Media Releases

LA HIGHLIGHTS POLICY ISSUES FOR LABOUR’S SECOND TERM

Labour’s election pledges are put under the microscope in a new Library Association publication Ambitions for Britain?  Library and information issues for Labour’s second term.  Closely following the structure of the party’s General Election manifesto for England, the report acknowledges Government achievements during its first hundred days, but also comments on areas where library and information issues have still to be addressed, as well as giving details of relevant LA initiatives and staff.

“I hope that members will find this a useful tool in their contacts with local and national politicians, ministers and officials, governing bodies and funding institutions,” comments the LA’s Chief Executive Bob McKee.  “It should help them whether they are making a case for resources or simply demonstrating the value and wide applicability of the services they provide.”

Widely circulated to libraries and information services throughout the UK, this detailed 14-page document also highlights significant issues that the Manifesto fails to address.  Freedom of information, data protection and copyright are three such omissions.  “There is no commitment to bring forward legislation to extend legal deposit to all forms of media either,” says the report’s principal author Guy Daines.  “But omission from the Manifesto does not mean it will not happen or that the library and information community will not campaign vigorously to attain it.”

Separate party manifestos were issued for Scotland and Wales, and the situation in Northern Ireland is of course especially complex, but the LA has sent copies of Ambitions for Britain? to colleagues in the home countries as well, where it should prove useful as a checklist for comparison with policy programmes in those countries. 

Ambitions for Britain?  Library and information issues for Labour’s second term is available from Library Association Information Services,
tel: 020 7255 0620,
email: info@la-hq.org.uk.
The report can also be found on The Library Association Web site.

For further information contact:

Guy Daines, Principal Policy Adviser, The Library Association, 020 7255 0633

Tim Owen, Head of External Relations, The Library Association, 020 7255 0652

Note to Editors

The Library Association is the leading professional body for librarians and information managers, with around 24,000 members who work in all sectors, including business and industry, further and higher education, schools, local and central government departments and agencies, the health service, the voluntary sector, national and public libraries.

Tuesday 9 October 2001