Library of the Year Submission – Ross on Wye public library: a model of partnership

This submission comes to you from the Ross Library Development Group (RLDG). The library management has provided statistical information and extensive feedback, but it was our decision to sing the praises of this excellent library which meets the criteria for Library of the Year and provides rural South Herefordshire, an area of outstanding natural beauty but one with more than its fair share of economic and social pressures, with one of its most valuable and valued resources.

.. wonderful library. Best we’ve had the good fortune to use in 60 years...*

Context Ross on Wye has a modern purpose built library which is a major resource for many individuals and groups from this small market town and the surrounding rural area. Like most public libraries it is under severe financial pressure; opening hours have been cut twice in the last twelve months and there has even been the threat of closure. Two key elements in meeting these challenges have been the unfailingly positive, professional and creative approach of the staff and the continuous growth of a range of services and partnerships to maximise the use of the building. The library is the Council Customer Service centre for South Herefordshire, handling bus passes, railcards, council payments and enquiries, Blue Badge applications, benefits advice and a range of other council enquiries that a typical library would not receive. Visiting the library as part of his Radio4 series on the future of libraries Michael Rosen said “What’s going on here is one possible solution to the library crisis; libraries sharing spaces with other council services.” And there is more. The library is now home to the Registrar, and to surgeries offered by local councillors, the MP, housing associations, youth housing support, SSAFA, community police officers and other partner services offering personal counselling. In addition there is the increasingly close partnership with the Ross Library Development Group (RLDG), a Community Interest Group. In describing the impact of those elements over the last twelve months we want to look “front of house” first and then at what has happened behind the scenes.

Front of House: service and action In this difficult period the library staff have focussed on managing the range of extra services noted above while continuing to provide a first class library service. The Ross Gazette said of Michael Rosen’s visit “Michael seemed very impressed that so much was going on in the library, the registrars, the Dennis Potter Room and council information, but it is still primarily a library...” Library services include supported use of the only free public IT facilities in the town centre, and great activities for school and pre-school children. These include regular Bounce and Rhyme sessions, story-times for pre-schoolers during term time, craft and story sessions for older children in the holidays, as well as the Summer Reading Challenge, a regular war-gaming club and homework sessions. In addition they are working to ensure the continuation of book supply for group work with early years, children and teenagers, Readers Groups, Books on Prescription, Green Life and Local Studies.

Ross library is already a magical place for my 12 month daughter. The weekly Bounce and Rhymes are really great. A free event run by enthusiastic and skilled staff. She loves the library so much and she's

only one year old. Libraries are magical places. *

Meanwhile In February 2013 RLDG launched a series of events to run alongside the activities organised by the staff. (see Annex 1) The monthly evening events ranged from a lively talk from the local MP about life as a backbencher to a riveting description of life among the Marsh Arabs. These events bring 20 to 40 people into the library and also help raise funds for improvements. Alongside this programme RLDG runs monthly coffee mornings, and RLDG and the library staff have also worked together for special events like “Live at the Library” which formed part of the town’s Christmas Fair, and with the local High School to present two events at the library – a drop-in music session and an electrifying drama production. (Annex 3)

In its Dennis Potter Community Room, the library has an excellent exhibition space let to local artists, organisations and charities. This draws people into the library and brings a small income. However the space is empty from time to time, so RLDG developed an exhibition about the library itself to be set up when the walls are blank. RLDG also worked with the Carnival Committee to display the entries in a children’s colouring competition organised by the local paper, and we are currently developing a second “stand-by” exhibition of literature themed posters.

Regular press releases and articles are sent to the local papers, to parish magazines which reach 2000 homes in the surrounding area and to the “Ross Voice” which is delivered to every household in the town and is available at public outlets. (Annex 3) In addition the active management of the RLDG Facebook page has raised the profile of RLDG and the library, alerts people to events and keeps news of library issues and concerns in view. Twitter @RossLDG1 has also raised the profile and made links with library organisations and supporters throughout the UK.

Behind the scenes: strategy and management For library staff, the behind the scenes efforts have focussed on maintaining a high quality and cost effective service (annex 2) whilst supporting staff whose jobs felt very fragile. In the circumstances, decisions were made not to fill staff vacancies, so the library team has been constantly understaffed. The fact that the public face of the library has been unfailingly courteous and cheerful throughout two rounds of tough cost cutting by the council is a tribute to the outstanding staff and the exceptional quality of management support. There has also been a constant process of negotiation and strategic involvement in order to make the best of inevitable cuts. For example the reduction in opening hours from February 1st 2014 has been carefully structured to minimise disruption and confusion for the public thanks to hard negotiation from the library management.

In addition the use of the building is being maximised – with official negotiations ongoing for other partnerships. Meanwhile RLDG was concerned with finding yet more ways to maximise and diversify the use of the building. This is becoming more urgent as the inevitable cuts in hours are made. As the building is large, distinctive and fairly high maintenance we felt that there was the risk of it being sold as an asset if there was not evidence of even higher levels of use. The key issue is to make space available without undermining the security of the library stock, data and facilities. The RLDG evening events are currently only possible because a member of the library staff remains on the premises unpaid, and in consequence the facility cannot be offered more widely.

Two key elements are being explored, manpower and access. Negotiations are ongoing to have a custodian available. More challenging is the physical environment in a large complex open plan building. RLDG have now finalised plans and raised the funds for a gate/barrier to separate the stock and staff sections of the library from the foyer, reading room and toilets – allowing a major community space to be made available even when the library itself is closed. At a time of council cutbacks this development can only be achieved through the vision, hard negotiating and active fund raising of a community group like RLDG but in turn, we can only achieve these things thanks to the co-operation and excellence of our outstanding professional library service.

My family really value the library in Ross. My wife has cancer and spends many hours each week reading books borrowed from the library. My 10 year old son regards the Tuesday evening war games as the highlight of his month. We will fight to retain the excellent facilities and service you provide. *

* feedback comments are directly from the library comments book & RLDG Facebook page.

Annex  1  

Ross  Library  Events    1/2/13  –  1/2/14  

Ross  Library  Development  Group  Events  

Events     Speaker/partners   Title   Nos.  

Feb  20th     Jesse  Norman,    MP   Life  as  a  Backbencher  in  the  House  of  Commons   30  

Mar  12th     Andrew  Taylor   Being  a  Writer   30  

Apr  16th     Jo  Scrivin   Life  Behind  the  Scenes  at  the  Ross  Gazette   20  

May  10th     Jill  Pitkeathley,  Baroness   Life  in  the  House  of  Lords   44  

June  18th     Janet  and  Mark  Robinson   Mary  Came,  Mary  Went:  the  life  of  servants  in  a  19th  Century  Rectory.  

25  

July  16th     Philip  Gray     Fineleaf  Publishing   34  

Sept  10th     Paul  Costello   Writing  engaging  nonfiction   21  

Sept  24th     +  John  Kyrle  High  School     “drop  in”  music  performance   n/a  

Sept  26th     +  John  Kyrle  High  School   Drama  Performance   48  

Oct  8th     Daphne  Wyatt   The  Marsh  Arabs  and  Arabian  Feasts   29  

Nov  19th     Caroline  Sanderson   In  the  Footsteps  of  Jane  Austen   43  

Nov  26th   Open  meeting   Consultation  on  Council  Budget  decisions   29  

Dec  1st     +  Library  Staff   Live  At  the  Library  –  Ross  Traders  Xmas  Fayre   153  

Dec  3rd     Rhys  Griffiths   Herefordshire  Archives  and  the  New  Archive  Centre  

29  

Jan  21st     Howard  Owen   The  Phoenix  Theatre  in  Ross   27  

Other  RLDG  Activities  Coffee  mornings  from  10.00-­‐12.00  on  the  first  Thursday  of  every  month  Other  Library  Activities  National  Libraries  Day  2013  Bounce  and  Rhyme;  runs  weekly  for  0-­‐4  year  olds,  has  an  average  attendance  of  15  children    Craft  &  Storytimes;  run  during  school  holidays  for  under  12s,  have  an  average  attendance  of  11.    h-­‐Energy  week  -­‐  storytime  and  Bounce  and  Rhyme  to  link  with  green  theme.  Summer  Reading  Scheme    282  participants  –  a  rise  of  40%  on  summer  2012  –  with  54%  completing  the  challenge  and  ages  from  under  4  to  over  12.  Seed  Swap  table  for  customers  to  share  seeds  and  exchange  gardening  tips  Warhammer,  which  runs  monthly  with  an  average  attendance  of  7.  

Annex  2  

Ross  Library  Statistics  1/2/13  –  1/2/14  

 Herefordshire  Libraries  Herefordshire  has  the  second  lowest  population  and  has  the  fewest  number  of  libraries  in  the  West  Midlands,  but  it  also  has  the  highest  level  of  Active  borrowers  per  1,000  population.  Herefordshire’s  revenue  expenditure  is  the  3rd  lowest  in  the  West  Midlands  with  the  lowest  level  of  book  stock  per  1000  population  in  the  West  Midlands,  but  stock  quality  is  one  of  the  highest  in  the  West  Midlands.  We  also  have  a  particularly  high  number  of  housebound  customers.  

“The  number  of  active  borrowers  is  a  key  indication  of  how  well  the  library  service  engages  with  the  public.  Herefordshire  is  in  the  top  quartile  suggesting  that  the  library  service  engages  well  with  the  population  when  compared  to  the  other  authorities.  Herefordshire  comes  out  as  being  at  the  lowest  end  of  the  comparison  (for  revenue  expenditure),  which  suggests  that  it  is  providing  a  low  cost  service.”  (Chartered  Institute  of  Public  Finance  and  Accountancy).     NOTE:      e-­‐lending  is  not  yet  implemented  in  Herefordshire.    Ross  on  Wye  Library   Net  annual  cost  for  running  Ross  Library  and  Customer  Service  Centre  £158,308      

Visitor    numbers  showed    a    6.4%  increase  between  2011  and  2012  (April  to  March)  We  do  not  have  official  statistics  running  February  to  January  but  we  can  compare  visits  in  April  to  January  year  on  year,  showing    a  further  7.1%  increase  in  visitors  this  year.    2011/2  –  108275  2012/3  –  115219      April  12  –  Jan  13  (95373)  April  13  –  January  14  (102,110*)    *unofficial  stats  from  raw  site  data      Book  Issues    showed  a  small  drop  in  12/13    (1.7%)  We  hope  they  have  increased  in  2013/14  but  have  no  statistics  yet  to  be  able  to  complete  this  comparison.    2011/2  –  132493                  2012/3  –  130241  2013/14  –  no  stats  available      

Annex 3 Samples of Press & Media 1/2/13 – 1/2/14

Transcript of BBC R4 “Our Libraries, the Next Chapter” with Michael Rosen http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/2013/09/transcript-of-michael-rosens-our-libraries-the-next-chapter-on-radio-four.html Ross Gazette 25/7/13

Ross Gazette 2/10/13

Ross Gazette 2/10/13

Ross Voice November edition