIC) as a national source of expertise – advising government on all issues relating to the library and information sector. 1998 Annual Library Plans introduced. 1998 Devolution legislation results in the establishment of the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly with devolved -99 responsibility for the library service. 2000 The LIC replaced by Resource: The Council for Museums, Libraries and Archives,

10 11 TAKING STOCK: THE FUTURE OF OUR which in turn changed its name to the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council The state of the library service PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE (MLA) in February 2004. and the challenges ahead 2000 People’s Network launched 2001 Public Library Standards (26) introduced in England 2002 Public Library Position Statements replace the Annual Library Plans in England. What is a library? Is it a collection of books, DVDs, CDs and videos? Is it a place to expand knowledge or surf the internet? Is it a community hub, an information exchange, 2002 Audit Commission publishes Building Better Library Services. a homework club, a writers’ club, or a rattle and rhyme club for toddlers? The answer, 2003 Department for Culture, Media and Sport publishes Framework for the future of course, is that it is all of those and much, much more, but not for much longer in my constituency or in Dudley. 2003 Framework for the future: action plan 2003-06 published by Resource. (Lynda Waltho MP, arguing against library closures, Westminster Hall debate, 24 October 2007) 2004 Public Library Service Standards (10) replace Public Library Position Statements and the original Public Library Standards. Introduction In 2005 the Select Committee commented 2005 House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee publishes Public Libraries report. We are in no doubt that, while libraries are about more than books (and newspapers 2007 Department for Communities and Local Government publishes Developing the local and journals), these traditional materials must be the bedrock upon which the library government services market: new ways of working and new models of provision services rest no matter how the institution is refreshed or re-branded in the light of local within the public library service working paper produced by PricewaterhouseCoopers consultation’ (Culture, Media and Sport Committee, 2005: 18). At the time the then Minister for Libraries, David Lammy MP (2006), placed a different emphasis 2007 Department for Culture, Media and Sport publishes revised Public Library Service on this, saying: Standards. … libraries are not just about books. They never have been. And the digital resources at our disposal today have broadened immeasurably the kind of public services that they can provide. Although it is true that, to a certain extent at least, libraries have always been about more than just books, today they face ever greater demands from government and users to provide a range of different services and to meet a variety of different objectives. Chris Smith MP (then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport) noted that:

Libraries contribute to four of this government’s most important policy objectives. They underpin education, providing essential support for school children, students, and lifelong learners; they enhance public access to the world’s storehouse of knowledge and information; they promote social inclusion, by helping to bridge the gap between those who can afford access to information and those who can’t; and, increasingly, they have a role to play in the modernisation and delivery of public services. (DCMS, 1998: 1) In Framework for the Future (2003: 51), the government outlined its vision of what public library services could offer in 2013:

• guaranteed access to a book whether or not it is still in print • an invitation to all babies and new parents to become library members within the first year of the baby’s life as well as being exposed to the opportunities for early years reading • the opportunity for all school age children to join a homework club, engage in summer activities or join reading groups • intensive help in promoting reading for all families in Sure Start areas • personalised intensive help for any adult struggling with adult basic skills • access for any member of a public library to materials held in libraries in higher and further education • course guidance to anyone seeking opportunities for learning and training • help in creating, hosting and managing community content online for community groups 12 13 TAKING STOCK: • access for any citizen to engage with government services, debate and consultation Policy, funding and oversight are distributed among different government bodies. As well as the THE FUTURE OF OUR online through a library local authorities within which library services are located, other arms of government involved include the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the Department for Communities PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE • a national online service through which anyone can ask a library for information and Local Government (DCLG), the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), the • all of these services will be offered in premises fit for purpose either within the library Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) – and their equivalents in Wales, Scotland and building or through outreach. Northern Ireland. Research evidence suggests that libraries are doing a good job in meeting the varied demands DCMS and equivalents set policy, standards and have responsibility for the library service but placed upon them, particularly in certain areas like adult education (Ashcroft et al, 2007). It no direct executive authority over library services. Funding comes through grant support for also suggests that despite the caricature of both library staff and users, ‘the record of UK public local authorities via DCLG and equivalents, but they do not set the goals of the library service. libraries in serving users across a wide socioeconomic spectrum is already good’ (Hawkins et al DCSF finances programmes in libraries (as does the National Lottery) and has a direct interest 2001: 258). in the library service through initiatives like the National Literacy Strategy and the National Year Others are not convinced. Tim Coates (Culture, Media and Sport Committee, 2005b: Ev 2) says of Reading programme. However, it does not have much influence over the library network as a that the ‘policy of diversification has been a catastrophe for libraries in this country’ and that whole. In England, the Advisory Council on Libraries provides advice to the Secretary of State and libraries should modernise by improving services not diversifying. As long ago as 1991 Richard MLA. Hoggart complained that the stocks of ’great and good books’ in many libraries ’have shrunk The MLA is a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), sponsored by DCMS. It describes itself as to a small space in an obscure corner, to allow more room for cassettes, videos and records’ ‘the strategic body working with and for the museums, archives and libraries sector’ (MLA, 2008) (Hoggart, 1991). in England. The equivalent Scottish organisations are the Scottish Museums Council, the Scottish Today the library service continues to offer access to books and other reading material, reference Library and Information Council, and the Scottish Archives Council. Wales has CyMAL: Museums and local studies services, online access, children’s services, involvement in adult education and Archives and Libraries Wales, a policy division of the Welsh Assembly Government. In Northern wider literacy initiatives like its lead role in the 2008 National Year of Reading. The warnings Ireland the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure carries out this function. There is also a joint about the library service spreading itself too thinly are partly based on the fact that while book forum bringing together all of these bodies across the UK. The Audit Commission examines value funds have been in decline, money spent on ICT has been increasing. There are undoubtedly for money issues in the library service in England. This role is carried out by the Wales Audit questions of balance that need to be addressed but perhaps the real issue is the overall funding Office, Audit Scotland and the Northern Ireland Audit Office for the devolved administrations. of the service. The fragmented nature of the sector (DCMS, 2005a: 8) is recognised as a problem but the government believes that the arrangement is the best available so long as the local authority Governance and funding ‘recognises the value of its libraries and shows sufficient commitment towards them’ (ibid). The 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act required local authorities The administration and funding of public libraries in the UK is not a straightforward issue. The library service is essentially a local government service and there are 208 library authorities to employ such officers, to provide and maintain such buildings and equipment, and in the UK (see Table 1). Within local authorities, libraries often come within the broader remit such books and other materials, and to do such other things, as may be requisite. of leisure and culture. Conway (2008: 12) notes that library services are increasingly, though [Section 7] not always, grouped with adult services or even within a wider brief including economic development, environmental services, regulatory services as well as leisure and culture. Conway In order to fulfil its duties and comply with the Act, a library authority is obliged to keep adequate (2008: 19) argues that while there is ‘a high degree of natural coherence’ in placing the library stocks of books, other printed matter, pictures, records, films and other materials in sufficient service within a Culture/Leisure/Community Services Directorate, there are problems in placing it number, range and quality to meet the public’s requirements and the special needs of adults and within a much broader service grouping that includes a focus on adult social care. children [Section 7(2)(a)]. In addition, library authorities are required to encourage and advise adults and children to maximise the use made of the services [Section 7(2) (b)]. Table 1: Distribution of UK library authorities Section 10 of the Act allowed for central government action if library authorities defaulted in Geographical unit Number of authorities their obligations to the public. However, this power is rarely used, partly because it clashes with the notion of the library service being a local service and therefore the responsibility of locally England 149 elected representatives. The then Secretary of State told the Culture, Media and Sport Committee Greater London boroughs (33) (2005a: 23): Metropolitan districts (36) I simply do not have the levers to compel local authorities to…observe [library standards]. This is arguably an area where one thrust of policy in relation to local Unitary authorities (46) authorities – to free them up from a lot of red tape and the targets and the centrally English counties (34) determined obligations that have been the source of controversy – swims against the policy of my department exercising leverage in relation to libraries. Scotland 32 Conway (2008: 11) claims that local authorities are well aware of this unwillingness to intervene Wales 22 and ‘know it is most unlikely any real action will be taken by DCMS as a consequence of a reduction in service standards.’ Northern Ireland 5 TOTAL 208 Measuring value and quality CIPFA Statistics Despite noting that more people visit libraries than either football matches or the cinema (DCMS, 14 2003: 6), the government accepts the view of the Audit Commission (2002a: 14) that it is ‘a 15 TAKING STOCK: service under pressure’. The long term decline in book issues and visits are usually cited as The difficulties in designing appropriate and useful measures for a service with a wide range THE FUTURE OF OUR evidence and ‘the emphasis on costs has dominated all recent studies of the performance of of different stakeholders is perhaps illustrated by the frequent changes in recent years in the PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE UK library systems’ (Bawden et al, 2005: 459). National statistics did not become available until various standards imposed by the UK government on the English library service. This can create 1975-76, and for much of the past 20 years, although funding has increased; almost all of the problems in itself and there is a danger that such regimes can degenerate into box ticking and other measures have shown a steady decline. The Culture, Media and Sport Committee (2005a: form filling. The attempt to measure performance can ‘feel like an industry in itself that detracts 14) summarised the position as follows: from service delivery, and the development of internal quality culture regimes’ (Rowley, 2005: 508-509). We believe that a situation in which core performance indicators, and gross throughput, are falling – but overall costs are rising – signals a service in distress. Morris and colleagues (2002) believe that it is possible to examine the economic value of libraries through a series of different measures. They argue that costs and benefits of book borrowing are Several doom-laden predictions have been made about the future of libraries. Commentator Tim different for different groups of people according to a variety of factors including their education, Coates (2004) warns that unless fundamental structural problems are addressed, there may be wealth, age, and personal interest. This results in a mixture of educational, informative, cultural no public libraries left in 10 or 15 years time while the Audit Commission (2002a, p. 9) itself and recreational benefit (Morris et al, 2002: 85). They conclude that warns that if present trends continue loans of books and other materials will drop to zero in around 20 years. the economic value of the public library service is thus considerable yielding both public Like other parts of local government, libraries were subject to the Best Value regime brought in good and merit benefits which are enjoyed by all ages and across all socio-economic to replace the discredited Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT). However as Bawden et al groups. Undoubtedly, this value will increase as lending operations become more (2005) point out, the effectiveness of Best Value for library services has been subject to criticism. efficient and as developments in networked information and electronic literature modify Trickey (2003: 183) saw it as a bureaucratic system which absorbed a lot of resources, which the role of libraries in the future. (Morris et al, 2002: 86) could otherwise more usefully be deployed actually delivering a service, to collect data that was There are criticisms of a more fundamental nature however. McMenemy (2007a) accepts that not particularly useful in identifying shortcomings or assisting in improvement. it is important to measure the impact that public libraries have on their communities but rejects the idea that this can be determined by quantitative measures. It is argued that a number-driven In an attempt to set measurable targets for the library service, the government has used a variety evaluative framework that mirrors the private sector – where numbers reflect sales, profits and of different methods in recent years. In 1998 Annual Library Plans were introduced to help library so on – is not very helpful in the library service (McMenemy, 2007b: 446): authorities focus their resources and to spell out what was meant by the statutory obligation of the 1964 Act to provide a ‘comprehensive and efficient’ public library service. In 2001 26 Public The belief that numbers can tell us anything about a service that is driven by social Library Standards were introduced in England. In 2002 the Annual Library Plans (ALPs) were educational goals is fundamentally flawed in its reasoning, since it seeks to break down replaced by Public Library Position Statements and in 2004 10 Public Library Service Standards the human and their experience into cold hard statistics. replaced Public Library Position Statements and the original Public Library Standards for all English public libraries. Broady-Preston and Cox (2000: 157) claim that qualitative market research methods and performance indicators are more reliable than quantitative methods ‘in assessing the social value The introduction of Framework for the Future (DCMS, 2003) also saw the introduction of a of a service’, despite the fact that they are more difficult to use and more time consuming than series of national offers, which set out the standards of service expected of all public libraries. the ‘number-crunching’ option. Usherwood believes that both policy makers and even library The national offers defined what libraries can do best for particular user groups; listed specific professionals fail to recognise the value and values of the public library – to the extent that many service actions; and outlined a three year plan to achieve them. The first three plans covered: public librarians ‘appear to see themselves as a cross between a retail manager and a computer young people aged 11-19; adult basic skills; and reading clubs. operative’ (Usherwood, 2007: 675). Not surprisingly, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee criticised the government for repeatedly In their study of the unintended consequences of performance measurement in public services, ‘chopping and changing’ (Culture, Media and Sport Committee, 2005: 10) the regulatory Adcroft and Willis (2005: 386) argue that the most likely outcome of widespread use of framework for public libraries in England. The Committee questioned ‘the wisdom of abandoning performance measurement ‘is the commodification of services which will be delivered by an an improving product’ like the ALPs (Culture, Media and Sport Committee, 2005: 9). Goulding increasingly deprofessionalised public sector workforce’. Toyne and Usherwood (2001: 144) note (2006: 4) suggests that these were ‘discontinued as one of the measures to free local authorities that while it is important to know how many books are issued to what section of the community, from excessive bureaucracy by introducing a ‘lighter touch’. from what types of background, this only provides a very incomplete picture and that these statistics are a blunt tool for evaluating a library service: However, the Committee was unimpressed and claimed that this was a detrimental move. It also described the Public Library Service Standards as having ‘rather limited ambitions’ (Culture, ...such figures tend only to deal with inputs and outputs, and there is a danger that Media and Sport Committee, 2005a: 3), complaining that there were serious omissions, and that politicians will only measure what is measurable, and thus miss what is important about there were not effective mechanisms to drive up performance or even to ensure compliance. the library service. In evaluating the value of imaginative literature, people’s experience By 2005, the Standards and Impact Measures were incorporated into performance indicators of using the service, and their perceptions of it, should be used to evaluate outcomes. for the Culture Service area in the Comprehensive Performance Assessments (CPA) by which McMenemy (2007: 273) agrees, asking: ‘How can book issues in an inner city community tell English councils were assessed. The Public Library Service Standards were subsequently us anything of what those books are being used for when borrowed?‘ He calls for more use of revised in December 2007. They provide library authorities with a set of targets across 10 core methodologies like the social audit Linley and Usherwood (1998) used in their study of Newcastle provision areas, and are complemented by the Public Library Impact Measures. In addition, and Somerset library services, which they argue makes visible the way that libraries enrich several authorities identified as likely to benefit from additional help have been participating people’s lives (Linley and Usherwood, 1998). in the programme of Peer Reviews to stimulate and support improvement. From 2008, Local Area Assessments will replace CPA and a single National Indicator will replace the standards As Moore notes (2004) library statistics can conceal as much as they reveal, particularly if one and impact measures. Conway (2008: 18) regards this as a cause for concern, arguing that the measure is given priority over all others. Nevertheless, public libraries are routinely judged on a previous systems – for all their shortcomings – did drive up standards. series of measures: 16 17 TAKING STOCK: • funding and costs Although spending on the UK public library service is £1 billion (which is, of course, a large THE FUTURE OF OUR • visits and usage amount of money) it is spread across 208 library authorities in the UK and amounts to only PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE about 1% of local authority spend. It has increased in real terms in recent years, after periods • book stocks and issues during the last Conservative government which saw real terms cuts. Nevertheless, there is • library facilities disagreement about whether the current budget is sufficient for the ever growing demands being placed on the service. - number of service points - library opening hours Moore (2004: 48) contends that even with annual increases above the rate of inflation, the library service needs and should receive further increases. Pointing out that between 1985 and 2000, • staffing GDP increased by 46%, he says that to keep pace public library expenditure would have needed - number of professional staff an additional ‘£350 million just to put the service back on the growth path of the early 1990s’ (Moore, 2004: 49). - total number of staff. Table 3: Public Library Expenditure and GDP 1965–2000 (England) Funding and costs Year GDP Index (1965 = 100) Total expenditure per 1,000 In Britain we spend over £1 billion a year on the public library service, most of which comes population (1965 = 100) through local authorities. In 2006-07 there was a 3.3% increase in total net expenditure 1965 100 100 (excluding capital charges) (see Annex for a breakdown by UK country). 1970 116 115 Table 2: Total net expenditure on the UK library service 1975 141 154 1980 150 155 2005-06 (£000s) 2006-07 (£000s) % change 2005-06 to 2006-07 1985 157 161 Net Expenditure 1,029,004 1,063,120 3.3% 1990 188 181 CIPFA Statistics 1995 199 171 2000 230 162 Moore (2004: 48) argues that it is not good enough to match inflation or even to make real Source: Moore (2004: 48) increases slightly above inflation: Note: The table was compiled by taking the GDP data at current prices from the National Accounts dataset. Retrieved from www.statistics. As an economy expands, so there is an expectation that the quantity and quality of gov.uk/STATBASE. The gross figures were then converted to 2003 prices using the Retail Price Index (see, for example, www.wolfbane. com/rpi.htm) and were indexed, using 1965 as a base. For the public library expenditure a similar process was followed, using actual public services will grow accordingly. expenditure per 1,000 population data from public library statistics. Source: Office for National Statistics National accounts and CIPFA He notes that for much of the 20th century, the public library service grew in line with the Public Library Statistics. economy as a whole, up until the mid 1960s. From about 1965, the growth in spending on library He argues that an expanding economy produces higher expectations among the public and services broadly matched economic growth measured by the GDP. For five years from 1985 this therefore greater demands on the service. His solution is for library funding to increase in growth slowed down and from 1990 spending fell in real terms to the extent that by the turn of line with the growth in GDP. Commentator Tim Coates (2004) takes a different position in his the century expenditure was back to 1985 levels. book, Who’s in Charge? His view is that the library budget is sufficient: it is just misspent. He Like all other parts of the public services, the library service is under pressure to generate wants to see a tripling of expenditure on books and other reading materials, a 50% increase in efficiencies. DCLG (2007b: 5) defines ‘efficiency’ as ‘achieving the same outputs for less opening hours and a major programme of library refurbishment and redecoration. The key to a resource or additional outputs for the same resource’. It emphasises that a cost-cutting measure successful rejuvenation of the public library service in his view is an increase in book stock, a at the ‘expense of the overall effectiveness of service delivery is not an efficiency gain’ (ibid). boost to opening hours and library buildings which are pleasant to visit – all of which most library However, the government also (ODPM, 2005: 8) makes a distinction between ‘cashable’ and supporters would agree. non-cashable’ efficiency gains. But Coates claims that these improvements could be paid for within current budgets if the Cashable gains represent savings achieved by providing the same service (or possibly a better current funding was better spent. He says this could be achieved with a drastic reduction in the service) from lower inputs. This allows for re-allocating these resources elsewhere. This might number of staff involved in management and cataloguing and a much more efficient, streamlined be redeployed towards the introduction of new elements to the library service or it might simply acquisition programme. Some challenged his data and the fact that he concentrated on one be used to reduce the overall cost of the library service. By contrast, non-cashable gains ‘are aspect of the service (book loans) and used data from just one library service (Hampshire) to achieved through such means as improved quality or additional outputs for the same level of make wide-ranging recommendations. Goulding (2004: 149) remarked that resources’ (ibid). With non-cashable gains there is no reduction in the overall expenditure for the A more welcoming environment and a better selection of books would no doubt go a library service. long way… but it is doubtful that the redistribution of resources advocated in Who’s in In the past, local authorities have dealt with expenditure cutbacks by attempting to maintain Charge? would be sufficient to transform public libraries. the broad fabric of the service through reducing the level of service. This took the form of Councils have tended to introduce various cost cutting measures which appear to leave the some library closures or more often, reductions in opening hours. The Culture, Media and Sport library service broadly intact – such as cutting the opening hours, changing the skills mix of staff Committee (2000) illustrated the scale of the reduction in access to library services in the period so that more expensive qualified staff are replaced by cheaper unqualified staff; replacing books 1986-87 to 1996-97 by reference to a Sheffield University study in which 112 of 128 authorities less often than in the past; acquiring paperbacks rather than hardbacks and so on. Unfortunately, examined reported reductions. many of these savings are one-offs which will store up problems for the future rather than 18 resolve them (such as replacing hardbacks with paperbacks). Others, such as cutting opening 19 TAKING STOCK: hours, serve to accelerate a general withering away of the service by making it more difficult did not appear to have much effect because two years later the then Minister David Lammy MP THE FUTURE OF OUR to use and therefore contribute to a further decline in use. The key issue to be addressed is the admitted that DCMS were aware of 25 local authorities that charged (Hansard, 2007b). general one of funding. PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE It also reopens the debate on the purpose and role of libraries. Goulding (2001: 2) points out that the notion of information as a commodity is not new, but what is new is that ‘the Charging commodification of information has been accelerated by recent technological innovations’. She The 1964 Act obliges library authorities to provide ‘comprehensive and efficient’ public library refers to the National Consumer Council’s characterisation of information as a ‘fourth right of services. This is not defined within the Act although authorities are required to provide ‘free citizenship’ and a social good which enhances social, political and cultural life (Goulding, 2001: 1). of charge, access for people who live, work or study in their area to borrow or refer to books, Usherwood et al (2005: 90) refer to the role of libraries in securing a citizen’s right to know and printed material and pictures in line with their needs and requirements’ (DCMS, 2008). cite the view of the New York Times (1998) that: ‘One test of a democracy is whether it grants Free access to books has been a cornerstone of the public library service since its inception but equal access to the tools that make knowledge possible’ and note: has always had its critics. It reflected the tension perceived by some to exist between satisfying The need to ensure equity in the distribution of services is one of the factors that public demands and raising standards. In fact one of the early concerns about funding public libraries through the rates was that the middle classes would be funding working class reading distinguish public sector organisations such as archives, library and museum services of popular fiction, to the extent that some libraries even banned fiction for a time (Muddiman, from those in the commercial world. (Usherwood et al, 2005: 91) 2000: 18). A more recent variant of this was expressed by the Adam Smith Institute (1986: 32) in Hendry (2000: 447) agrees, linking this with the role of public libraries in social inclusion. Public making the case for introducing library charges: librarians:

…there seems no good reason why the state should be expected to provide leisure and should be among the custodians and propagators not of information but of the gift of entertainment facilities of one kind free of charge to the user when it does not do so for reason: a gift that can turn information into knowledge, and then to understanding, others such as films or football. reason and tolerance, and perhaps even a wee bit of wisdom; then we might achieve a That such views are not the preserve of eccentric right wing economic think tanks can be seen just society. by the fact that last year, Yinnon Ezra, head of leisure services at Conservative-run Hampshire The charging issue has also returned in another guise around the idea of charges for ‘premium’ County Council declared: ‘We have to ask whether fiction should remain in libraries when most services, such as help with family histories. UNISON activists report that Northamptonshire people buy books.’ The MLA (which delivers ‘strategic leadership’ for libraries in England) refused Library Service has introduced a system of premium charges for ‘Personal Knowledge Advisers’. to disassociate itself from this statement – perhaps not surprisingly as Ezra is one of its board Members of the public are offered half hour sessions with qualified staff at a cost of £15. Each members (Cooke, 2007). qualified member of staff was set a personal target of generating £850 in such premium charges by the end of 2007-08. While charging for borrowing books has always been rejected, charging for some library services has been regarded as acceptable by many, and has become standard practice for some services such as borrowing CDs or DVDs (and before that records or tapes). And of course, fines for late Library visits and usage return and reservation charges are also commonplace. For many years the number of visits to libraries has been in decline. A variety of different reasons The debate has re-emerged over the issue of whether to charge for use of the internet in libraries have been put forward for the long term decline in both visits and book issues, including the and whether information (and access to it) is a public good or a marketable commodity (Goulding, following: the simple fact that stock has declined (Audit Commission, 2002a: 1; Coates, 2004: 20001). The Culture, Media and Sport Committee (2005a: 36) named and shamed those councils 7), the poor quality of library buildings (CABE, 2003: 2; Coates, 2004: 7), library regulations such that charged for the use of the People’s Network, and strongly criticised their decision: as fines and restrictions (Grindlay and Morris, 2004: 614; Audit Scotland, 2005: 4), reduced accessibility of libraries because of closures and cuts in opening hours (Coates, 2004: 1; Audit We believe that charging for the People’s Network contravenes at least the spirit of the Commission, 2002a: 1; Grindlay and Morris, 2004: 627), the impact of the end of the Net Book 1964 Act which permits libraries to impose fees only “where facilities made available Agreement in 1997 and consequent increase in people buying books instead of borrowing (Audit to any person by a library authority go beyond those ordinarily provided by the authority Commission, 2002a: 8) and the negative image of libraries (Brockhurst, 2005: 24) and their staff as part of the library service.” We believe that the provision of the People’s Network (Green, 1994:19, 21). in all public libraries, coupled with the government’s target for universal access to the However, for four successive years (between 2002-03 and 2005-06), the downward trend in internet, suggests strongly that the service now falls within the statutory definition of a visits was reversed, although the latest figures show a return to decline. In 2005, the government facility “ordinarily provided by the authority as part of the library service” and charges claimed that the increased visits were the result of the impact of the introduction of internet should not be imposed. access in all libraries through the People’s Network initiative which ‘has given the public library In its response, the government (2005: 13) agreed that the intention was that access to the network a new lease of life’ (DCMS, 2005a: 13). We shall have to wait to see whether the upturn People’s Network should be free but pointed out that the original legislation had been amended resumes after this dip or whether the four year period of increases ascribed to the impact of the and that authorities were not obliged to offer free access to the People’s Network. The 1991 People’s Network was a very specific, time-limited effect. Library Charges (England and Wales) Regulations specified that library authorities have the power to provide facilities for the borrowing of books and other materials (eg video tapes, multi-media, open learning packages) by any individual, but the duty to lend free of charge extends only to written material which is readable without the use of any electronic or other apparatus (De Almeida, 1997: 146). Nevertheless, charging for access to the internet directly challenges the government’s social inclusion and lifelong learning agendas with its proclaimed aim of breaking down the division 20 between the information haves and have-nots. Government’s stated disapproval of charging 21 TAKING STOCK: Figure 1: Total visits to UK public libraries 1997-98 to 2006-07 Book stocks, acquisitions and issues THE FUTURE OF OUR In the last year, both book stocks and book issues continued to decline across the UK public PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE Number of visits library service. This is a long term decline, as illustrated in Figures 2 and 4 (and Tables 14, 16 345000000 and 21 in the Annex). There has been a 16.6% decline in book stock and 34.8% drop in book issues since new Labour came to power. 340000000 Figure 2: Total book stock 335000000

330000000 Total book stock (’000) 130000 325000000 125000 320000000 120000 315000000 115000 310000000

110000 305000000

105000 1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07

Year 100000

CIPFA Statistics 95000 When the visits figures are augmented by those for other measures since 2000-01, we can see a more generalised steady decline. Data for ‘active borrowers’, defined by CIPFA (2006: 46) as 90000

‘someone who has borrowed at least one item from the library during the year’ reveal broadly 1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 the same decline as for housebound readers (with a small increase in 2004-05). Visits per 1,000 Year population follow the same trend as visits generally, outlined above. CIPFA Statistics Of the constituent parts of the UK, the largest proportionate decline in book stock in the last Table 4: UK visits and usage year took place in Scotland and the smallest in Wales. In terms of the book stock per 1,000 population, England comes last by a significant factor with Scotland having the largest number 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 %+/- of books per 1,000 people followed by Northern Ireland then Wales. Acquisitions have increased 2000-01 to slightly across the UK (although they declined slightly in England) but the rate of acquisition is 2006-07 simply not enough to maintain, leave alone increase, the book stock. Active 17,211 16,506 15,843 14,812 13,808 13,510 13,035 -24.3 borrowers All of the constituent parts of the UK show a similar trend of slight recovery over the last few (‘000) years but it is not enough to overturn the accumulated damage of earlier periods. With a long Housebound 127 123 115 110 113 111 106 -16.5 term decline in the amount of money spent on books it is inevitable that either the size of book Readers (‘000) stock will reduce or the physical quality of the stock will deteriorate as either paperbacks replace Visits to Library 323,835 318,155 323,042 336,951 339,708 342,168 337,316 +4.2 hardbacks or stock is replenished less often. Premises (‘000) Visits per 1,000 5,420 5,411 5,454 5,656 5,675 5,683 5,568 +2.7 Population Requests for 7,689 7,816 7,860 8,934 9,043 9,939 10,917 +42 Specific Items (‘000) Requests 129 133 133 150 151 165 180 +39.5 per 1,000 Population Enquiries (‘000) 58,234 58,506 57,326 58,183 56,860 55,517 51,238 -12.0 Enquiries 975 995 968 977 950 922 846 -13.2 per 1,000 Population CIPFA Statistics

Requests for specific items and requests per 1,000 population have steadily increased over the same period with a substantial overall increase of 42.0% and 39.5% respectively. Enquiries have been 22 slightly more erratic although over the period show a decline both in total and per 1,000 population. 23 TAKING STOCK: Figure 3: Total UK public library service book acquisitions Library facilities THE FUTURE OF OUR The UK has a total of 4,567 library service points (both static and mobile library units). Just 2.8% PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE Total books added to UK public library stock (’000) 14000 (or 110) of the 3,976 static libraries in the UK are open for more than 60 hours a week. England (3.2%) has the highest proportion of its libraries open for these extended hours and Scotland 12000 (1.1%) has the lowest.

10000 Today, the library service is once again under pressure. In 2006, the press (Daily Telegraph, 2006) reported that then Minister David Lammy was planning to write to all councils urging 8000 them not to close libraries as part of local government cut-backs. In a Parliamentary Answer, the present Minister, Margaret Hodge revealed that in 2006-07, a total of 71 libraries closed in 6000 English local authorities with an overall net loss of 40 (Hansard, 2007a). 4000 Table 6: Library closures and openings in government regions in 2000 2006-07 (England) 0 Government region Closures Openings Net position

1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 London 5 5 0 CIPFA Statistics Year South East 9 3 -6 South West 7 0 -7 Table 5: Book acquisitions per 1,000 population 2005-06 to 2006-07 (by territorial unit) East Midlands 7 3 -4 West Midlands(1) 7 5 -2 Book acquisitions Book acquisitions % change East of England 1 0 -1 2005-06 per 1,000 2006-07 per 1,000 population population Yorkshire 8 5 -3 England 204 201 -1.5 North East 10 3 -7 Wales 197 213 8.1 North West 17 7 -10 Scotland 233 235 0.9 Total 71 31 -40 Northern Ireland 141 214 51.8 Source: Hansard (2007a) (1) A return was not received from Herefordshire county council. UK 204 205 0.5 In response to concerns about the future of public libraries, the Chartered Institute of Library and CIPFA Statistics Information Professionals (CILIP) commissioned a report from Patrick Conway, former Director of Culture and Leisure with Durham County Council. He investigated changes in 10 public library England also fares badly in terms of book acquisitions per 1,000 population, having registered authorities that had been brought to the attention of CILIP because of proposed closures, changes another decline in 2006-07, while all the other parts of the UK show an increase. Compared to in service delivery and staffing structures (Conway, 2008). The authorities were Cumbria, Dorset, the other parts of UK, England also has fewer acquisitions per 1,000 population. With a decline in Dudley, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hillingdon, Kent, Lambeth, Medway and Northumberland. the numbers of books held and/or a deteriorating physical stock it is not surprising that there has Conway (2008: 7) also noted similar concerns reported in the press about an additional group been a continuation in the decline in book issues. Book issues have been in steady decline for of authorities – Buckinghamshire, Conwy, Devon, Hertfordshire, Worcestershire and Waltham the entire length of Labour’s period in office with an overall drop of 35%. Forest. Figure 4: Total book issues Table 7: Percentage of all service points open 60 hours a week or more

Total book issues (’000) (territorial units) 500000 Open 60 hours and Total Service Points % of all service points 450000 over, excluding Open 10 Hours or that are open for 400000 mobiles (average more per week more than 60 hours 350000 hours of opening per (excluding mobiles) (excluding mobiles) week) 300000 250000 200000 England 97 (66) 3,066 3.2 150000 Wales 5 (65) 272 1.8 100000 Scotland 6 (63) 522 1.1 50000 Northern Ireland 2 (60) 116 1.7 0

1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 UK 110 3,976 2.8 Year 24 CIPFA Statistics CIPFA Statistics 25 TAKING STOCK: Each library in the UK – including mobiles – now serves an average of 13,266 people. For and inconvenient location are a disincentive to the public using them. The Culture, Media and THE FUTURE OF OUR England the figure is even higher, although libraries in Scotland and Wales both have a much Sports Committee (2005a: 31) agreed that ‘a significant barrier to library use was shabby PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE lower population figure for every service point. buildings; whether inside or out’ and referred to a DCMS asset survey covering a third of all local authorities which estimated the maintenance backlog to be £79.8 million. Furthermore Table 8: UK library service points 1975-76 to 2006-07 in evidence to the Committee, the MLA reported (Culture, Media and Sports Select Committee, 2005b: Ev 66): Service points 1975-76 1997-98 2000-01 2003-04 2006-07 (excluding mobiles) (England only) A survey conducted 10 years ago identified a backlog of building repairs and open: refurbishments totalling £650 million in England alone. There is reason to believe this More than 60 hours 160 39 25 62 110 potential cost has increased substantially per week The Committee (2005a: 31) commented that this ‘suggests a total significantly higher than 30–59 hours per 2062 2248 2233 2386 2442 the £240 million that can be extrapolated from the Department’s figures’ and that there is week ‘manifestly a problem’. Apart from using the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to meet this need, the 10–29 hours per 894 1,694 1696 1534 1424 government (DCMS, 2005a: 11) welcomed the Big Lottery Fund’s community library programme, week which has provided grants of between £250,000 and £2 million to 58 library authorities in England (Big Lottery Fund, 2007). Funding from these sources is a significant part of the finance Total open more 3116 3981 3954 3982 3976 used to improve the library estate. The Select Committee estimated in 2005 that than 10 hours per week to date, well over £200 million in total has been awarded from Heritage, Community, CIPFA Statistics New Opportunities and Millennium lottery funds to projects related to the buildings, The collapse in the number of libraries that open for over 60 hours was catastrophic towards the redevelopment, and services of libraries of all kinds. (Culture, Media and Sport end of the 20th century. From a figure of 160 in England alone in 1975-76, this dropped to just Committee, 2005a: 32). 25 throughout the UK in 2000-01 (it fell as low as nine in England in 1995-96) before gradually Attractively designed buildings that are pleasant both to work in and to visit can enhance the recovering to 110. This is still a long way short of the mid ’seventies figure. position of a library in a local community. Imaginative designs in a number of recent new build libraries (eg Peckham, Norwich, Bournemouth, Cambridge) have proved very popular and have Table 9: UK library service electronic facilities caught the public’s imagination (Childs, 2006). They can also provide a boost to visitor numbers, as was seen when more than 7,000 items were issued and over 700 people became members in 2005-06 2006-07 % change the first five weeks after the Arena Park Library in Coventry opened (Childs, 2006: 156). Total number of 4,712 4,717 0.1 service points (including mobiles) The Private Finance Initiative Number of terminals 39,855 40,539 1.7 Over the last decade, a standard response of the government to the need for large scale with library catalogue investment in public sector infrastructure has been to utilise the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). and internet access The library service is no different in this respect, although there has been nothing like the scale of use of PFI as there has been in the NHS or the Prison Service for example. Perhaps because of Number of electronic 7 7 – this, one of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s suggestions for resolving the problem of workstations available the funding of the library estate was for further consideration to be given to the use of PFI. The to users per 10,000 government (DCMS, 2005a: 11) responded by pointing out that: population Percentage of service 99.0% 100 1 DCMS has been pleased to allocate £90m of its Private Finance Initiative credits to date points open for more to public library projects. Additionally, DCMS has announced that £130m of PFI credits than 10 hours a week will be available for projects over the next two years and that public libraries will be one with internet access & of the priorities online catalogues (%) DCMS (2004: 12) reported to Parliament that up to 2004 it had allocated £204m in credits to Estimated number of 22,098 64,016 190 cultural projects, and that within that figure the following authorities received a credit allocation web visits (000s) for library-related projects: CIPFA Statistics • Bournemouth Borough Council Electronic facilities have been one of the library service’s growth areas. Funded with £120 million from the New Opportunities Fund (and managed by the MLA) the People’s Network was set up • London Borough of Croydon to provide ICT learning facilities in all UK libraries and to train library staff in ICT skills. In 1999 • Borough of Telford & Wrekin the MLA also received a donation of £2.5 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for • Liverpool City Council the provision of IT learning centres in public libraries. Because of the People’s Network all public libraries are now able to provide internet access and online services with trained library staff • Newcastle-Upon-Tyne City Council available (Culture, Media and Sport Committee, 2005a: 34). • Oldham Metropolitan District Council Several commentators including Coates (2004: 7) and the Commission for Architecture and • Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council the Built Environment (CABE) (2003: 2) argue that both the rundown appearance of libraries 26 • London Borough of Lewisham 27 TAKING STOCK: To these should be added: than could be available through conventional public funding. It simply spreads the cost over a THE FUTURE OF OUR long period just like a mortgage, and just like a mortgage costs considerably more than paying • Brighton and Hove County Council (Jubilee Library Brighton and the Brighton and Hove PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE for the project at the time of construction (eg Audit Scotland, 2002: 59). PFI has also been Group Schools Project, which included a Library and Community Facilities Element) criticised for its high transaction costs (Ive et al., 2000; House of Commons Committee of Public • London Borough of Hackney (Hackney Library and Technology Learning Centre) Accounts, 2007: 5). • South Eastern Education and Library Board, Northern Ireland (Lisburn City Library) The evidence for better value for money is slim despite remorseless repetition (Arthur Andersen • Wigan Council (new central library and swimming pool) and Enterprise LSE, 2000; CBI, 2007a: 10) and although much of the case rests on risk transfer, there are serious questions about the value of the risk that is actually transferred to the private • Worcestershire County Council (new joint library and history centre with University of sector – sometimes passed on to a subcontractor – and refinancing (Edwards et al, 2004; Worcester) Standard and Poor’s, 2003; Standard and Poor’s, 2004; NAO, 2000; Centre for International (Partnerships UK Projects Database, 2008; DCMS, 2005b) Health Policy, 2007).

Both staff and library users welcome improvements in the library estate – especially well Regardless of the terms of any contract, the government remains the guarantor of last resort for designed, purpose-built, modern buildings that are comfortable to work in and pleasant to visit. essential public services. This was proven in practice with the Royal Armouries contract (NAO, Several PFI-built libraries are precisely that. However, the problem does not lie with the design 2001b); NIRS2 (the National Insurance Recording System) (NAO, 2001c); the Channel Tunnel but with the method of funding. Supporters of PFI claim that it provides better value for money Rail Link PFI deal (NAO, 2001d); National Air Traffic Service (NATS); the Passport Agency and the than conventional procurement, partly because it is argued that lenders’ involvement contributes benefit payment card. Problems caused by the contractor did not prevent the public sector having to on-time and on-budget delivery; the private sector brings innovative approaches; that ‘private to meet additional financial liabilities. The NAO (1997: para. 3.27) noted: ‘The Contributions sector management skills [are] incentivised by having private finance at risk’ (HM Treasury, Agency did not believe it would be possible to get Andersen Consulting to compensate them 2003a: 28); and overall there is a better quality service. for lost savings’, even though the projected savings were part of the value for money case supporting the PFI option in the first place. Despite the contract allowing for compensation, All of these assertions have been challenged and have come under growing scrutiny as many Treasury minister Dawn Primarolo conceded that the government would not demand payment PFI projects hit problems. Before approval is given for a PFI project it must be justified in ‘for fear of damaging future relationships’ (cited in Edwards and Shaoul, 2003: 412). terms of providing better value for money than conventional procurement. This is done through contrasting the projected cost of the PFI project with the Public Sector Comparator which Growing evidence suggests that the PFI ‘premium’ (UNISON Scotland, 2007; Edwards et al (2004: is supposed to outline the cost of procurement under traditional methods. However, it is a 10) is much larger than either the government (HM Treasury, 2003a: 108; HM Treasury, 2003b) controversial area. A few years ago, the current Auditor General for Wales (then National Audit or PFI supporters (e.g. CBI, 2007b: 14) suggest. This is justified by the claim that PFI projects are Office deputy controller), Jeremy Colman told the Financial Times (Timmins, 2002) that public more likely to come in on time and on budget (Sturgess and Smith, 2006: 79). sector comparators suffer from ‘spurious precision’ and that the associated value for money However, PFI projects have also been involved in spectacular cost over-runs (Allen, 2001: 27) exercises were And the evidence base used by the government is unconvincing (Pollock et al, 2005: 12): two pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo where the financial modelling takes over from NAO reports (2003 and 2001a), an unpublished internal Treasury study and two private sector thinking… It becomes so complicated that no one, not even the experts, really studies (Agile Construction Initiative, Benchmarking Stage Two Study, 1999 and Mott MacDonald, understands what is going on. Review of Large Public Procurement in the UK, 2002). And as the Commons Treasury Committee remarked in 1996: He concluded by observing that There is no a priori reason why public procurement should not run to time and cost. People have to prove value for money to get a PFI deal. But because that is wrongly Indeed many of the assumed benefits of PFI would appear to be available to better- seen to be demonstrated only by the public sector comparator, it becomes everything. managed and controlled conventional procurement. (House of Commons Treasury If the answer comes out wrong you don’t get your project. So the answer doesn’t come Committee, 1996: para. 33). out wrong very often. The evidence to support the claims made for the innovative character of PFI driven by Supporters of PFI have relied heavily on the notion that competition for PFI contracts drives up competition is also rather thin (Dixon et al, 2005; 420, 422; Audit Commission, 2003: 13; quality and drives down prices. The House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts (2007: 5) Weaver, 2002). The UK government’s public building watchdog, the Commission for Architecture recently dealt this idea a savage blow. Its report on tendering and bench-marking states that: and the Built Environment (CABE) has drawn attention to the poor quality of many PFI buildings on a number of occasions (eg CABE, 2002). It characterised the first round of PFI hospitals as Since 2004 the proportion of deals attracting only two bidders has more than doubled, ‘urban disasters’ (Public Service Review, 2002). In 2001, CABE chairman Sir Stuart Lipton said: with the risk of no competition if one bidder is weak or drops out. Furthermore, instead of driving down prices, benchmarking and market testing of support The word that sums up most of the early PFI hospitals is meanness – a low-cost services have, in practice, increased prices by up to 14 per cent during the contract period mentality that means too many corners have been cut in too many vital areas. There has (Committee of Public Accounts, 2007: 5). Where services have come up for renewal, the price been a general under-performance in terms of functionality, build quality and aesthetics has gone up rather than down in more than half of the cases (ibid). (ibid). Some PFI supporters, like ex-minister Alan Milburn (2006: 14), continue to claim that PFI In recognition of some of the problems identified by CABE and others, the government sponsored leverages in extra finances to the provision of public services and the construction of public a joint report from CABE and the Office of Government Commerce urging a higher priority for infrastructure. He says it is a ‘way that gets vital additional investment into frontline services in design (CABE/OGC, 2002). the shortest possible time’. This is highly misleading. PFI is a form of borrowing, not of funding. Despite the enthusiastic claims of UK ministers of improved performance under PFI, the evidence The public sector funds the full cost of the private sector providing the infrastructure and services here too is less than conclusive. There have been so many problems with IT PFI projects that the in annual payments. It is not a magical way of accessing new forms or higher levels of funding Treasury (2003a: 8) was eventually obliged to announce that it ‘will replace PFI in IT with a range 28 29 TAKING STOCK: of procurement models’. But it is not just IT projects in which there have been service failures, In recent years overall staffing figures have broadly held showing a slight increase over the total THE FUTURE OF OUR several ‘have had to be bailed out, some have been scrapped and others have been the subject staff in post figure for the end of the 1990s. However, the figures for professional staff show PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE of widespread criticism’ (Edwards et al, 2004:7; Audit Commission, 2003). Anna Simons (2006: a continued decline. The skills mix of the library workforce is therefore changing. In order to 48), Assistant Auditor General at the National Audit Office notes: maintain the number of service points, overall staffing numbers have been maintained but at the expense of replacing professional staff with clerical staff. The Bourdillon benchmarks of 1962 So how well is PFI delivering this operational performance and does it exceed that of recommended that 40% of staff should be qualified. In 1980 the proportion was 33%, today it is conventional procurement? Well here the evidence is less clear cut. just 21.4%. PFI payments have first call on a public sector organisation’s finances and any unforeseen There is some debate about what skills set is required for the modern library service, but it is increases in costs can lead to problems of affordability and financial crisis in which the only undeniable that untrained staff are unlikely to be able to have the skills necessary for a reference solution may be a cutback in services (see Hellowell and Pollock, 2006; Pollock, 2004). Hellowell and information service, a readers’ advice service, a children’s service or to operate extension and Pollock’s study (2007) of the financial impacts of health service PFIs in England shows services. under-funded PFI projects leading to financial deficits and, because of government pressure to balance the books, plans for cuts to services. The resulting affordability gap means that many health bodies have to meet the costs of the PFI debt from the operating budgets at the expense Table 11: Staff in post 1997-98 to 2006-07 of clinical budgets and patient care. Year Total staff in Total staff : Professional Professional % of all staff post (FTE) population posts (FTE) staff : that are The Commons Public Accounts Committee (2007: 6) states categorically: ratio population professional There is evidence that, faced with price increases, public authorities had to cut back on ratio services in hospitals, including portering, to keep the contracts affordable. 1997-98* 27,020.6 N/A 6,660.1 N/A 24.6 A large scale extension of the use of PFI in new build libraries is likely to cause the same sort of 1998-99* 26,871.7 N/A 6,628.2 N/A 24.7 financial pressure for local authorities. 1999-00 25,665.1 1 : 2318 6,435.4 1 : 9245 25.1 2000-01 25,593.1 1 : 2335 6,317.3 1 : 9459 24.7 Staffing, skills and training 2001-02 25,724.0 1 : 2286 6,145.2 1 : 9567 23.9 The UK library service employs over 26,000 staff with 0.44 staff per 1,000 population. This 2002-03 26,357.5 1 : 2247 6,148.0 1 : 9634 23.3 proportion varies across the UK with Scotland achieving a figure of 0.59 per 1,000 population 2003-04 26,276.4 1 : 2267 6,001.2 1 : 9927 22.8 and Wales just 0.38. 2004-05 26,591.7 1 : 2251 6,106.7 1 : 9802 23.0 Table 10: Staff in post (SIP) (at 31 March 2007) 2005-06 26,506.4 1 : 2271 5,852.8 1 : 10287 22.1 Professional All other posts Total SIP per 1,000 2006-07 26,590.9 1 : 2278 5,679.2 1 : 10668 21.4 posts population CIPFA Statistics *Staff establishment. All other years are staff in post. England 4,677.6 17,077.9 21,755.4 0.43 Note: Professional posts are those persons holding formal qualifications in librarianship through the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP). Additionally these posts include persons who have completed their qualifying examinations, information Wales 272.3 860.6 1,132.9 0.38 science professionals, graduates and other trained specialists. Scotland 612.3 2,381.8 2,994.1 0.59 Bourdillon also recommended that there should be one member of staff for every 2,500 Northern Ireland 117.1 591.4 708.5 0.41 population service. The UK library service today has one member of staff for every 2,278 people. UK 5,679.2 20,911.7 26,590.9 0.44 The Culture, Media and Sport Committee (2005a: 39) points out that the public library service CIPFA Statistics is both trusted and popular and that a ‘large contributor to the esteem in which the public holds the service is its staff’. However, it also notes that public library recruitment of graduates from Figure 5: Total staff in post 1997-98 to 2006-07 professional librarianship courses is at a low level. It points out that such students are joining Staff numbers other private sector professions and information services. Perhaps this is not surprising, as while 27500 staff numbers in the library service have held up in recent years, this has been at the expense of qualified staff. The number of professional staff in the service has declined by 14.7% since

27000 1997-98 (see Table 11) and the proportion of all staff that are qualified has dropped from 24.6% to 21.4% (against the 1962 Bourdillon benchmark of 40%). 26500 The difficulties in recruiting graduate librarians is a problem that will get worse as the current professional staff approach the end of their careers. In evidence to the Select Committee, Dr Bob 26000 McKee, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), said that ‘there is a greying of the profession’ (Culture Media and Sport Committee, 2005b: Ev 25500 37). The government accepts that a ‘large proportion of library staff are due to retire shortly’ (DCMS, 2005a: 14), notes the lack of skilled staff (DCLG, 2007a: 10) and refers to research from 25000 the South East Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (SEMLAC) which reveals that 40% of public library staff in the South-East will retire within the next 10 years. While recognising that 24500 the service needs to attract new people who have the necessary skills to fill this gap (ibid), there is no acknowledgment that low pay, uncertainty, the undermining of the public service ethos and 1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 30 staff cuts have a damaging effect on any recruitment programme. 31 CIPFA Statistics TAKING STOCK: The government pledges to help current library staff adapt to the changing needs of the service librarian was an essential requirement for librarians and more senior posts. Now it only seems to THE FUTURE OF OUR by expanding their range of skills. It also says that the Select Committee ‘is quite right to state be a preferred requirement for Swindon.’ PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE that new recruits are needed to help change the culture of the library service to more readily meet the needs of the communities they serve’ (DCMS, 2005a: 14). This creates an image of an This downgrading of professional skills is a short-sighted decision by councils, but if there are old-fashioned service that neither reflects the needs of its local community nor serves them well. elements of the current skills mix that the government feels need to change then there should In fact the Select Committee does not actually say this. be an open consultation and negotiation with the staff’s union representatives and involving the library schools. When the Committee referred to culture it was urging a massive expansion of the number of libraries that open outside normal office hours. Opening hours have been in decline for some time, but solely as a result of cost cutting. The ‘culture’ of the library service has traditionally The public sector ethos been to open outside office hours and on weekends, but this collapsed as a result of One of the key differences between private sector provision and the library service is the Conservative funding cuts and, having made some modest improvements in recent years, is now public sector ethos. This is broader than the professional ethics of the qualified public librarian under threat again in the current financial squeeze. In terms of the demography of the workforce, (although the two have a relationship) and is linked in with the issue of public accountability. In it is important for the library service to reflect the population that it serves so that all sections many respects, the library service is a quintessential public service built upon an overt rejection of society feel at ease within libraries, hence it is a welcome move to identify and begin to of a commercial ethos. Usherwood (1989: 12) notes that the public library embodies ‘some of address barriers to black and minority ethnic entrants to the service (DCMS, 2005a: 15). But this the most important radical ideals – equality, provision for need rather than commercial profit, too should be kept in perspective. CILIP’s McKee says that while professional librarians do not educational advancement, free access to, and free expression of, information and ideas. reflect the wider population, this is not the case among library assistants, where ‘there is a real Adcroft and Willis (2005: 397) claim that there is a ‘clear ethical distinctiveness’ in the public range both in age and in cultural ethnic diversity, disability, and so on’ (Culture Media and Sport sector because public service providers must explicitly display ‘equity, impartiality and a certain Committee, 2005b: Ev 37). moral enlightenment’ (ibid). Many would add that the public sector also embodies values While some criticise the library service for its lack of management skills, there are others who relating to universality, democracy and accountability, integrity, honesty and altruism (Pratchett argue that ‘managerialism’ is ‘a largely ideological driven philosophy’ that conflicts with the role and Wingfield, 1996). Adcroft and Willis (2005: 397) also conclude that where that ‘ethical of a profession (McMenemy, 2007: 446). McMenemy argues that New Public Management (NPM) distinctiveness’ is lost, ‘commodification and deprofessionalisation occur, which must necessarily is the modern public sector incarnation of ‘managerialism’ and he refers to Adcroft and Willis’s have implications for all stakeholders’. A private sector organisation is primarily accountable to (2005: 387) description of how these ideas its shareholders, and therefore does not have this same imperative.

include more emphasis on “professional” management, the introduction of explicit Behind this are the different basic philosophies in the public and private sectors. Staff and measures of performance, a focus on outputs and results and an ever greater role managers in the different sectors ‘have conflicting priorities’ (Hebson et al, 2003: 497), different played by “private sector styles” of management practice. perceptions and are motivated by different things. The public sector ethos values service, duty and obligation, while the approach of the private sector values financial viability, profit There are undoubtedly new skills required under the impact of rapid change. The Audit and shareholder value (Audit Commission, 2002b). Or to put it another way distinctive public Commission identified a lack of leadership and advocacy skills at senior management levels in service values include political neutrality, loyalty, probity, honesty, trustworthiness, fairness, the library service (Culture Media and Sport Committee, 2005b: Ev 48). The Committee itself incorruptibility, serving the public interest, equity, community, citizenship, justice and democracy listed: (Farnham and Horton, 1996; Rouse, 1999). ...knowledge management; IT; leadership; public relations and customer service The Commons Public Administration Committee agreed that Compulsory Competitive Tendering expertise; managers; business-minded people; those qualified in marketing and finance; (CCT) weakened the public service ethos. Deteriorations in terms and conditions of employment web management... demotivated staff and led to long term quality problems. However the Committee speculated that New accreditation routes to enable staff to gain qualifications through on-the-job training as well this may have been more to do with CCT’s cost-driven private involvement in public services as the traditional library schools route are welcome (DCMS, 2005a: 15). This is doubly so given than from ‘any intrinsic link to the private provision of services’ and that while ‘the profit motive the likely future recruitment problems as an ageing professional workforce retires. However, may put it under strain’, it felt it was possible for private and voluntary bodies to uphold a public there is an implication in some of the government’s comments that professional librarianship service ethos (Public Administration Committee, 2002: 5). qualifications are unnecessary in a modern library service. A study of public service job insecurity found that workers’ identification with public service UNISON branches report that cost-cutting is dictating a decline in the numbers of qualified goals remained quite robust. However this could be jeopardised by some aspects of public sector librarians employed in the service. Posts are being reclassified, professional librarians not restructuring: replaced or replaced by managers rather than qualified staff and key vacancies left unfilled. If public service organizations abandon the kinds of employment practice which have For example, in Havering, branch librarian posts were downgraded and redesignated branch differentiated them from their private sector equivalents… such as the avoidance of manager posts not requiring librarianship qualifications. In Essex, restructuring led to qualified librarians’ posts being replaced by ‘Service Development Officers’ who did not need to have a redundancy, then a likely effect will be a reduction of employee commitment. library qualification. Essex also has various library service managerial posts which do not require (Heery, 2000: 105). the holder to have a librarianship qualification. Hebson et al (2003: 481) agreed, arguing that contractual relationships with private sector organisations present ‘a significant threat to these [public sector] values’. Further, they suggest Restructuring proposals in Haringey looked for qualifications in business or arts administration that, because of the nature of contracting, rather than librarianship. There is no requirement for librarianship qualifications for any library service posts in Hampshire today. Similar moves were reported by UNISON reps as having the more formal the contractual approach to delivering services, the more likely it is that taken place or being planned in Calderdale, Camden, Derbyshire, Hammersmith, Hampshire, accountability to objectives shaped by changing political policies will be threatened by Kent, Kingston, Newport, Northamptonshire, North East Lincolnshire, Portsmouth, Somerset, accountability to shareholders. 32 and Swindon. One rep commented that ‘up until a few years ago being a qualified or chartered 33 TAKING STOCK: Contracting out the service (or outsourcing or externalising) to private, or possibly voluntary, THE FUTURE OF OUR The public service reform sector providers is a central part of the approach. There are two options when introducing PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE contracting out: competition in the market or competition for the market. In the former, agenda customers have the choice of an array of contractors competing for their business, while in the latter the commissioning public body usually establishes a local monopoly on the basis of some …alternative providers whether in the private, public or third sectors, should be the norm, form of competitive tender. not the exception. Contracting out of public services remains controversial. Although governments routinely endorse John Hutton (2006) Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform it as a means of driving up quality and driving down costs, the case for contracting out attracts The government has a four pronged approach to public service reform (Cabinet Office Prime strong criticism. Theorists focus on the design of contract and incentive systems to ensure an Minister’s Strategy Unit, 2006), combining top-down pressure from government itself (through agent’s (the contractor) compliance with the will of the principal (the commissioning body). The performance management); citizen pressure (through choice and voice); competitive pressure theory suggests that contracting will be successful when exact specifications can be drawn (through markets); and capability and capacity building (for civil and public servants and central and up, outputs easily measured, and inadequate suppliers quickly replaced (Donahue, 1989: 45). local government). Both the third and private sectors have important roles to play in this model. Externalisation makes most sense, therefore, when the host organisation is interested only in outputs which can be specified and controlled through a comprehensive contract (Hart, 1995: 22). It highlights the choice agenda and key drivers include: the purchaser/provider split; competition and contestability and market incentives to improve efficiency. One of the four key principles of This is not always possible, particularly when good quality service is not easy to measure. new Labour’s public service reform programme is ‘the promotion of alternative providers and Domberger (1998: 207-208) explains that this ‘non-contractibility of quality’ means that: greater choice’ (Blair, 2001). In some circumstances it is not possible to specify formally the full range of service Figure 6: UK Government’s public service reform agenda characteristics, which makes monitoring and enforcing contracts particularly difficult. The enemy of contracting is uncertainty. Contract theorists suggest that it is difficult to control high-discretion type outputs delivered in an uncertain environment through contractual means. The theory suggests that the strains of externalisation are likely to arise not so much in concrete Performance Regulation service outputs, but in some of the softer, more intangible, aspects of service delivery. Critics Stretching Assessment & standard Direct outcome including argue that contracting out often sacrifices quality for costs, masks the real costs, ‘hollows’ out setting intervention targets inspection public service capacity and undermines democratic accountability. Over the last two or three decades a considerable amount of research (Domberger and Jensen, Top down performance management Leadership 1997; Domberger et al, 1986; Ohlsson, 2003; Parker and Hartley, 1990; Reeves and Barrow, Competition & 2000; Stevens, 1978; Szymanski and Wilkins, 1993; Szymanski, 1996) has been conducted contestability Market incentives to Better into the impact of contracting out on costs. Much of it argues that extensive savings are made. Capability Workforce increase efficency Public Services and capacity development However Deakin and Walsh (1996) are sceptical about claims for the efficiency impacts of Commissioning and quality of skills & reform Services – for all market mechanisms, claiming that many studies rely on assertion or on surveys of management service purchaser/ perception’. They refer to Van Horn’s comments about US research (1991, cited in Deakin and provider split Organisational Users shaping development & Walsh, 1996: 45): the sevice from below collaborators When pressed, few officials could supply any hard evidence to support their claim that Engaging private contracting was cheaper than government service delivery. If cost comparisons Giving users Funding users through a choice/ following voice & were ever made they were forgotten. Without any pressure to change, most officials personalisation users’ choices co-production have long since decided that they would rely on private firms to perform a range of local county and state government services. There is also a considerable literature that argues that if cost savings are made, they are at Source: The UK’s Government’s Approach to Public Service Reform – a discussion paper, Cabinet Office/Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, 2006: p23 the expense of either quality of service, the jobs, pay and conditions of the workforce or other externalised costs (Deakin and Walsh, 1996; Ganley and Grahl, 1988; Kelliher, 1995; Kelliher and Competition and choice are seen by the government as the drivers of improved quality and McKenna, 1988; Kerr and Radford, 1994; Milne, 1997; Painter, 1991; Pinch and Patterson, 2000; of user or ‘customer’ accountability (a view shared with the Conservatives). Markets must Reimer, 1999; Sachdev, 2001; Sachdev, 2004) – in other words, where this occurs it ‘does not be utilised to drive up standards and drive out inefficiencies. If no markets exist they must represent a genuine improvement in overall productivity and is more like a transfer of value away be created. If market actors are unwilling to engage in a particular market they must be from employees’ (Maltby and Gosling, 2003). ‘incentivised’ to enter the market. In fact, there has never been much of a mystery about the source of any savings. As early as The government’s current emphasis on ‘localism’ or decentralization is part of this desire to 1986, the government accepted that ‘most of the savings from contracting arises because create ‘choice’, as is the interest in third sector provision of public services. Beecham (2006: contractors offer poorer conditions of employment’ (HM Treasury, 1986). Several years later, an 4) described this approach as a ‘Customer Model’ of public services in contrast to the ‘Citizen unpublished report leaked from the Office of Government Commerce accepted that ‘efficiency Model’. It emphasises choice as the way to meet consumer expectations and competition; savings’ came from cuts in staffing and some lowering of pay rates and that ‘contracting out had contestability and elements of market testing are the means to achieve efficiency. It assumes led to a reduction in numbers employed, some change in the terms of transferred public sector that well-informed customers will drive service change through the aggregate impact of their workers, and new workers being offered different terms and conditions to transferred employees’ choices. Just as in the private sector, the key driver for service improvement is exit, with (Wintour and Maguire, 2002). 34 customers expressing their dissatisfaction with services by choosing a different provider. 35 TAKING STOCK: As well as the debate about the source of cost savings there are a number of other problems THE FUTURE OF OUR associated with the difficulties in drawing up contracts and problems in monitoring contracts and The PricewaterhouseCoopers PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE the imposition of sanctions. It is acknowledged that it is extremely difficult (and expensive) to construct contracts for complex services (Deakin and Walsh, 1996). proposals As Domberger (1998: pp. 207-208) pointed out: It seems that, in the UK at least, the public library is a service that constantly has to In some circumstances it is not possible to specify formally the full range of service defend its right to exist. characteristics, which makes monitoring and enforcing contracts particularly difficult. (McMenemy, 2007: 273) A study published by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (Edwards et al, 2004) In 2006 the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) published its White on PFI in roads and hospitals stated that government advice about contracts needing to focus on Paper, Strong and prosperous communities (DCLG, 2006a). At the same time it published a output specifications is difficult to put into practice. Part of the problem may lie in the fact that commissioned report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on Developing the local government contractors are ultimately responsible and accountable to their shareholders and therefore have services market to support a long-term strategy for local government. The then Minister for little incentive to go beyond the levels specified in their contracts (Deber, 2002). Rigid working Local Government, Phil Woolas, said that the timing was ‘no coincidence’ as ‘it is an essential to contract by the contractor means that there is great pressure to ensure that contracts include companion report’ (DCLG, 2006b: 3) to the White Paper. As part of the commission for the overall all eventualities, unlike with the provision of in-house services in which priorities can be adjusted report, PricewaterhouseCoopers also produced a series of service-specific working papers, one and changed to meet unforeseen circumstances. Researchers examining contracts in the NHS of which was on New ways of working and new models of provision within the public library (Allen et al, 2002) found that although policy makers acted as though it is possible to construct service (DCLG, 2007a). Although these publications refer specifically to the public library service ‘complete contracts’ (specifying all aspects of performance and effectively monitoring it), in in England, they will inevitably have an impact to a certain degree in the devolved administrations practice this was not the case and contracts are inevitably incomplete. because of the sheer size and influence of the English service. Monitoring of contractors’ performance rests, in part at least, on the threat of sanctions. Most The authors of the main report were particularly exercised about what they saw as the failure contracts with private sector providers have penalty clauses for non-performance. However to create markets in particular services and thus sufficient competitive pressure to drive up there are strong pressures on the purchaser not to use these sanctions. To do so would almost efficiencies. They took it for granted that competition would lead to higher quality service and certainly damage, perhaps irrevocably, the relationship between purchaser and provider. This asserted that the key drivers for improved competition in the library service were: might not matter if a market existed with many competitors ready to replace a failed contractor. However this is not always the case. The ultimate sanction in a contractual relationship is the Challenging the current pattern of service delivery by introducing a range of alternative right of termination if the contractor fails to meet the terms of the contract. Again, this sanction providers, expertise, and new ways of working for different parts of the service, may be more apparent than real. For a variety of reasons, the buyer may not wish or feel able to maximising resources on frontline delivery and making the services much more apply sanctions or terminate the contract despite poor performance from the contractor. responsive to users (and non-users). (DCLG, 2006b: 86) Researchers noted this in relation to Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts but the same The libraries paper (DCLG, 2007a: 3) summarises one of its goals as considering ‘the potential applies to stand alone contracts: ‘When things go right the private sector makes significant for the introduction of new models of service delivery’. In contrasting the different levels of gains. When things go wrong it sometimes appears to be difficult for the public purchaser to competition in selected local government services, PwC (DCLG, 2006b) highlight the public impose very significant penalties on the private contractors’ (IPPR, 2001). The Public Accounts library service (see Figures 7 and 8) and libraries are firmly designated as a service in a market Committee rebuked the Prison Service, remarking that it ‘should not shy away from terminating with low maturity and low current competitiveness, which the authors believe is self-evidently a prison contracts’ (Committee of Public Accounts, 2003). This ‘asymmetry about risk transfer’ bad thing. (Ball et al, 2003) is shown in several high profile PFI cases: the Benefits Agency Payment Card Project, the Contributions Agency National Insurance Recording System (NIRS), the Passport Figure 7: Competitiveness and maturity of key local government Agency IT contract and Lambeth’s housing benefits contract (Pollock and Price, 2004; Centre for market sectors Public Services, 2002; Simons, 2000). There are also questions of whether consumer choice actually works within the context of public Waste Streetscene Technology/ service provision. Consumer choice can drive efficiency only if service users act on accurate High service transformation perceptions of their own needs, of competing products, of price and of the available budget. Asset None of these conditions readily apply in most public services. Furthermore competition can drive Leisure services management efficiency in markets for free goods only where there is excess production and the political will Maturity to close down less successful providers. Neither of these conditions exists in the case of most Local transport public services. of market services Regulatory Secondly, all consumers are not equal. The choice and competition model assumes that service consumers have equal ability to make effective choices. This is not so. In practice the best Low informed and most articulate will be able to make the best procurement choices and choice can Public libraries therefore lead to inequality. Thirdly, there is no evidence that the public wants ‘choice’ anyway. All the polling (for example, UNISON, 2006) suggests that what the public values are high Low Current competiveness High quality services at a time and place convenient to them. The PricewaterhouseCoopers proposals examined in the next section, should be viewed within the context of the UK government’s overall Source: DCLG (2006b: 85) public service reform programme. Some critics of libraries claim that retail outlets like bookshops provide essentially the same kind 36 of service and that libraries have a lot to learn from the latter. On the other hand, library historian 37 TAKING STOCK: Alistair Black and his colleague, Melvyn Crann (2002: 152) argue that ‘the general public views as is the fact there are ‘limited examples of alternative delivery models and sources of supply’; THE FUTURE OF OUR the public library less as a site of commercial exchange than as a neutral, democratic territory’ - support and engagement is needed for (some) library authorities and the private and third sectors PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE a citizen’s approach rather than that of a consumer. so as ‘to develop propositions for the new ways of delivering the library service’; and the need to ‘consider the future role of branch/community libraries’ given the liabilities associated with them The current debate on increased marketisation and involvement of the private sector is not new. and the ‘need’ to generate savings. Over the last 30 years it has periodically reappeared, usually because of financial cutbacks. Much of what new Labour is considering now was originally discussed by the Conservatives. For Amidst the over-excited management-babble about changing focus, new perspectives, shifts in example, 20 years ago the Office of Arts and Libraries (1988), published a Green Paper which mindset, radical new thinking on delivery vehicles for ‘policy outcomes for local communities’ examined four questions related to financing the library service: (DCLG, 2006b: 54), they disparagingly dismiss ‘traditional “bricks and mortar” library services’ (ibid), by which they presumably mean books. • whether library authorities should be given wider powers to charge for some services No hard data are provided to support the policy proposals outlined in either the main PwC • how public-private joint ventures can be encouraged report or their library service working paper. In fact, although the library paper recommends • whether there should there be further moves towards the contracting-out of all or parts that policymakers consider how to begin a new discussion on alternative models and identify of library services private and voluntary sector organisations that could deliver such an alternative, there is precious • what action was required to correct the present anomalies and inconsistencies in the little evidence in either paper that this would have a positive impact on the library service. PwC concede that there are only ‘a few recent examples of externalization such as in the London power of library authorities to levy charges. Borough of Haringey’ (DCLG, 2006b: 53). Despite this, they make the unsubstantiated claim that The law on charges was amended but there was no large scale shift to private sector provision. evidence from a variety of market sectors, for example libraries and regulatory services, Figure 8: Overall trends in procurement expenditure in local is that trading and franchising deals involving high-performing services have the government potential to increase the overall capacity and capability across these sectors and may bring other benefits as well’ (DCLG, 2006b: 60).

Primarily commissioned services Primarily in-house delivery The idea that library services should be contracted out is not new. The Conservative government’s White Paper, Competing for Quality (HM Treasury, 1991) boosted the drive to 100 contracting out public services and the library service came under the spotlight like many others. Other It recommended the extension of Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) to the library service 80 Third sector and in 1992 the Department of National Heritage (DNH) commissioned consultants KPMG to Private produce a report (DNH, 1995) on the introduction of CCT to public libraries. KPMG found that 60 although CCT was feasible in the library service, it was unlikely to produce either cost savings or In-house service quality improvements (Hendry, 2000: 443). 40 KPMG found that there was a strong case for library service provision to remain essentially within the public sector and that there was no natural market for alternative providers (Grimwood- 20 Jones, 1996). Experience at the time was also generally negative, even from those local authorities that favoured contracting out library services. When Westminster first attempted to 0 contract out its stock services, it received no bids at all (ibid). It made two further unsuccessful

Street efforts to contract out (Ball et al, 2002: 12). Childrens homes (b) Childcare (b) Leisure (c) Libraries (c) cleansing (d) collection (d) Foster care (b) Despite this, just before the 1997 election, DNH produced its report on the broader issues facing Roads, highways Household waste and transport (a)* the library service and among a long list of recommendations were several that are almost identical to those favoured by the current government. It suggested that libraries improve value Source: DCLG (2006b: 32) for money

The circular explanation for this situation given by PwC is that because pressures to outsource by contracting out and development of library trusts; by raising sponsorship from the library services core delivery functions ‘have historically been absent’ (DCLG, 2006b: 33), even private sector and applying for National Lottery and EU funds ‘where they can’. during the CCT period, there has been no development of an outsourced market for this service. (Hendy, 2000: 443) PwC identified a series of ‘key challenges’ facing the sector. These fall into two categories. The Ball and Earl (2002: 197) claim that the ‘environment is substantially different now from 1995’ first includes examples such as the fragmented nature of the sector in terms of policy, funding when KPMG reported to the government. They argue that attitudes have changed and a market and delivery which they argue ‘makes strategic change difficult to plan and execute’ (DCLG, has been built up as libraries, museums and archives have increasingly contracted out various 2006b: 54); financial pressure; a ‘lengthy and fragmented supply chain for book procurement’ functions. They say that as well as council-wide services (such as cleaning and maintenance) (ibid); a limited use of technology in delivery; and ‘the need’ to tackle the performance gap this has also included library-specific functions such as: between the highest and lowest performers in the service. Whether all of these are really ‘challenges’ or simply PwC’s policy prescriptions is perhaps debatable. • the recovery of library books from defaulters What is indisputable is that the second group of ‘key challenges’ is actually a political manifesto • the provision of mobile services by one authority for another for cuts and the commercialisation and privatisation of the sector dressed up as technocratic • the outsourcing of the supply and operation of transport, usually as part of an authority- observations. These include PwC’s claim (DCLG, 2006b: 54) that the challenges include a ‘need wide process to consider the implications for current delivery models of the changing role for library services’, 38 39 TAKING STOCK: • micro-franchising, ie the operation and management of a branch library by a lesser • the core library service, with associated management and branding THE FUTURE OF OUR authority (eg a parish council taking responsibility under a formal agreement for the • the library ‘back office’, book purchasing, support services and finance PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE operation of a small library) • the library property portfolio • the delivery of the house-bound service being undertaken as part of a contract for the delivery of home meals • community functions, including links to lifelong learning, community support and wider service information • the outsourcing of call centres, including a library telephone enquiry service Fragmentation, compartmentalisation and commercialisation of services, separating ‘core’ from • the outsourcing of business information services. ‘non-core’ functions has been a key element of New Public Management (NPM) thinking since the Some of these are relatively marginal to the work of the library service, and no details about the influential work of American management gurus Osborne and Gaebler (1992). Such changes are extent of such contracting out are provided. In addition they concede that they could not find a seen as an important step on the way to privatisation. It is related to their idea that the public sector single example of ‘of whole-service outsourcing to a commercial supplier’ (Ball and Earl, 2002: should ‘steer not row’, acting as a commissioning agent rather than delivering services itself. 199) – although Instant Library did briefly run Haringey Library Service - and only one example of That this is at the heart of PwC’s thinking is revealed by a passing reference that the library a whole service outsourced to a trust (Hounslow, although the council has subsequently dropped service has missed out on the wider trend in public services for a ‘mixed economy of delivery’ CIP, the not for profit provider). Ball and Earl referred to the existence of a variety of different (DCLG, 2007a: 12) – public, private and voluntary sectors – and thereby also missed out on the co-operative arrangements between library authorities and distinguished these from contracting ‘stimulus to make best use of scarce resources, levering capacity and innovation’ (ibid) that PwC out but noted that such co-operation could be threatened by the implementation of contracting asserts is associated with such ‘mixed’ provision. out because of the impact of commercial pressures. They also felt that the development of arm’s-length delivery systems had the potential to cause problems through the loss of control PwC (2007a: 13) concede that the marketisation of library services is ‘viewed with scepticism by of the service. They expressed concern about diminution of service and at the volatility in the stakeholders within the practitioner community’, by which they presumably mean library staff. commercial sector and noted that at the time of writing, there was ‘considerable turbulence in They suggest that this could be because it is an untried concept and that a market might imply the book and serials supply markets’ (Ball and Earl, 2002: 205). Perhaps most importantly given a focus on private sector providers. In an attempt to reassure staff they suggest that there could the claims made for contracting out, they agreed with the earlier DNH report that the ‘prospect of be a variety of options (such as syndication, franchising, trading and other forms of joint working) significant reduction in cost is limited’ (ibid). that would involve local authority providers as well as possible involvement for private and voluntary sector providers. In a report for Resource, Ball and colleagues (2002) identified a series of potential problems and questions associated with contracting out a library service: However joint working with other local authorities could very easily lead to private sector contracting out. PwC note that one of the disincentives to potential alternative providers is the • the threat to staff in terms of professionalism and job quality as well as job security fragmented nature of the potential market – that is, the large number of library authorities. The • danger of undermining inter library co-operation introduction of joint working and the amalgamation of functions across authorities could remove • uncertainty about what happens if the contractor goes bust that obstacle and increase the value of individual contracts and potential margins for possible contracting out at a later stage. • an over-dependence on the supplier and of being locked in to a contract • lack of influence on supplier service levels and a loss of control over products and PwC provide three new models of library service provision, which are to be considered along with the proposals for integrated stock procurement and supply chain management in the two recent services MLA reports (2005; 2006), one of which was also produced by PwC: • length of time required to get the contract right • the abandonment of specific capabilities to the supplier which reduces the capacity for • joint working, inter-authority ‘trading’ and shared services innovation and the development of new products and services • an increased contribution from the private or voluntary sector in service delivery • a general loss of learning opportunities • increasing neighbourhood ownership and/or management of local branch libraries. • a diminished ability to respond rapidly to change through the loss of expertise PwC convened a roundtable discussion of interested parties (government bodies, local authorities, librarian organisations and private companies) to discuss these proposals. They report that the • potential disputes over ownership of the physical infrastructure roundtable identified three risks in arrangements in which one local authority supplies part or • privacy requirements all of the library service to another or others. The first is that there is no evidence about the • possible conflicts of interest effectiveness of such models; secondly it might actually reduce managerial capacity in the sector rather than enhance it; and third, the ‘local’ nature of the library service makes it an unsuitable • uncertainty over whether the contractor would fit in with other local authority objectives candidate for transfer from one authority to another (or from an authority to another body). like equal opportunities, access, equity, regeneration and lifelong learning. An American study which examined a series of case studies of the outsourcing of public library PwC make the telling point that these various forms of joint working (syndication, franchising etc) management was also unenthusiastic. It found that claims related to achieving gains in efficiency may be useful in overcoming initial resistance to change, with the implication that contracting out and improved citizen use and satisfaction are ‘somewhat questionable’ (Ward, 2007: 646) and to the private sector could follow: Ball et al (2002: 11) reported that in ‘the USA federal libraries are actually reversing some of the Importantly, such models may also prove a useful way to challenge existing orthodoxies in drastic outsourcing decisions implemented in the 1980s’. relation to ways of delivering public library services; they might represent the ‘acceptable PwC (DCLG, 2007a: 10) divide the library service into four areas, and suggest that this provides face’ of new methods of service management and delivery. (DCLG, 2007a: 18) ‘a useful way to structure future discussion about the suitability of new delivery models, new In examining the possible involvement of the private sector in delivering services, PwC (DCLG, ways of working and alternative providers’: 2007a: 23) suggest that potential candidates might come from: 40 41 TAKING STOCK: • high street book retailers and supermarkets • community groups establishing new libraries which function as part of the overall THE FUTURE OF OUR • publishers and wholesalers service, perhaps in new settings for the service in terms of physical presence in the PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE community, but also alongside other community functions (and not just ‘public services’) • professional support and managed service providers • community groups ‘taking over’ the day-to-day management of individual libraries, • specialist information providers. again functioning as part of the overall service. PwC (DCLG, 2007a: 24) propose a range of different delivery models that could be applied to one (DCLG, 2007a: 28) or other of the four elements of the current library service (as identified earlier) and claim that there are a number of potential benefits. These, they say, are based on experience in other public The authors admit that there are risks of further fragmenting the library service when there are services, although not a single reference to any data is provided: already concerns about variations in the standard of service. As Conway (2008: 17) observes, this could result in ‘a parallel public library service to some communities.’ There are difficulties • innovative thinking and creativity in service delivery models, given that much of the in securing the involvement of a genuinely representative cross section of library users when value-added element of the public library service is analogous to working practices in they do not necessarily live in the same area as the library itself. Also there are potential the retail sector threats to local democratic accountability. Finally, transfer of assets and responsibilities is not straightforward (Conway, 2008: 17). • additional working capital to modernise services and infrastructure, as has been seen elsewhere in local government Not only are there complicated legal and personnel questions, but there are also issues about the • more efficient back-office processes, for example in relation to stock management and relationship with the local council, eligibility for financial support and sustainability. Library users procurement. in some parts of the country may face the Hobson’s choice of a library branch run by volunteers and local parishes (with all of the potential problems associated with that) or seeing another PwC (DCLG, 2007a: 25) report that the roundtable response was unenthusiastic about increasing branch closure. the involvement of the private sector, and the paper highlights four ‘key issues’ that the roundtable members identified as militating against such involvement: Having outlined the three options above (of which PwC clearly favour the increased use of the private sector) the authors of the paper move on to discuss how the library service should take • the attractiveness of the libraries sector to potential private sector suppliers the debate forward. They explain that these options should be seen within the context of DCLG’s • the extent to which the private sector would be able, and interested in, supplying local:vision, especially the emphasis on user focus, partnership working, efficiency and new services beyond back office ‘routine’ functions models of delivery. • the suitability of using the private sector to supply services that are closely linked to the PwC approvingly quote the Lyons report’s exhortation that local authorities must go beyond community and strategic ‘core’ of local government their narrowly defined service responsibilities in order to take on a place-shaping role and a wider ‘responsibility for the well-being of an area and its communities’ (Lyons Inquiry into Local • the risks to the neutrality of public space and cultural space, presented by greater involvement of private sector ‘brands’ in the provision of services, particularly in Government, 2006: 8). Predictably, they interpret this in a very particular way, claiming: the case of co-location or direct delivery by ‘blue chip’ high street retailers and This also potentially marks an important shift from the predominant focus on delivery, to supermarkets. a focus on strategic commissioning.’ (DCLG, 2007a: 32) The paper also discusses the option of voluntary sector provision, particularly through the vehicle Needless to say, it is assumed that this would improve services. However tucked away in the of mutual trusts, and gives the example of Hounslow – now deselected as the provider. Although middle of this evidence-free landscape are proposals that would effectively abolish the library there are few library trusts at present (there is one in Glasgow), there are around 100 operating service, such as the authors’ suggestion: in leisure services. Some take the legal form of an industrial and provident society (IPS) while others are companies limited by guarantee (CLG). There are problems with the trust option as For the library service this provides opportunities to adopt an alternative perspective was found out in Scotland due to the lack of clarity over the law – in particular the statutory duty focused on the optimum way of commissioning lifelong learning and other community of local authorities to provide library services. outcomes, rather than traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ library services. (DCLG, 2007a: 32) PwC point out that one of the financial advantages that trusts have is preferential treatment The library service faces a series of challenges. At a time when it is subject to greater and on business rates and VAT, although income (and therefore VAT) is less of an important factor greater demands to expand its role, it is also facing increasing pressure for efficiencies and in the library service. Therefore, they suggest broadening the responsibilities of a trust so that subject to the more general squeeze on local government spending. The PwC paper it includes leisure, libraries and museums. However they add a note of caution. Echoing the (DCLG: 2007a: 3) urges concerns of the CBI (2006), they say (DCLG, 2007a: 27) that a number of factors including the preferential tax treatment received by trusts means that ‘the use of trust status has created a moving the debate forward from one focused on what to deliver, to initiatives tackling significant entry barrier to further private sector investment in the UK leisure market’. how to deliver new objectives and new services. But this assumes that it is possible to separate the purpose of a library from the service it The other option considered is that of ‘increasing community ownership and management’ (DCLG, 2007a: 27). CILIP identified this as a cause of concern to be examined in the Conway delivers and the way in which it does so. In fact they are inextricably linked. Report (2008) because of the danger of reduced accountability and a possible two tier service. The entire PwC document is filled with assertions about how services could be improved under This section of the PWC paper is vague but identifies three different possibilities with variations in ‘alternative delivery models’ - admittedly these assertions are padded with a whole thesaurus the degree of transfer of day to day management control: of conditional language (the paper uses the word ‘potential’ on 64 separate occasions, ‘option’ 41, ‘may’ 40, ‘could’ 22, ‘might’ 21 and ‘possible’ nine). Almost all of the routes to improved • community groups temporarily hosting libraries – using volunteers and/or library staff to services identified by PwC lead to considering new options for delivery, developing new methods reach out to specific communities of interest such as ethnic minority groups and other of delivery, using new vehicles of delivery - all of which appear to mean private sector delivery of hard-to-reach groups one or more elements of the library service (in other words, partial or full privatisation). 42 43 TAKING STOCK: Partnership working between libraries THE FUTURE OF OUR Discussion and conclusions PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE and councils across the UK to share information and good practice the free public library is a rare and beautiful idea. The fact that any of us can walk into Many library authorities have pioneered new ways of working and this needs to be more one of 5,000 libraries and have access to tens of thousands of books satisfies one of our widely shared. Innovative methods of delivering the service within a publicly accountable deepest longings— that everyone at some level should have an equal chance framework should be encouraged within each library authority and lessons shared across council (Melvyn Bragg, Sunday Mirror, 9 July 1996) boundaries. The public library service has served as a ‘street corner university’ (Broady-Preston and Cox, 2000) and community centre for over 150 years. Located in every part of the country, people Responsiveness to library users from all in both town and country are able to access new worlds through their local library. The service survived two decades of ‘malign neglect’ (Hendry, 2000: 442) under the Conservatives and backgrounds library staff expected to see a new approach as well as new money under new Labour. Libraries should reflect the society that they serve and should be welcoming places to all sections of the community. The very best already do this, but more could be done to ensure that Unfortunately, much of what has followed has been a repetition of some of the tired and failed the library is firmly rooted in the locality. ideas of the previous administration – in terms of commercialisation and contracting out. The latest set of proposals produced by PricewaterhouseCoopers is a case in point. Without any hard evidence, a programme of change is recommended for the library service which would push it Provision of staff training and professional into the orbit of the private sector and change irrevocably the character of the service. development Local authorities need to ensure that the library service is not lost among the general leisure As part of an attempt to cut costs, some authorities are deskilling the library service, replacing services remit of over stretched Cabinet members and should see the network of branches as a professional librarians with less skilled staff and permanent library staff with volunteers. Skills priceless – if often underused – link with the community that the elected members serve. One possessed by qualified librarians should be valued and deployed effectively, rather than regarded of the great strengths of the library service, and a source of the trust with which it is regarded in as an unfortunate over-head. Staff training should be increased for all staff and a discussion the community is that it is not a commercial service. Public libraries are an integral part of local opened up with the union both nationally and locally, involving the library schools, on the skill set public services and should remain so. likely to be required of tomorrow’s library staff. UNISON has called on the government and local authorities to adopt a five point plan to maintain and In examining the current state of the public library service, identifying some of the threats as improve the library service. The basic needs of libraries are fairly straightforward. A commitment to well as the opportunities, it is hoped that the report contributes to the debate about its future. these five broad objectives can be the beginning of a real debate on the detail and implementation. The public library service should build on its past successes; learn from the failed experience of contracting out other public services and go forward as a well-funded, publicly provided, top Adequate resources and funding for quality public service fit for the 21st century. library services, staff and premises Central and local government need to ensure that libraries have sufficient funds to maintain and develop an attractive book stock. They also need to be able to provide the traditional range of services, in terms of children’s, reference and local studies sections. Online access to reference sources and general use of the internet should be maintained and developed but should not be done at the expense of the book stock. The library premises need to be both attractive and functional – for both the public and the staff that work there. Library users and, just as importantly, potential users, need to be able to access libraries at times that are convenient for them, so opening hours and working patterns have to be adjusted. But such changes cost money and need to be negotiated with the staff’s union representatives and staff should be reasonably compensated. Technological advances that make using the library easier – whether that is in the library building itself or online, or through improvements to procurement and cataloguing – should be embraced as part of negotiated discussions with the union. Empowerment of staff and communities to shape services together Libraries rest on a bed of goodwill from local communities. They are valued and trusted. But much more could and should be done to involve both the staff and the local communities in the shaping of the service. 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52 53 TAKING STOCK: Statistics THE FUTURE OF OUR Annex PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE Figure 9: Book acquisitions 1997-98 to 2006-07: UK and constituent Table 12: Territorial Library Spend 2006-2007 countries Net expenditure (excluding Capital Charges) £ 1400000 Total books added England 876,689,609 to UK public library stock Wales 45,819,294 1200000 Scotland 113,668,816 England 1000000 Northern Ireland 26,942,169 Scotland

UK 1,063,119,888 800000 Wales CIPFA Statistics 600000 Northern Ireland Table 13: Total visits to UK public libraries 1997-98 to 2006-07 400000 Year Number of visits Annual change (%) 1997-98 342,904,000 200000 1998-99 338,720,000 -1.2 0 1999-00 330,606,909 -2.4

2000-01 323,834,998 -2.0 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2001-02 318,154,528 -1.7 CIPFA Statistics 2002-03 323,042,482 +1.5 2003-04 336,950,764 +4.3 Figure 10: Book acquisitions 1997-98 to 2006-07 Scotland, Wales and 2004-05 339,707,688 +0.8 Northern Ireland 2005-06 342,168,484 +0.7

2006-07 337,315,984 -1.4 1400000 Scotland CIPFA Statistics 1200000 Wales

Table 14: Total book stock Northern Ireland 1000000 Year Total book stock (‘000) 1997-98 125,266 800000 1998-99 123,286 600000 1999-00 121,318 2000-01 118,794 400000 2001-02 116,074 200000 2002-03 114,199 2003-04 110,453 0 2004-05 107,651 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2005-06 104,863 2006-07 104,445 CIPFA Statistics

54 55 TAKING STOCK: Table 15: Total visits to libraries in the UK (selected years with Table 19: Book acquisitions 1997-98 to 2006-07 THE FUTURE OF OUR territorial breakdown) Year Total books England Scotland Wales Northern PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE 1997-98 1999-00 2001-02 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 % change added to UK Ireland 2005-06 to public library 2006-07 stock England 302,766,446 279,984,620 270,775,309 288,381,801 290,978,934 288,246,549 -0.9 1997-98 10,426,000 Wales N/A 13,105,485 12,070,233 14,527,267 14,696,215 14,085,686 -4.1 1998-99 10,980,000 Scotland N/A 30,761,505 28,801,818 29,656,342 29,580,027 28,481,728 -3.7 Northern N/A 6,755,299 6,507,168 7,142,278 6,913,308 6,502,021 -6 1999-00 10,826,996 8,936,896 1,139,531 512,393 238,176 Ireland 2000-01 11,044,506 9,184,597 1,167,830 511,732 180,347 UK 342,904,000 330,606,909 318,154,528 339,707,688 342,168,484 337,315,984 -1.4 2001-02 11,018,993 9,193,571 1,174,718 483,289 167,415 CIPFA Statistics LISU www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/dils/lisu/list97/publib97.html 2002-03 11,958,986 9,943,280 1,210,653 544,809 260,244 Table 16: UK libraries total stock and issues 2003-04 11,975,851 9,943,384 1,166,995 548,782 316,690 2005-06 2006-07 % change 2004-05 11,990,278 9,931,344 1,134,499 604,462 319,973 Stock: 2005-06 12,304,956 10,294,791 1,184,876 582,462 242,827 - Bookstock (000s) 104,863 103,166 -1.6 2006-07 12,398,216 10,192,259 1,202,781 630,353 372,823 - Bookstock per 1000 1,742 1,703 -2.2 CIPFA Statistics population - Audio, visual, 8,830 8,779 -0.6 Table 20: Total UK public library service book acquisitions electronic and other Year Total books added to UK public library stock materials (000s) (‘000) Issues: 1992-93 12,887 - Bookstock (000s) 323,060 314,704 -2.6 1993-94 12,810 - Bookstock per 1000 5,366 5,194 -3.2 1994-95 12,715 population 1995-96 11,809 - Audio, visual, 36,033 32,285 -10.4 1996-97 10,883 electronic and other materials (000s) 1997-98 10,426 CIPFA Statistics 1998-99 10,980 1999-00 10,827 Table 17: Changes in book stock 2006-07 by territorial unit 2000-01 11,045 Total book stock at 1st Total book stock at 31st % change 2001-02 11,019 April 2006 March 2007 2002-03 11,959 England 82,198,884 81,215,800 -1.2 2003-04 11,976 Wales 6,179,367 6,166,020 -0.002 2004-05 11,990 Scotland 12,352,332 12,102,232 -2.0 2005-06 12,305 Northern Ireland 3,714,284 3,682,198 -0.9 2006-07 12,398 UK 104,444,867 103,166,250 -1.2 CIPFA Statistics CIPFA Statistics Table 18: Book stock per 1,000 population 2006-2007 by territorial unit Book stock per 1,000 Book stock per 1,000 % change population as at 31 population as at 31 March 2006 March 2007 England 1,634 1,600 -2.1 Wales 2,081 2,079 -0.1 Scotland 2,447 2,365 -3.3 Northern Ireland 2,233 2,114 -5.3 UK 1,742 1,703 -2.2 56 CIPFA Statistics 57 TAKING STOCK: Table 21: Total book issues THE FUTURE OF OUR Year Number of books issued (000) PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE 1997-98 482,508 1998-99 460,352 1999-00 430,442 2000-01 405,924 2001-02 376,852 2002-03 360,722 2003-04 340,927 2004-05 330,199 2005-06 323,060 2006-07 314,704 CIPFA Statistics Table 22: Total service points open 10 hours a week or more and population per service point Total Service Points Open Population per Service Point 10 Hours or more per week (open 10 hours or more per (including Mobiles) week including Mobiles) England 3,494 14,528 Wales 334 8,880 Scotland 603 8,486 Northern Ireland 136 12,805

UK 4,567 13,266 CIPFA Statistics Figure 11: Professional and non-professional staff in post

Staff numbers

30000

24000

18000

12000

6000

0

1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07

CIPFA Statistics

58 59 TAKING STOCK: THE FUTURE OF OUR PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE

For more information or to join UNISON phone: 0845 355 0845. Textphone: 0800 0 967 968 www.unison.org.uk Produced by UNISON Communictions Unit. Published by UNISON, 1 Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9AJ. 60 CU/September 2008/17301/Stock no XXXX?