News
Launch of Welcome To Your Library evaluation report and good practice guide
London Libraries Development Agency (LLDA) has published an evaluation of the Welcome To Your Library project and a good practice guide as part of the final stage of the project, to support new ways of working and fostering good practice.
By increasing opportunities for active participation by refugee communities in public library service planning and delivery the project aimed to improve access to and quality of services for all.
Library services in Southwark, Leicester, Liverpool and Tyne and Wear, and the Healthy Hillingdon partnership, which includes the local library service and primary care trust, all took part in mapping need, developing project management skills and building partnerships with refugee communities and organisations in their areas.
The resulting good practice guide will be an invaluable tool to anyone in local government who is interested in sustainable community development, as the tools and techniques are applicable to working with other marginalised and excluded groups.
The evaluation report contains strong messages about the future direction of public services and the importance of increasing inter-action with work in other sectors that now need to be taken up at a strategic level to effect change.
The project was funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation's Reading and Libraries Challenge Fund. Susan Blishen, Programme Adviser, Social Justice, at the Foundation said: ‘ We welcome these timely publications which highlight the important role that libraries can play in bringing different communities together. The evaluation findings chime well with what we have learned from other Reading and Libraries Challenge Fund projects, namely that there is an urgent need for strong leadership within the sector to ensure that the achievements of individual projects like this one don't get lost. ‘
Councillor Flick Rea, Chair of LLDA, said: ‘Public libraries are one of the few services that anyone can access freely, irrespective of status or money. Libraries can be a gateway to civic presence – for people who are new arrivals with no understanding of the range of public services or how to access them. The good practice guide shows ways services can become easier to use and genuinely open to all.'
Hard copies of the reports are available from London Libraries Development Agency.
Contact: Andy Ryan 020 7641 5266 andy dot ryan at llda dot org dot uk