The people's lottery
Response of The Library Association to the Government’s White Paper

1. The Library Association is the professional body for library and information personnel. It has 26,000 members working in all sectors of the economy. Under the terms of our Royal Charter, awarded in 1898, The Library Association has, amongst other duties, responsibilities to:

Promote and encourage the maintenance of adequate and appropriate provision of library and information services of various kinds throughout the UK

Promote the better management of library and information services

Promote the knowledge, skills, position and qualifications of librarians and information personnel

Maintain a register of Chartered members, qualified to practise as professional librarians and information personnel

Represent and act as the professional body for persons working in or interested in library and information services

It achieves the above by awarding professional qualifications, promoting continuing professional development, supporting a network of geographical branches and subject specialist groups, and advocating the cause of libraries and librarians to government and other bodies.

2. The Library Association warmly welcomes the White Paper. It supports both the tenor and detail of the proposals. We note with pleasure the Secretary of State’s comment that "People feel Lottery money is their money, it is freely given and it should support the things they feel are important". There is an abundance of evidence to show the support and popularity that public libraries enjoy with the public, and it is fitting that the White Paper should include so much that will improve the access of public libraries to Lottery funds. However library and information services in other sectors should benefit as well. Our one reservation is the disappointment we have that there are no proposals to give public libraries access to capital funds for the refurbishment of library buildings: this puts public libraries at a disadvantage compared with such facilities as swimming pools, leisure centres, theatres and galleries where such money is available.

3. The Library Association supports the idea of creating a sixth "good cause" to be known as the New Opportunities Fund. We also agree that there should be a mechanism incorporated into the proposed National lottery Bill to enable the initiatives supported by the New Opportunities Fund to be changed by Government Order. This will help to ensure that the areas covered remain sensitive to the changing priorities of the public. We support the first three initiatives proposed.

4. Out of School Hours Activities - We are pleased that the White Paper acknowledges the contribution already made by many libraries and is receptive to the idea of bids coming from libraries. In addition to the example given (homework help clubs in Southwark Libraries) many public library services run imaginative book-reading schemes for children during the holidays and there are examples of a wide range of other activities being supported as well. Lottery funding would not only enable current schemes to be developed and widened but, equally important, it would encourage partnerships to be developed with other agencies (school library services, schools, youth services, voluntary groups) to develop and support out of school activities. Such partnerships would not only be good in themselves but they would also do a great deal to foster the integrated approach to providing library and information services to children (in and out of school) which was the main recommendation of the Investing in Children (1) report.

5. Training for Teachers and Librarians in ICT - We are heartened that library staff are included in this initiative. We believe that it should be open to school librarians and library staff working in School Library Services as well as public library staff. We take this proposal to be an important sign of the government’s commitment to connect every public library to the information superhighway as part of its policy for a National Learning Grid. We await the government response to the Library and Information Commission’s report on Public Library Networking with anticipation. We would also like to register the interest of The Library Association in participating in the training programme for library staff (as requested in paragraph 29 of the White Paper). Our Professional Development and Conferences Department has extensive experience in running training courses, including courses delivered onsite at a client’s premises.

6. Healthy Living Centres - Many types of library and information services promote health information vigorously. These include not only public libraries, but information services attached to charities and pressure groups (eg. ASH, MIND ), NHS Library and Information Services (including healthlines), Community Health Councils and companies. In public libraries the former Dorset County Library Service in liaison with the local Health Authority, (and now its successors) developed a series of Health Information Points in libraries. More recently Surrey County Council with Epsom and Ewell Borough Council made a successful Capital Challenge bid to create the Epsom Lifestyle Centre which, amongst other things, will include a public library, cardio-vascular gymnasium and exercise area, and a centre for the active elderly: the prospectus states, "The Centre will fulfil a major community role in encouraging healthier lifestyles (physically and mentally) with a close and innovative relationship between exercise and health, information and knowledge". Where the consortium bidding for the Health Living Centre contract is not local authority led, the need to ensure an element of information expertise in the bid can be met by the inclusion of the Public Library Service.

7. As it stands the White Paper concentrates on the development of a geographical network of Healthy Living Centres. This emphasis on local initiatives is welcome (and fits in well with the theme of the People’s Lottery). However we feel there should be a place for national and specialist initiatives as well. Information or advice in an accessible form may be lacking in some areas; minority groups may be difficult to cater for effectively purely on a local basis only; and the issue of re-inventing the wheel a hundred times over needs to be addressed. National initiatives might include developing a website on some aspect of healthy living which could be accessed by all healthy living centres, schools and public libraries; developing an interactive course on parenting skills on CDROM; or a confidential advice line sensitive to the needs of a cultural minority or those with a particular disability or medical condition. Libraries are already a major source of information for people with specific conditions and their carers, the availability of Web and e-mail services in public libraries would be a valuable extension to existing services. It would, of course, remain important that any such scheme remained true to the concept of healthy living as outlined in the White Paper, and could be seen as supporting the work of Healthy Living Centres and other local networks such as public libraries.

8. The Library Association supports the objectives of change as laid out in paragraph 6. We favour a more planned approach to allocation of lottery resources with a greater emphasis on need rather than the ability to put in bids. Although we appreciate the intention to move gradually towards focusing Lottery funding on people (human capital) rather than buildings, we argue elsewhere of the pressing need for capital investment in public libraries (see paragraph 13 of this response).

9. It is not our intention to comment in detail on this section in the White Paper as it is not central to the concerns of The Library Association. However we note in paragraphs 13 and 18 concerns that bids are often not made from sections of society which have a right to a share of Lottery funding, but which, under current regulations, the Distributors are not allowed to positively encourage applications from. We would simply suggest at this stage that the public library network, with over 4000 branches and almost 700 mobile libraries spanning the UK, would provide an admirable vehicle for reaching these sections of the population and encouraging their involvement. The possibility of a partnership between public libraries and the funding distributors is worthy of further investigation.

10. The idea of a National Trust for Talent and Creativity is exciting. One part of its brief - contributing to the advancement of public education about, and awareness and appreciation of, the creative industries, science and technology and new arts and their contribution to the quality of life - is pertinent to public libraries. The network of public libraries throughout the UK provides a potential infrastructure for the NESTA user to interact with the programme. For example, small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are considerably disadvantaged in Research and Development when compared to large companies; a collaborative, or pre-competitive group of SMEs could use the Business Information Unit at their local library as a natural focus for a combined Virtual Research Department.

11. The UNESCO Public Library Manifesto (2) states that as one of their key missions public libraries should "Promote awareness of cultural heritage, appreciation of the arts, scientific achievements and innovations". This would be one area where The Library Association would wish to work in partnership with NESTA to foster that increased understanding and awareness of the value of science, technology and the arts. We would also be keen to be one of the professional bodies invited to make recommendations on Trustees for the NESTA Board.

12. We have one small caveat regarding NESTA. It is proposed that NESTA, in part, will be financed by a percentage of income from the copyright and patents resulting from the schemes that they have supported. There is no problem with this. However we detect in current government policy an over-zealous desire to protect intellectual copyright. It needs to be borne in mind that the tighter the copyright restrictions, the more expensive it will be for the National Learning Grid, The University for Industry and other key government policy commitments to deliver the outcomes expected. The Library Association believes in "fair dealing" where the rights of the user are considered alongside those of the producer. If the balance is wrong, a massive barrier will be put in the way of promoting an understanding and awareness of science, technology and the arts. NESTA won’t succeed because the talent will not have been nurtured, owing to lack of access to the ideas that would have stimulated the talent in the first place.

13. We are very disappointed that the government appears not to have taken heed of our suggestion that Lottery funding should be available for public library capital projects. Two years ago the Society of Chief Librarians undertook a capital needs survey of public library authorities in England and Wales and discovered that £611 million needed to be spent over a five year period simply to bring the existing building stock up to acceptable standards. The situation will have deteriorated since that time. Although we are aware that there is a review of local government finance currently underway, it would be foolhardy to expect that local authorities will gain the necessary capital financing to undertake the building and refurbishment programme required to bring libraries up to scratch. While the Challenge Fund recently announced by the department and partly funded by the Wolfson Foundation is a step in the right direction, Lottery funding is the only realistic option available. We believe that as "The People’s Lottery" this would have their support. We also believe that it would mirror the generous donations of Carnegie and others in the late 19^th century and early 20^th century which provides the building infrastructure of our current service. We therefore strongly urge the government to reconsider their position and launch a Carnegie Mark 2 programme of library building and refurbishment supported by Lottery funding.

14. The Library Association is grateful for the chance to comment on the Government’s proposals for the National Lottery. For the most part we warmly welcome the proposals, seeing great benefits for libraries and their users, and we wish to take an active role in the development of many of the ideas. We are willing to offer any help that we can in furthering the aims of the Government as outlined in the White Paper.

1. Investing in children: the future of library services for children and young people DNH, Pub HMSO, 1995, ISBN 0117019941. Price 10.95

HMSO Books Publication Centre, P O Box 276, London SW8 5DT

Tel: 020 7873 0011

2. UNESCO Public Library Manifesto Published by IFLA International Federation of Library Association and Institutions. Section of Public Libraries P. O. Box 95312. 2509 CH The Hague Netherlands.

Tel: *(31) (70) 31 40 884. E-mail: IFLA.HQ@IFLA.NL

The Library Association, August 1997