SHARPER INVESTMENT FOR CHANGING TIMES: GETTING MORE OUT OF MUSEUMS, LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES
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Contents
1. Introduction 2. The value of museums, libraries and archives a. b. c. d. e.
Improving the economy Increasing social mobility Making places better Supporting learning Connecting communities
3. How we can get more out of our museums, libraries and archives a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j.
Distribution of services New governance and delivery models New funding models Making investment more strategic Performance and efficiency Designing services with, and for, diverse communities Creating the workforce that can deliver change Working across local boundaries Re-positioning the service Reaching out to new audiences
4. How can the necessary changes be nationally supported? 5. What would the results look like? Appendix About the MLA
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Introduction
Museums, libraries and archives are an extraordinary and popular resource. We want them to thrive for the public they serve. But the country needs to climb out of the worst recession since the 1930s, while handling inevitable spending restrictions in public services. How can the sector help this climb, and deliver increasingly more in value than it takes in funding, from central and local government? Critically, changes in the service need to be designed for changing public need, not be driven by short term budget cuts. This prospectus proposes ambitious but realistic solutions, based on long-term partnership between local government, central government, and museums, libraries and archives themselves, each responsible for their side of a bargain where: • museums, libraries and archives work to make a wider public impact as efficiently as possible, concentrating less on sustaining costly buildings and storing unseen objects, and more on opening up fantastic collections of books, records and iconic artefacts for learning and enjoyment • local government utilise the value of museum, library and archive services for wider purposes, innovating and integrating with other services, working across boundaries, and working with public and private partners, and • national government ensure the longer term funding and statutory framework in which councils, museums, libraries and archives can have the freedom, flexibility and stability to plan for far reaching change. The ambition is that the public – user, visitor, consumer and tourist – are in charge; able to enjoy and learn from quality collections, seamless services, and personalised help and information, whether in welcoming buildings or online.
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The value of museums, libraries and archives
a) Improving the economy
inter-generational dependence on the state and cutting unemployment and crime.
A country that is just starting to recover from the worst recession since the 1930s needs to: make savings; get more value from the money it invests; attract investment and tourists; and ensure that the workforce has the skills it needs. Many of the collections held in our museums are of international significance; they help tell the stories that are part of the shared heritage of us all. The sector has a key role to play in boosting the country’s standing internationally and in sharing scholarship and training. It can be an economic asset not a drain on resources; drawing people in to the locality, generating spend and raising its profile in the UK and beyond. For example; • Liverpool European Capital of Culture generated an estimated £800 million for the regional economy in 2008. • The Banksy exhibition at Bristol Museum generated 50,000 bed space bookings.1 • A survey of 13,000 archive users showed that 78 percent of them had used local transport; 36 percent had used local shops and 17 percent had visited other places in the area.2
Museums, libraries and archives support people in developing their skills base; building their confidence and improving their life chances, their health and their sense of well being. For example; • 21 percent of the population are not digitally enabled. However, there are 3,000 public libraries all with community-use PCs which could, with some investment and support, help tackle this problem. • A survey of 26,000 children and 1,600 teachers showed that the Renaissance-funded museums worked with 32 percent of schools in the most deprived wards, with children saying that their visit taught them new things and made them want to find out more. • In a survey of volunteers in 2005, 49 percent of those surveyed thought that volunteering in museums, libraries and archives had helped them gain employment.3
c) Making places better
b) Increasing social mobility
Museums, libraries and archives help shape places, giving them an identity and making them more attractive places to live, work and visit. People like and value culture. For example:
The ability to source, select and make use of knowledge and information helps people make good choices, empowering them to improve their employability, support their children, and take an active part in their communities. In doing so it reduces the drain on the public purse, breaking
• Quality of life factors, including quality of place, distinctive architectures, cultural facilities, and access to natural amenities are all important factors which skilled workers consider when choosing where to work and live,4 and the small, medium and global businesses they work for.
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Destination Bristol website Demos Knowledge and Inspiration p31 3 Volunteering in Museums, Libraries and Archives (MLA & IVR, 2005) http://research.mla.gov.uk/evidence/documents/volunteer_survey_2006_9500.pdf 4 Competitive European Cities, Where do the core cities stand? Office of the Deputy Prime Minister,2004 2
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• An HLF survey showed that nearly three quarters of local residents believe that investment in the historic environment makes local areas more attractive and 61 percent say it makes an area a better place to live.5 • Attempts to close libraries result in local public outcry, showing just how much people value this local institution even if they are not themselves a regular library user.
d) Supporting learning Economic recovery and long term prosperity will require a highly skilled population. Nearly a third of the UK’s working age population don’t have a full Level 2 qualification, and many struggle with basic literacy and numeracy. Skilled employment is one of the key determinants of social mobility. Learning and training cannot be delivered solely through the formal education system. People need to be able to access learning opportunities in a variety of places and in ways which suit them. Museums, libraries and archives can support this, but they need to be embedded within the local learning infrastructure and integrated with other learning provision. Inter-generational learning programmes for families, school children, students and adults need to be seen as a key part of local learning provision. The new, more-flexible, primary curriculum, and councils’ new responsibility for adult informal learning highlight the role that the sector can, and should, play. Museums, libraries and archives are knowledge creators as well as knowledge providers. Through scholarship, research, knowledge management, and interpretation and display, they are a vital asset to a nation. For example: • In a survey of 26,000 children, 68 percent of 11-14 year olds thought that museum visits made school work more inspiring and 90 percent of seven-11 year olds learnt new things as a result of the visit. • 720,000 children aged from four-12 participated in the Summer Reading Campaign in 2009/10. Teachers have said that participation in the campaign helped to maintain reading levels over the long summer break.
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• Large libraries typically get 6,500 visitors a week using their internet access, compared with an average of 85 visits in other community organisations.6 Each English council responsible for libraries also provides an average of 762 hours of (largely free) internet access per week across its library service points 7 with at least 91 percent of English library authorities saying they offer support to all library users as a core element of their service. These figures demonstrate the scale and potential reach of libraries’ support for public internet access and computer literacy.
e) Connecting communities Museums, libraries and archives are safe community spaces. Through their wide variety of programmes and activities they can help build community cohesion and support health, well being and democratic engagement. They are places where tough issues and challenges can be debated and discussed, building a greater understanding of differing perspectives, cultures and values. They are tolerant places that help tackle racism and other forms of ignorance, discrimination and prejudice. For example: • The Taking Part survey showed that people taking part in cultural activities are 20 percent more likely to know ‘many people’ in their neighbourhood, and 60 percent more likely to believe ‘many of their neighbours can be trusted’.8 • Since Kent Libraries & Archives launched its Time2Give programme in 2005, 180 people have become volunteers. 151 new activities have been developed for volunteers, such as research work, baby rhyme hosts, computer buddies, library gardeners and reading groups. This has helped transform and improve the lives of local residents, staff and customers by providing them with new skills and opportunities. • Art and Islam, a year-long programme of exhibitions and events at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG), has led to new relationships between the museum and the diverse communities in the West Midlands. It has also contributed to an improved understanding of Muslim cultures amongst the general public.
Impact of HLF funding 2005-07 Report, Visitor and Neighbourhood Surveys 2005-07, BDRC April 2008 Simpson Carpenter & Regeneris (2006). ‘UK Online Centres: Transformational Government for the Citizen.’ Sheffield: Ufi Ltd. P.4. CFE & MLA (2010) ‘Role of public libraries in supporting and promoting digital participation’ Taking Part 2007/8
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How we can get more out of our museums, libraries and archives
The sector can make a massive contribution to tackling some of the most difficult challenges facing the country, but for this to happen, elected members, chief officers and heads of service need to have higher expectations of the service and to make more demands of it. While many of England’s museums, libraries and archives already provide high quality services, there is a need for significant improvement in many. Redeveloping the services and driving more value out of them takes time, strong leadership, clear objectives, knowledge of good practice and practical support. It also takes high level commitment. We know that where services are thriving it is in part because they have strong political backing and engagement, and a leadership which understands the potential value of the service and which has worked with it to ensure that it can change and develop to meet local needs.
A systematic and radically different view of the design and delivery of services is needed. Some organisations will not be saved, but for many others help is at hand. There is an enormous amount of good practice already in place in both the public and independent parts of our sector to show how this can be achieved and what it can deliver. Far reaching change needs local and national government to work together to get more from over ÂŁ2 billion worth of investment. National government has a responsibility to set the strategic direction for the sector, but only local government, and local governing bodies, can drive forward improvement and innovation, and only the sector can deliver the on-theground changes which will ensure that it is truly responsive to local needs.
The business model of the last 100 years does not have to be the business model of the next 100.
The practical steps needed to deliver these changes can be grouped under ten headings:
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a) Distribution of services We cannot sustain the number of buildings we have, and in a digital age there are other ways of delivering services. Some authorities have already begun to: • review service provision against community need • look at ways of co-locating and integrating services • develop new approaches to delivery, using technology to free staff from routine tasks and focus them more on community engagement • use volunteers to supplement core services, and • take a holistic approach to cultural planning.
Good practice has shown that where there is a strong vision for the service, coupled with real engagement with the community and an innovative approach to service delivery, savings can be made and the service enhanced. MLA recognises that in some cases this will lead to buildings being closed. We believe that the key issue is not where services are delivered from (which is for locally accountable politicians to decide), but the quality and consistency of that service and how well it is meeting local needs.
East Riding Mobile Libraries A new library service has been created in East Riding to suit the changing needs of rural communities. The mobile library service provides a wide range of otherwise isolated users with book borrowing, a real-time library management system, two public access People’s Network terminals, and touch screen heritage information services. Some newer vehicles also provide videoconferencing links to CSC Network and MultiScreen Channel community information screens. Libby Herbert, Libraries Manager, said, “Community value has been created. Alongside a substantial improvement in library provision, village schools gained access to broadband services and networking; some village halls have created local IT suites utilising the broadband link at no cost to the community”.
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Luton Cultural Services Trust In 2007, Luton Borough Council agreed to transfer museum, library and arts activities to a charitable trust and company limited by guarantee. The trust’s ability to be more entrepreneurial, and respond more quickly to opportunities, has protected and enhanced local services by overseeing developments in infrastructure and IT services. It has also facilitated moves towards a new business model which will see local authority spending reduced from 73 percent to 50 percent in the next ten years, with the remaining 50 percent coming from other sources. Councilor Hazel Simmons, Leader of the Council says "The transfer [. . .] was the best way forward to enhance libraries, museums and arts for local people [. . . ]. A charity running the services on a not-for-profit basis has meant resources not available to the council have been accessed, and speedier decisions made, meaning the focus has been on providing first class services to customers."
b) New governance and delivery models Most museums, libraries and archives are still using the governance and delivery models of the last 100 years, but the most pro-active ones are beginning to look at new ways of developing, delivering and devolving cultural services to: • increase the flexibility, integration and co-location of service provision • work more effectively and efficiently to respond to local need across local authority boundaries • hand over responsibility to communities, and • deliver local area priorities through strategic commissioning. The models currently being explored include privatisation, public/private partnerships, trust status and community ownership. These models all require the support and involvement of partners or stakeholders in public, third and private sectors, and require the service under transfer to be a successfully developed and maintained service – an already failing service cannot be expected to achieve successful independence. In these cases, early evidence also suggests that these models can result in: efficiency savings; new skills and expertise being brought in to the sector by board members; services more integrated with other parts of
the authority; and efficiencies and critical mass that come from working across a range of culture, community, sport and leisure services. In the future, the new charitable and quasi-charitable community venture models developed in the third sector have the capacity to offer hybrid options that combine private sector business capacity with charitable sector benefits and regulation supporting public benefit. Community Interest Companies (where appropriate), Limited Liability Partnerships and Companies Limited by Guarantee can all be applied to the sector. These models can deliver financial sustainability by: supporting grant funding; commissioning contracts; consumer enterprise; alternative forms of income; and being able to hold unrestricted reserves. Balancing the need for financial prudency against the benefits of using its assets to benefit the community is key to service liberation from a public sector based performance model. These models allow organisations to respond and adapt to a continually evolving market, and they allow it to be able to adapt and change its purpose without undue regulatory restriction. Successful devolution of cultural services takes time (one to two years), but there is now an increasing number of examples of devolutionary success.
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Shepherd's Bush Library The new Shepherd's Bush Library opened in September 2009. It was delivered as an innovative partnership between Westfield Ltd and the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham as one of the key community gains from the planning agreement (Section 106) for the new Westfield Shopping Centre. Section 106 agreements with developers are planning obligations, used to address any perceived negative impacts caused by a development, including providing infrastructure and facilities to help achieve sustainable communities. Since opening, Shepherd's Bush Library has seen a 700 percent increase in membership compared with the previous year, a 50 percent increase in visits and a 45 percent increase in book loans. However, the £2 million library and Workzone was built and fitted out at zero cost to the taxpayer. This demonstrates that councils need not always look to fund service improvements through local resources or tax rises, but can create other strategic opportunities such as partnership working.
c) New funding models Present governance models for much of the sector mitigate income generation and enterprise resulting in over reliance on public subsidy and an inability to lever in additional resources and investment. Many trusts and philanthropists currently exclude local authority funded services because they consider them to be ‘primarily the responsibility of central or local government’. However, the funding disparity between successfully self-funding London-based arts organisations and those least successfully developing funds is worth £206.7 million.9 Plus, no organisations comprising the museum, library and archive subsector are listed within the top 50 arts organisations.10 Local authorities can expect to see greater investment coming in to their services if they free them up to be become more entrepreneurial and move from the culture of short-termism and crisis management which results from the need to spend public funds on an annual basis. Local authorities need to be prepared to look at funding models for their services which combine grants with various types of loan finance and venture capitalism.
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A&B PIC Report 2009 CAF Charity Trends 2007
Funding for the work of the sector is not just about public subsidy and income generation. There are also ways in which government could change the current taxation system to drive forward service improvement and to improve the collections in the nation’s cultural institutions. Other countries have made changes to their taxation systems to support collecting. In the UK: • Gift Aid could be greatly simplified • Treasury could agree to offset the value of cultural/historic objects given to museums, against Income Tax • the current Acceptance in Lieu scheme could be extended to allow offers to be offset against Capital Gains Tax and Corporation Tax, and • the Schedule 3 list (which allows national, local authority and university museums to buy pre-eminent cultural objects at a tax-remitted price) should be modernised to include trust and charitable bodies. This could be achieved by extending Schedule 3 status to all MLA Accredited institutions.
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d) Making investment more strategic The system of plural funding streams coming in to local authorities for separate, but related, projects is producing duplication and waste and is undermining the potential impact of programmes. The Total Place pilots have recognised this and outline the gains to be had from aligning funding sources to deliver to shared outcomes and goals. Local people are best placed to decide how resources can effectively be spent locally. Delivery of services has to be locally determined against identified and well understood needs. MLA recognises the benefits which can come from a more locally determined and joined up strategic approach to investment. We believe that if councils and their partners have: the flexibility to move money to where it can be effectively spent; a stable framework in which to plan; and a supportive government, radical
changes to services are possible. Targeted national funding, such as the Renaissance programme, can then be delivered in more effective ways that can drive forward sector improvement and innovation across museum, library and archive boundaries and beyond. This would provide time-bound and supplementary support to the work of local government in delivering change, while ensuring the national interest, and nationally important collections and scholarship, are looked after. That way, through an appropriately adapted Renaissance programme, the responsibility on the government to ensure an appropriate number of internationally important beacon museums across the country is achieved in the most cost effective way possible – joined up with local government change.
The Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library The Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library is the busiest library in the country, and this can be attributed, in part, to its more strategic approach to marketing. The Service focuses specifically on the questions: who is using and not using the library, what do they want, and what does the library do to support their needs? Community profiling, consultation and data analysis are used to help answer those questions. Another aspect of the market segmentation is the involvement of people in service development. Young people were involved in the design and stocking of the children's library, disabled groups advise on accessibility, and local gay and lesbian representatives advise on the selection and display of stock As Jennifer Holland, Head of Norfolk Library and Information Service, explains "Our activity programme, and the way we deliver our service is targeted at specific market segments while also ensuring we are linking in to council and county-wide priorities�.
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Westminster Library When Westminster Library Services decided it had to provide a fast-track facility for busy office workers or lose their custom, it introduced a "supermarket” style service, complete with check-in/check-out kiosks. It also re-arranged the floor space and furniture then ousted staff out from behind their desks. Since the changes were adopted 93 percent of all book and audio transactions are now scanned via the kiosks (that will also accept cash, and eventually card payments), customer numbers have increased by 10 percent, the huge queues have ceased, stock levels have risen, and there has been a huge thumbs-up from customers and staff. The new system is much more productive. ‘Most people have got the hang of the equipment, leaving me more time to interact with the public,” agreed Marylebone Librarian Barry Tsirtou. Key to the entire project's success has been the forward planning put in place by the library services team and the decision to choose technology that could be easily adapted to meet future improvements and changes.
e) Performance and efficiency All services need to operate in the most effective and efficient ways already developed by the best examples in the sector. Museums, libraries and archives need to be embedded in Local Strategic Partnerships, Community Strategies, Children’s’ Plans and the like as key delivery partners of local outcomes and priorities. A catalyst to changing the way in which public library services are delivered could be a change to the 1964 Act, or changes in the way it is regulated. The requirement to provide a “comprehensive and efficient” service should evolve into something more focused on outcomes, not outputs, and on excellence and innovation. The powers could clarify a minimum
level that government should expect councils to enable people to be able to freely access books, support, information and knowledge, and operate in conjunction with a nationally administered Accreditation scheme. But work on developing the approach to the libraries Act is not in itself enough. There also needs to be a review of national indicators for the whole cultural sector, which in any event should focus on outcomes not outputs. The key justification for investment in the sector is the contribution it makes to society and the economy, and any mechanisms for measuring and benchmarking should recognise this.
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f) Designing services with, and for, diverse communities Museums, libraries and archives provide public, accessible places at the heart of the community which can be used for a wide variety of activities. But communities should also be involved in the vision, design and development of the core service to ensure that facilities are fit for purpose and always evolving, addressing barriers to participation, and developing a cultural offer appropriate to the communities they serve.
panels”, to set up structures that, in a variety of ways, large and small, allow people to become involved in the planning and delivery of services. There is an identified public appetite for a greater level of knowledge about, influence over, and involvement in, local cultural services. Engaging more effectively with the community can be supported by working with third sector organisations and volunteers.
The challenge for the sector is to move beyond the typical mechanism of “friends groups” and “user
Woking Lightbox The Lightbox in Woking opened in September 2007, and a thorough process of local engagement has ensured that it meets the community’s needs. The ongoing involvement of the local Woking communities was, and continues to be, of vital importance. “Keeping the community engaged is well worth the work and you must be prepared to follow through,” said Lightbox Director Marilyn Wall. “Once the dialogue is open it must be continued to ensure that community trust is held. Taking the trouble to make sure that you deliver what you promise and say you will do is important.” The positive impact on the community is demonstrated by the number of visitors to the Lightbox. In the first year, more than 100,000 people visited the museum which was double the anticipated target.
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g) Creating the workforce that can deliver change
New governance and delivery models, new partnerships with communities, and the need to find commercial partners and generate income, will all require a new skills base. Many services have already recognised this and planned for it as a result of far ranging service reviews. To date, much investment in workforce training, and especially in leadership training, has focused on the individual. In future a more holistic approach will be needed which grows out of a review of the service and a vision for its future, and extends outwards to all who work in it. Museums, libraries and archives will always need staff with specialist skills but the definition of specialist skills is going to become ever broader as services rise to meet the challenges ahead. The traditional training courses and programmes of Continuing Professional Development need to change to reflect this, but drawing people in from outside the charmed circle of the “professionally qualified” is
increasingly happening and will happen more – to the benefit of service users and service delivery. New entry routes, career progression, succession planning, and the development of diverse workforces which are strongly reflective of the local community, are key issues for all three domains. Cultural apprenticeships and the development of foundation degrees are fast becoming new ways of attracting new people in to the sector. In the future much greater use could be made of volunteers. Volunteering is a win-win for museums, libraries and archives. It enables organisations to supplement their services, increase their output and effectiveness, and access new skills. For volunteers it is a way back into work; a way of developing new skills and building a CV, and for many it can also provide positive experiences and social networks which will become increasingly important with an ageing population.
Working Lives of the Thames Gateway Working Lives of the Thames Gateway – run by Eastside Community Heritage – is working to create a permanent public archive of more than 200 oral histories of former workers, to provide information on the people who helped build the industrial foundations of this rapidly regenerating area of London. The project will run until December 2010, but an evaluation of year one has been completed, recording a positive response from all involved. To guide its evaluation Eastside Community Heritage used ‘Inspiring Learning For All’ – an MLA-produced toolkit that enables museums and archives to review and improve their performance. Manager Judith Garfield noted that, “Without the framework we would not have been able to assess the impact the project has made to participants as effectively.” Volunteers for Working Lives have also enjoyed their role in the project. They have been able to receive bespoke training that ensures they conduct interviews to the highest possible standard, and rewards them for their contributions with a formal qualification from London Metropolitan University.
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Tyne and Wear museums and archives merger In April 2009, Tyne and Wear Museums merged with Tyne and Wear Archives to create one joint service (TWAM), promoting collective working and resource pooling to create better standards and value for all. The two organisations’ individual volunteer programmes have now merged, and have one point of contact meaning that volunteers can be located where their expertise are needed the most. Also, as one organisation, information about the museum collections held in the archives is now more accessible, helping to support exhibition development and the learning needs of the community. TWAM is the most cost-effective, large archive and museum service in the UK, and its Director, Alec Coles, says “This merger has provided an excellent opportunity for joint learning. The relative strengths of the two parent organisations are extremely complementary and this is already bearing fruit in terms of new initiatives, new ways of working and an improved service for our users.“
h) Working across local boundaries Innovation is the lifeblood of all services. There are lots of good practice examples of how services have developed, in partnership with a wide range of providers, new ways of working, new partnerships and new delivery mechanisms to reach out to those who do not traditionally use their services. There are, however, some key areas where innovation needs to happen across services and on a national scale. At present innovation tends to be located in individual services with some excellent examples of new approaches to interpretation, workforce development, information provision and the use of new technology. To change people’s perceptions and use of services requires this innovation to be happening everywhere across established boundaries. Users need to feel that they have an excellent local service because, as a nation, we place a value on these services that overrides the post code lottery. People should be able to walk in to any museum, library or archive and find that it is open when they want it and that it is welcoming and clean. They should meet well trained and customer-focused staff. They should be able to access fast and efficient broadband so that they can get the information and support they need. And when the building is closed they should be
able to do the same thing online and from their own homes. There is a lot of good practice in higher and further education which can be drawn on to support this, where institutions have come to see the benefits for users in working collectively and pooling resources to achieve common goals. This is not about imposing a monolithic national standard on local services but about coming together to tackle common issues in a joined up and holistic way. It is about the whole being more than the sum of its parts and about working to an agreed vision around what we want the service of the future to look like. It is also about value for money – looking at services which benefit from cross authority working and at places where joint procurement and delivery can result in higher standards and better value for all. This is not just about partnerships with other cultural sectors but partnerships with organisations outside the cultural sector; primary care trusts, universities, education services etc. The critical areas where coming together across local boundaries to explore joint working is key are digital innovation and procurement.
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The Museum of East Anglian Life The Museum of East Anglian Life has set up ‘Abbot’s Hall Enterprises’ – a social enterprise scheme providing a more structured approach to skills development and training. It allows volunteers to trade their time for services and aims to meet financial, social and environmental performance targets to drive sustainability. Volunteers have undertaken a variety of projects as part of the scheme, including making and selling over 600 hanging baskets to local pubs and businesses. As Katie Gooding, Social Enterprise Officer at the museum, explains: “Museums can play a significant role in improving communities […].The Social Enterprise model allows us not only to look at the business in terms of profit and loss, but also on the positive impact it has on those people working within it.”
i) Re-positioning the service Museums, libraries and archives have an intrinsic value to society but they also deliver important social and economic outcomes. Many authorities already recognise this. Seventy percent of upper tier local authorities are using libraries to deliver their local priorities through Local Area Agreements and Sustainable Community Strategies; 57 percent are using museums and 17 percent are using archives.11 11
More could be done to re-position the service so that its contribution is developed, recognised and understood and so that it is built into national and local policy and planning at the earliest stage. This requires the “offer” from the service to be one that people want and it needs sector leaders to see building political support and engagement as a core part of their job.
The Role of Museums, Libraries and Archives and Local Area Agreements http://research.mla.gov.uk/evidence/view-publication.php?dm=nrm&pubid=956
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j) Reaching out to new audiences As well as improving the quality of service for the audience currently using museums, libraries and archives, the sector needs to become better at reaching out to non-users. Increasing participation requires the sector to get better at understanding non users and at using this information to design services which will meet their needs. The sector and local authorities also need to be better at marketing to their local community and beyond. Market segmentation is becoming increasingly important in the drive to raise participation. The services that young people want and need are different from those needed by adults or students or families and none of these groups are homogenous. Gender, ethnicity, socio-economic background, education, peer pressure and competition in the market place etc all influence what people want. The most pro-active services have become better at getting this information and using it to tailor and market what they do. Increases in participation can be delivered by investment in buildings and resources, new programmes, and strong community outreach. Making them sustainable requires a more systemic embedding of the principles of community involvement and diversity in the design and delivery of the core service.
Museums, libraries and archives need to be prepared not just to listen to what non-users are saying about the service but to work with them to bring about change. And they need to do so in partnership with others, drawing on their skills and experience in working with groups and communities that have previously been more excluded. Museum, library and archive professionals shouldn’t be trying to be youth workers or teachers or social workers but they should be working with them. More fundamentally, in a time of shrinking resources, the sector will also need to consider who it prioritises for investment. The principle of universal access is an important one and must not be lost, but when resources are stretched, services need to ask themselves whether they need to be focusing on those who have most to gain from increased use. We know that some people in society have less access to knowledge and culture than others. We can only increase their access if we prioritise working with them and create services that meet their needs. Marketing the service to local people is also important. Research shows that non-users are often pleasantly surprised by how much the service has changed over the last 10 years. Museums, libraries and archives need to be more pro-active in telling people what they can expect and they need to be making use of new media to reach people.
Plymouth Museum in Transit Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery has developed a programme that empowers children to create their own museum at school to make their collections more accessible. Plymouth Museum launched Museum in Transit (MIT) in 2004. On average it has 20,000 student participants each year. The project is aimed at Key Stage 1 and 2 children, but can be adapted for all ages. MIT is a mobile museum that takes up to 200 objects to local schools for a week. Rather than simply assembling a standard display onsite, the MIT team facilitates students to create their own bespoke exhibition. They carry out each aspect of exhibition development and museum operations starting with unloading objects from the museum van. They research, organise, label and display the museum objects whilst learning about how to handle and care for the collection. The success of MIT continues to grow. The team have started to visit libraries and community centres, and have also embarked on a relationship with the local Primary Care Trust.
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How can the necessary changes be nationally supported?
Museums, libraries and archives are precious for the country’s economy, heritage and international standing. The learning and skills delivered to all age groups, not least school students on the national curriculum, are vital.
The MLA can support change, improvement and innovation by:
Local councils are well placed to decide how resources can most effectively be used in their area, and national government can ensure, with targeted funding, that the country’s need for quality cultural and learning services is fully realised. With national government investment, our museums, libraries and archives are well placed to attract visitors from way beyond the locality and overseas. Critically, the nation’s heritage, and its internationally important historic collections across the country, particularly outside the capital city, will be properly protected and better accessed. Functions delivered by the MLA, such as Designation, Accreditation, export controls, acceptance of artefacts in lieu of tax, and Reference Online, are delivered or brokered nationally, and leadership of the sector is essential. There is a need to capitalise on nationally inspired campaigns and promotions such as Museums at Night and www.culture24.org to add value and drive up audience numbers in the most cost effective way possible. The changes outlined in this report need an appropriate relationship between national and local government. They also need support on the ground to broker effective partnerships, identify new ways of working, and point to good practice. The MLA restructured in 2009 to support local authorities as they review their services and to work with the sector to improve the quality of the offer to local people.
• targeting investment and resources to support improvement • providing access to evidence-based expert advice and guidance • conducting research and data analysis, including evidence of impact and data around participation and use • working with local authorities on light touch peer reviews • delivering and developing its Accreditation and Designation schemes • programme investment such as Renaissance • the creation of new products which save money eg Reference Online • utilising its good practice resource base • exploring models from the cultural, third and public (health and education) sectors to develop insight and understanding into the benefits and limitations involved in establishing devolved, liberated and independent cultural services (including the investment required), and by providing information, advice and guidance to the sector • measuring impact and outcomes • providing security and government indemnity advice • national marketing and campaigns such as Museums at Night • maximising the potential of the digital age through national collaboration • leadership to broker future consumer-focused initiatives such as a single library card from birth, and • 2012 Cultural Olympiad projects such as Stories of the World and the People’s Record.
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What would the results look like?
So what would the results of these sorts of changes look like? What could communities, elected members, chief officers, boards of trustees and vice chancellors expect from their services, over and above what they are currently getting? They would have services helping them meet the key challenges they are facing in the years ahead, resulting in:
• a service integrated with other local provision and built into local strategies and plans; delivering benefit rather than cost and tackling key local problems through a strong information, reading and learning offer • greater collaboration across local boundaries and with the third sector • more targeted and strategic investment delivering to shared outcomes • greater investment from other sources because the service has been freed up to benefit from funding opportunities, and • national initiatives which benefit all users. For example, an online library offer that matches the speed and character of commercial offers, bridging the digital divide and building the skills people will need in all forms of future employment.
• more people using the services, in more varied ways, as they move seamlessly between them • people feeling that they have services which are inspiring, accessible, and customer-focused • people feeling a pride in, and ownership of, their local services and feeling that they make a real difference to their lives • a local service, delivering to local needs, that is part of a strong national network of excellence and scholarship, spread fairly across the country and reflecting our heritage and international standing • fewer buildings to support and manage, but better quality services delivered in new ways and with new partners
Conclusion In this economic climate, no change is not an option. If we do nothing, change will happen, but through closures and reductions. The public will notice reduced service, worse service and poorer, less accessible collections. Through the suggestions in this prospectus, we hope for cleverer investment in museums, libraries and archives that will get the most out of them, and deliver long term benefits for all. The MLA is ready to play its part in the bargain.
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Appendix
About the MLA • Business to business organisation working across government and with 150 local authorities, 3,000 public libraries, 300 archives and1,800 museums (latter including Scotland, Wales and NI).12 • Funding relationship with more than 80 bodies of varying sizes. Collaborate with other NDPBs; regional funding and improvement agencies; and various sector and public bodies. • Three statutory functions: Government Indemnity Scheme, Acceptance in Lieu and the Export Licensing. In addition to these statutory functions, the MLA work in the following areas: Supporting government policy • Developed Leading Museums, a vision and strategic action plan for English Museums. An independent group led by Professor Tom Schuller is overseeing delivery of the plan. • Collaborated with The National Archives to publish (December 2009) the national strategy for archives (England and Wales), involving three Whitehall departments (DCMS, DCLG and MoJ) and CYMAL for Wales. • Worked with Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on the informal adult learning strategy encouraging 3,000 museums, libraries and archives to sign up for the festival of learning and directing investment to support this.
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• Developed guidance and training for libraries on Controversial Stock at the request of 10 Downing Street. • Recommended to Ministers that they institute a formal inquiry into a library authority in breach of the relevant Act (1964), the first such use of the powers since 1992. Sector improvement and capacity building • Manage Renaissance in the Regions, a £48 million investment programme of annual grants to around 50 museums and local authorities. Set up an external review of Renaissance, which concluded that the programme is transforming England’s regional museums. In 2009 MLA established a new and more searching performance management system for the programme. • Work directly with local authorities to support service improvement using a range of improvement tools including light touch peer review. • Manage and run the museums Accreditation scheme, the Designation Scheme and the DCMS/DSCF Strategic Commissioning Fund. • Provide examples of good practice, data, evidence and impact. • Run a joint improvement programme with IDeA, ACE, English Heritage and Sport England. • Invest in sector training and development: Clore fellowships, Diversify, Foundation Degrees, Apprenticeships. • Manage the Living Places programme on behalf of ACE, English Heritage, Sport England and CABE. The programme demonstrates the role of culture and sport in regeneration and place shaping.
MLA is sponsored by DCMS as an ‘Arms Length Body’. In formal terms, MLA is a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), a Company Limited by Guarantee and a Registered Charity. The CEO is accountable to Parliament (PAC) and separately to the MLA Governance Board, appointed by DCMS. Our Grant in Aid was £68 million (2008 vs. £52 million in 2007), of which £15 million was unrestricted (2007: £14 million).
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Supporting innovation
Expert information, advice and guidance
• Negotiating public library access to JANET, the UK education and research network. • Funding the national roll out of Get it Loud in Libraries. • Developing community of practice around e-books. • Developing a young people’s offer in libraries. • Funding Museums at Night and Kids in Museums. • Developing work on new governance and funding models. • Creation of the Culture and Sport Planning Toolkit. • Inspiring Learning for All. • Use of Secondments to MLA Board to diversify Board and capacity build for sector.
• Research briefings and good practice case studies. • Sector training via seminars, conferences etc.
• • • • • • •
Value for money
Organisational transformation and efficiency
• £3 million savings for public libraries through MLA’s Reference Online initiative. • Access to the Pathe news archive for museums, archives and libraries. • Joint investment programmes with other NDPBs eg Living Places.
The MLA restructured in 2009 in order to reduce overheads, redirect resources to the front line, and focus on sector improvement and innovation.
Levering in investment • • • •
£4.5 million for Boys into Books. £5 million for Book Ahead. £0.5 million for the Festival of Learning. £70K Home Office funding for controversial stock training. • £80 million from the BIG Lottery for Community Libraries.
Positioning of the sector National, regional and local strategies. Local area agreements. Total Place. Place shaping agenda. Informal Adult Learning. Find Your Talent - MLA invested £1million. Building Schools for the Future.
• MLA restructured from 10 organisations down to one. • Restructuring costs were met from its own budget. • Resources redirected from back office to front line. • Mobile home-working field team established with resources to support local improvement and transformation. • 120 staff down from 260. • New ways of working developed to reduce costs and carbon footprint.
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Who to contact
MLA staff work and engage nationally and regionally. Regional Managers and Area Directors of Engagement build relationships with local authorities, helping them link up and access contacts, advice and resources. We are available to discuss any area of MLA’s work with you. Contact details can be found at: www.mla.gov.uk/staff To find out more, or discover what we can do for you: visit www.mla.gov.uk email info@mla.gov.uk telephone +44 (0)121 345 7300
Photography: Daniel Salter; East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Eastside Community Heritage
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Museums, Libraries & Archives Council
T +44 (0)121 345 7300 F +44 (0)121 345 7303
Grosvenor House 14 Bennetts Hill Birmingham B2 5RS
info@mla.gov.uk www.mla.gov.uk
Leading strategically, we promote best practice in museums, libraries and archives, to inspire innovative, integrated and sustainable services for all.
ISBN 978-1-905867-36-3
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Š MLA 2010-03-16 Registered Charity No: 1079666