Libraries For All: Social Inclusion in Public Libraries

Section 2:
The Social Inclusion Context

Understanding social exclusion

2.1 Social exclusion takes many forms. It can be direct or indirect, and can embrace both groups and individuals. Exclusion also has a geographical dimension embracing rural, urban and suburban areas alike.

2.2 People experience their problems primarily as personal misfortune and often are disinclined to address those difficulties on a collaborative basis. Measures which tackle exclusion at an individual level are supported by a range of public agencies including libraries. Indeed a library building which is free to enter without challenge can, by itself, become a valued environment for those who are socially isolated and have little contact with others.

2.3 At the same time individual problems are often related to problems of the locality as well as to personal circumstance. The option for people to act constructively on a joint basis with their neighbours and public authorities is poorly appreciated. Yet community development projects in the UK and elsewhere have shown that successful policies for social inclusion must encourage people to take joint action on issues affecting their neighbourhood. It is significant that some level of community activity are evident in even the most fractured communities. Public policy should build on this.

2.4 Community involvement in neighbourhood renewal makes a number of assumptions. It presumes that people identify with their locality; that they understand how public policies work; that they know how to plan and follow through a project; that they are well motivated towards other residents and value the alliances in which they invest; and that they are willing to devote their own time and energy to pursuing these ends. Remarkably, all these conditions are in fact met, time and time again, by small groups of people in many localities - a phenomenon which community workers call 'ordinary people doing extraordinary things'. But it cannot be taken for granted and it cannot be created instantaneously. Community activity underpins social inclusion and effective regeneration, but it may require a great deal of time and skilled intervention to stimulate and sustain it.

Social exclusion and sustainable communities

2.5 Ideally, all measures taken to combat social exclusion should aim to create sustainable communities. A key feature of a sustainable community is its connections. People living in affluent communities tend to have good road systems, trouble-free service from public utilities, access to quality education and health services, access to legal and financial services, access to leisure opportunities, access to political processes, and access to information and communication channels. By contrast, a feature of life in the least integrated communities is that such connections are not well established. Sometimes this will be for straightforward practical reasons such as lack of amenities or lack of transport. Sometimes it is caused by perceptions or for cultural reasons, such as a perceived lack of opportunities, lack of confidence caused by previous bad experience with bureaucracy, or a cycle of low educational achievement.

2.6 Social policy therefore needs to address two kinds of barriers which prevent the development of the sustainable community. The first are the infrastructure barriers, which constrain the 'connectedness' of a given neighbourhood. These include the flow of information and the provision of educational opportunities. The second are cultural barriers which constrain people’s ability to address the issues which affect them.

Social exclusion and information in disadvantaged communities

2.7 Communications and information are the lifeblood of sustainable communities, and public services such as libraries together with community groups, are often important conduits for information and knowledge. In disadvantaged communities isolation and inertia may constitute formidable barriers to the flow of information, personal relationships may be weak, and creative neighbourhood networks may function poorly. Such communities are unlikely to enjoy the vital flow of information, through which residents share their experiences and act collectively to express their needs and improve their quality of life.

2.8 If the flow of information drops below certain critical levels, the local information ecology is vulnerable and 'information stagnation' sets in. Levels of face-recognition drop significantly, people stop receiving and sharing information, relatively little information enters or leaves the locality, and the neighbourhood could begin to atrophy. In such a context, the challenge is to help establish and sustain healthy conditions in which informal communication and the exchange of information can flourish. In these circumstances it is vitally important for communities to have a place to go to that is convenient, local and unintimidating. For the foreseeable future there will be a need for community buildings which people are comfortable about entering , a common space where they find an appropriate range of resources and support, and where as a community they can exert genuine influence over what happens.

2.9 The features of a flourishing community information environment include:

1. a culture of participation, collaboration, information sharing and diversity.
2. available skills - communication skills, information handling skills, processing skills.
3. responsible gatekeepers - key local activists or professionals who are links between information and its applications.
4. 'occasions' - informal social opportunities where information is exchanged and refined in a social setting.
5. an appropriate administrative and physical infrastructure which encourages community development.
6. relevant, accessible content.

2.10 A neighbourhood with these features is likely to be a fertile environment for engaging and meeting the needs of people who are marginalised. Public libraries have an important role in helping to establish and sustain the flow of information within excluded groups and communities.

The Information Age - ICT for personal and community development

2.11 The Information Age has created fundamental social changes which call for policy action and for cultural adjustments at all levels of public service. These will be reflected in new kinds of social relationships, cross-sectoral partnerships, changes in patterns of communication, new ways of learning and new forms of mutual support.

2.12 These changes are occurring at a pace which many people find daunting and confusing. For those on the margins of our society, the potential benefits of enhanced information and communication often make no impression or are viewed as 'not for us'. Significant or growing gaps between those who have access to information and those who don't are unacceptable. Public library authorities and other local agencies have crucial roles to play in exploiting the new technologies to generate social cohesion, community involvement and participation. Communities which can exploit the Internet to improve links with public agencies, keep their political representatives informed, and establish economic connections, will have a greater chance of being sustainable than those that do not.

2.13 Opportunities which promote face-recognition, which reduce fear and isolation, and which promote communication, are fundamental to creating a socially inclusive society. Those responsible for ICT based services have a role in promoting such ‘connectedness’ within neighbourhoods, for example by promoting:

• IT Awareness days;
• the development of community calendars;
• the management of discussion lists on local issues;
• the preparation of newsletters and multimedia documents about the neighbourhood; and
• virtual reality community planning.

2.15 By providing access to ICT and encouraging library buildings to be used as neutral meeting places for residents, public library authorities can contribute significantly to community regeneration. Libraries which take the initiative, as many are already doing, to reach out to poorly connected and poorly informed residents of their locality, will be strengthening the social cohesiveness of their area or region. This activity needs to become the norm within libraries.

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Foreword by Chris Smith

Executive Summary of Key Policy Objectives

1 Why a Social Inclusion Policy for Public Libraries?

2 The Social Inclusion Context

3 Identifying the Barriers that Keep People Away

4The Social Inclusion Policy

5 Means of Achieving those Objectives

6 The Challenges that Libraries Face

7 The Consultation Process

Appendix A - Bibliography

Appendix B - Terms of Reference and List of Policy Group Members