Appendix 3

Information about the Service

Name of Service – Museum Service , Culture and Libraries Service

What are the main characteristics about your service? Using the sources that you already have, please give a brief summary.

o 1 directly run Museum at Campbeltown o Support to 13 independent museums in and Bute: § An Iodhlann: ’s Historical Centre § Auchindrain Township Open Air Museum § Bute Museum § Dunoon Castle House Museum § Kilmartin House Museum: Centre for Archaeology and Landscape Interpretation § War and Peace Museum § Island Folk Museum § Mull Museum § Hope MacDougall Collection § Museum of Life § Slate Islands Heritage Trust § Strachur Smiddy Museum § Tigh Iseabel-Dhaidh, Lismore § Ionad-na-ohm Moluag Museum, Lismore Heritage Centre

Please outline the main characteristics of your service including: - Purpose of the service - Service aims - Structure of the service and relationship to other areas - Significant partnerships - Any particular characteristics including awards and other recognitions - Resources – staffing and otherwise

1. Purpose of the Service Campbeltown Museum aims to curate, interpret and display the archaeology, social and industrial history, decorative and fine art and natural science material in Council’s collections and to collect appropriate material for the enjoyment and education of the local community and visitors to the area alike.

2. Service Aims

• Manage Campbeltown Museum • Secure and maintain Accredited Museum status • Preserve and interpret the collections • Provide a range of services for local people and tourists • Encourage community participation in, and engagement with, the Museum • Provide advice to independent museums in Argyll and Bute

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3. Structure of the Service

The Museum Service is within the Performance and Planning Section of Community Services under the Head of Planning and Performance. The Culture and Libraries Manager is the direct line manager for the service and also manages the Libraries and Arts Service. Two Curators from Auchindrain and Kilmartin House Museum work through a Service Level Agreement and report to the Culture and Libraries Manager.

4. Partnerships

4.1 Internal

1.Culture and Libraries - Libraries 2. Corporate Services 3. Operational Services

4.2 External o Museums Galleries o Argyll and Bute Heritage and Museum Forum o Highlands and Islands Enterprise - Argyll and the Islands o Antiquarian Society

5. Resources

5.1 Campbeltown Museum’s collections are broad in scope, ranging from archaeology, to decorative and fine art, to social and industrial history, to and natural history.

5.2 Budget: £43,000. This supports the Service Level Agreement, £28,000 Kilmartin House Museum – additional grant £10,000 Other costs – Campbeltown Museum £5,000

Please outline the specific context within which the service works including: - Relationship to national and local priorities including national strategies, community planning, Single Outcome Agreement and ‘Getting it Right for Every Child’. - Service history, particularly important facts in your recent history such as leadership or changing structures - Demographic changes and profiles - Facilities - Staffing

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6. Relationship to national and local priorities

6.1 The Local Government and Planning (Scotland) Act 1982; sections 14 to 17. Section 14(1), as amended by Section 128 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, places upon local authorities a duty to " ensure that there is adequate provision of facilities for the inhabitants of their area for recreational, sporting, cultural, and social activities."

6.2 Argyll and Bute’s Economic Development Strategy 2000 - 2003 states that:

“The Arts not only offer the individual personal enjoyment and stimulation but are a valuable means by which people can participate in community life and have social contact and interaction. The Arts can express the shared values of a community, can provide civic pride and hence foster and project a positive image of Argyll and Bute to its residents and visitors alike.”

The Council’s four Strategic Cultural Objectives:

• to increase access to and participation in cultural activity in Argyll and Bute • to promote and enhance Argyll and Bute’s image and economic sustainability through cultural creativity and quality • to support and develop the contribution of culture to lifelong learning and health and well-being • to sustain and develop individuals and communities through cultural activity

6.3 Culture and Libraries Cultural Strategy (2005)

Our vision is to recognise the substantial benefits of access to, and participation in, all forms of cultural activity for individuals, communities and Argyll and Bute as a whole.

The main aims are:

• support, encourage and improve the current levels of access to cultural and artistic provision • develop Argyll and Bute’s cultural identity by encouraging creativity and supporting excellence • develop the contribution that cultural activities make to the educational, social and economic life of the community • sustain and develop our communities through the cultural heritage and uniqueness of the area

6.4 Community Planning

It is recognised that Community Planning is a key mechanism through which cultural provision can be promoted and developed. Vision: Outstanding Environment Topic: Culture, arts and sport Aim: To increase opportunities to celebrate our culture and heritage

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This will be achieved by: • encouraging and promoting activities and events • developing opportunities to support and promote built environment and heritage

Outcomes: • Availablility of facilities to support arts, cultural and sports activities both locally and nationally • International recognition of Argyll and Bute’s cultural importance

6.5 Argyll and Bute’s Corporate Plan 2007-2011 and beyond Argyll and Bute: Leading Rural Area Forward Looking • communities that are culturally rich with a desire to excel

6.6 Argyll and Bute Single Outcome Agreement

• communities that are culturally rich with a desire to excel • proactive communities where local people and organisations look for and create opportunities

7. Service History

Campbeltown Museum opened in 1898 in the Burnet building – a purpose built Library and Museum funded by James MacAlister Hall, who gifted the building to the people of Campbeltown. The Kintyre Antiquarian Society, founded in 1921 with the object of studying ‘the Archaeological History and Antiquities of Kintyre’ , added enormously to the archaeological collections through many valuable projects connected with local history, culture and archaeology.

For most of the museum’s history, the Head Librarian also functioned as the Museum Curator, often assisted by members of the Kintyre Antiquarian Society on a voluntary basis. Jack G. Scott and Eddie Peltenburg, both archaeologists and curators attached to Glasgow Museums and Glasgow University were also influential in cataloguing and displaying the collections, which built up steadily.

In 1994, a Museums Development Officer was appointed to manage Campbeltown Museum and provide advice to independent museums in Argyll and Bute, an arrangement that continued for a ten year period until the post was deleted as a budget saving.

In 2007, a public-private partnership between Argyll and Bute Council, Kilmartin House Museum and Auchindrain Museum was agreed whereby the curators of these two independent museums would also curate Campbeltown Museum’s collections in exchange for revenue funding. This arrangement is detailed in a Service Level Agreement (SLA) that was signed in December 2007 and runs from December 2007 until December 2010.

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Under the terms of the SLA the Curator of Kilmartin House Museum is also the Curator of Archaeology and Natural Sciences for Campbeltown Museum and the Curator of Auchindrain Museum is also the Curator of Social History and Fine Art for Campbeltown Museum. Both curators also provide advice to independent museums in Argyll and Bute.

The opening of Aqualibrium was widely celebrated in Campbeltown, bringing together leisure and library services. The relocation of the library to the new building did however raise issues relating to the function and use of the Burnet Building. At the same time a number of other strategic plans were also converging – the emerging Campbeltown Property Options study and the Customer Services Centre Strategy. The Customer Services Centre Strategy was focused on delivering high quality, efficient customer service through centralised frontline services whether in person, by telephone or online. Informed by Citizen Panel surveys, the Strategy proposed a ‘One Stop Shop’ in each major town which would be able to deal with all frontline customer queries. This was allied with the need to consider good asset management and the best use of premises for staff based in the town. Work began on refurbishing the grade A listed building and changing the nature of the services based in the building. The One Stop Shop opened in October 2007 and the museum reopened in June 2008. Since reopening, the museum has received a positive response from press and attendees and the number of visits since then has proved the interest there is in the museum. Application will be made in December 2008 for Campbeltown Museum to re-enter the Museums, Libraries, Archive National Accreditation scheme.

8. Demographic changes and profile

Argyll and Bute Council is unique among local authority areas in Scotland. It covers an area of 690,900ha in an area that includes 25 inhabited islands ranging from populations of 5 to over 7,000 and one fifth of its population of 91,306 are islanders. Tourism is now one of the key drivers of economic development in the area.

9. Facilities

Campbeltown Museum is now based in a building which is a One Stop Shop in the Burnet Building with: - revised arrangements and improvements to the museum’s storage arrangements - customer orientated face to face access to front line Council services e.g. Council Tax enquiries, new benefit claims - community video conference facilities - 2 marketable marriage rooms with access to the Linda McCartney memorial garden - wireless network and hotdesk access for Council staff and Councillors - 2 meeting rooms - retention and restoration of Grade A listed building - 21 st century workspace for up to 20 staff

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10. Staffing

Two curators, as previously described, work part time for the Museum Service under a Service Level Agreement. The museum operates within the context of an overall one stop shop in the building.

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