CILIP CEO Nick Poole's presentation to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Libraries, Information and Knowledge on 20 October 2021

1. Sector update – Libraries powering recovery
All-Party Parliamentary Group for Libraries, Information and Knowledge
#APPGLiNK
20th October 2021

2. “Libraries can play a key role in our national recovery from COVID-19, supporting local communities,
and in particular helping children catch up on lost education, and supporting adults to retrain through
jobs and skills advice.
“They are a fantastic resource for local areas which is why they need the necessary investment to
remain open and continue the great work they already do in the long-term.
“Our libraries have worked hard to adapt to new ways of providing services throughout the past year
and remain one of the few free cultural and educational services available in every part of the country.
“They will also be crucial to our ambitions for addressing imbalances between our towns and cities.”
Cllr. Gerald Vernon-Jackson, Chair, LGA Culture, Tourism and Sport Board

4. Danum Library & Museum, Doncaster
Opened 2021
The new mixed-use facility at the heart of Doncaster’s
Civic and Cultural Quarter combines Doncaster Libraries
and Heritage Doncaster into one beautiful new facility
offering a wide range of activities for families
throughout the day.

5. Kingston University Town House
Opened 2020
The new library, mixed-study and performance space at
Kingston University has been awarded the prestigious
RIBA Stirling Prize for ‘Best New Building’ in the UK

6. Rugby Library and Makerspace
Opened 2019
Design: The Design Concept Ltd. for
Warwickshire County Council
Creates a modern, safe and attractive space, with access
to a fully-equipped Maker Space and IT suites.

7. E-reading has played a very
significant role in keeping the
nation reading during COVID-19.
Registrations for new library cards
increased 6-fold during lockdown
and use of e-content increased by
126%.
However, there remain significant
challenges:
• Licensing fragmented across
multiple platforms
• Libraries struggling to fund cost
of new digital offer alongside
print

8. Increasingly, ‘curated’ reading lists and e-book collections are allowing
libraries to target specific user needs.
The successful Reading Well: Books on Prescription programme led by the
Reading Agency has shown how these targeted interventions can deliver
significant positive impact on health and wellbeing (including mental
health):
• 89% of local health practitioners agree or strongly agree that reading
schemes help people to understand more about their condition
• 80% of readers feel more confident in managing their own long-term
condition
• 87% of readers reported the scheme helped them to understand and
cope with dementia
• 90% of participating children and young people would recommend
their ‘Reading Well’ book because it helped them deal with difficult
feelings and experiences
https://reading-well.org.uk/books/books-on-prescription

9. Libraries are the best
infrastructure for formal, informal
and lifelong learning outside the
classroom.
Responding to the Government’s
Online Media Literacy Strategy,
there is a new role for public
libraries in supporting literacy
recovery, digital skills and helping
equip people to lead happier,
healthier and safer online lives.
http://www.mila.org.uk

10. Death Positive Libraries
Originally started in Redbridge Libraries, the ‘Death
Positive Library’ is a set of books, resources and
activities that help people to talk about death, loss
and dying, using the library as a safe and trusted
environment.
The approach and resources are now being rolled out
UK-wide as libraries turn to help their communities
recover from COVID-19.
https://visionrcl.org.uk/libraries-learning/health-and-
wellbeing/the-death-positive-library/

11. Virtually Together is an activity led by East Renfrewshire Public Libraries which uses VR technology to
bring people together across generations to combat loneliness and social isolation -
http://librariesweek.org.uk/case-study-virtually-together/

12. 2021 saw the biggest ever Libraries Week (4th –
10th October) with a total reach in excess of 10m
participants during the week.
The campaign, which “celebrates the best of the
nation’s much-loved libraries” focused on the role
of libraries in empowering local communities to
take action to change lives.
www.librariesweek.org.uk

13. Health Libraries – supporting long-term recovery and
pandemic resilience
The NHS Health Education England Knowledge for
Healthcare programme has been providing 24/7 access to
up-to-date COVID-19 data and guidance for clinical staff
since the early days of the pandemic.
Health librarians provided the tools, evidence and data
which enabled the Nightingale Hospitals to deploy rapid
and effective care.
CILIP and HEE have now established a UK Health and
Digital Literacy Partnership with the aim of improving
public use of evidence and health information.

14. School Libraries powering educational recovery
The Great School Libraries campaign has been
highlighting the role of school librarians in literacy and
learning recovery since the end of lockdown.
• Supporting safe re-opening
• Enhancing pastoral care and mental health support
• Developing hybrid teaching/learning resources
• Supporting digital skills for children & young people
• Promoting reading for pleasure and empathy
www.greatschoollibraries.org.uk

15. Prison Libraries – Making the Difference
Prisons have been an incredibly challenging
environment during COVID-19. Nevertheless, prison
librarians have maintained support for prisoner
education and provided a vital link to information
from the outside world.
In 2022, the Prison Libraries Group will launch Prison
Libraries – making the difference, celebrating the
impact of prison libraries on prisoner education,
discipline and culture as well as the wider
community.

16. • There is concern about the forthcoming Spending Review and the need for a fair funding settlement to Local
Government to continue to support local libraries
• According to the latest figures from DCMS, around 300 individual branch libraries have closed and around 500
have been transferred into ‘community management’ since 2009
• There is a real risk that the ‘lost year’ of learning and literacy support has a long-term effect on skills and mobility
for the next generation
• The academic #eBookSOS campaign is highlighting unfair pricing and licensing for digital content, which is
preventing libraries from meeting new digital demand (https://academicebookinvestigation.org/)
Challenges

17. Key emerging agendas
Sustainability Digital transformation
Social inclusion Literacy, learning & reading