Agenda item

Report of the Director of Recreation

Camden Libraries are reaching more people and had the second highest adult engagement rate in England in the year 2023/24. The libraries are developing as neighbourhood spaces through changes to the buildings, improved digital offer, supporting digital inclusion and working with communities, community partners and other stakeholders to develop resident focused spaces, developing reading skills in children, young people and adults to improve wellbeing, and employability.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Recreation.

Committee members made the following comments;

·       The report was very much welcomed, Camden was hugely respected across the Library sector as evidenced by the range of organisations such as the Department for Digital Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Arts Council England that were present at the training event organised by the Council.

·       It was good that the Council was exploring different pathways into the sector such as training on the job.

·       Libraries were not just a nice service to have, for marginalised residents and those in areas of deprivation in a mixed borough such as Camden they served as free access to knowledge and cultural enrichment in a safe and trusted place.

Oliver Jones, Director of Recreation and Fiona Tarn, Head of Libraries, made the following comments in response to Committee members questions:

·       In terms of routes into the library profession, the Council had been working closely with CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) who had carried out a skills audit of the Council’s library team to find out areas that required development, and the different opportunities available to develop the team.

·       Apprenticeships had been considered and a commitment had been made to have at least one apprenticeship at level 3 in the service at any one time.

·       Consideration was also being given to investing in the Libraries team to provide pathways into professional qualifications and professional recognition via CILIP.

·       The Council had also commissioned the reading agency to work with the team to develop a reading strategy for all ages in Camden.

·       In terms of the green agenda, Camden was trailblazing in terms of decarbonising its library buildings. The Council had invested £3.7m in Swiss Cottage Library decarbonisation works, Highgate Library was about to reopen after a £1.8m investment and West Hampstead Library was due to close on 18^th November for £500,000 investment in decarbonisation.

·       Kentish Town Library had a cargo bike and Queen’s Crescent Library was due to receive one which would support the green agenda.  Library of things were present in two libraries also supporting sustainability.

·       Kilburn Library was due to close for a redesign project next May so options were being considered as to where the Library of Things might go in the interim while the work was carried out at Kilburn.

·       Camden no longer had a mobile library but does have s a Home Library Service which provided a service to vulnerable residents as well as a digital library. Only LB Barnet had a mobile service in London.

·       In terms of schools, the Council’s Library Service was very proactive working in conjunction with the British library on a number of initiatives, including developing a group for school librarians in Camden to form a network to strengthen the links between public libraries and school libraries similar to the Haringey British Library Support network.

·       Other initiatives with schools and the British Library included the launch of the Summer Reading Challenge at the British library which was a well-attended event by about 4 different primary schools. The Council’s Library team were always trying to work collaboratively with primary and secondary schools in the borough to engage different audiences of all ages.

·       Over the last two years the Council’s Library team had built links with the three community run libraries in the borough, meeting up every six to eight weeks to share ideas and support each other where possible.

·       In relation to demographics, the Council’s Library team had worked with the Reading Agency and the Council’s Data and Insight Team to carry out a needs analysis and review of library catchment areas based on demographic data. This data was currently being analysed and would inform the Reading Strategy.

·       In terms of the consistency of the offer across Camden’s library infrastructure, the libraries across the borough tended to respond to the needs of residents, creating neighbourhood spaces so the libraries did not all look and feel the same, however it was important to have some common offers in the libraries to cater for all ages and feedback from residents was always taken on board.

·       In terms of digital inclusion, there were databanks at Queen’s Crescent Library and Camden Town, the Council was working with Good Things Foundation to provide free data to residents as well as investing in and installing new Wi-Fi capability across the whole library network.

·       Digital inclusion was important, free drop-ins were available across the network of libraries for residents to get support on using their own device or the computer in the library.

·       In terms of green spaces around libraries, there was a large programme occurring around Swiss Cottage currently relating to the improvement of the green space there, work was also going on with the Green Spaces Team with developing green space opportunities around West Hampstead.

The Committee thanked officers for attending the meeting and responding to questions, and

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.