New Library: : The People’s Network

Citation

Poustie, K. (1998), "New Library: : The People’s Network", Library Management, Vol. 19 No. 5, pp. 342-343. https://doi.org/10.1108/lm.1998.19.5.342.3

This report was commissioned from the Library and Information Commission by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Electronic copy is available at: http://www. ukoln.ac.uk/services/lic/newlibrary/

This visionary report would have to rank among the most exciting publications that any modern public library manager can read. Prepared in three months by a working group chaired by Matthew Evans, chairman of Faber and Faber and the Library and Information Commission, New Library has the potential to take Britain’s public libraries forward to the new millennium as transformed and vibrant centres of learning and communication and as community hubs for the people to access a networked Britain.

Most importantly, it also highlights the role of the public library as the access point for books, browsing, quiet contemplation and study.

After years of funding cuts and threats of competitive tendering and other economic rationalist imposed local government reforms, public libraries in Britain seemed to be doomed to declining book votes, charging for value‐added services and a waning role in the life of local communities. This report foreshadows a vital and indispensable public library service that will enable Britain to be at the leading edge of investment in the skills base and education of its people.

The report concisely and effectively details the steps that will be needed to create a networked Britain which provides access points for all through its public library system. It also clearly voices the financial outlay that will be required ‐ £770 million.

The handsome publication discusses the following:

• •

  the potential of the networked public library;

• •

  the results of a small qualitative research programme;

• •

  the training requirements for public library staff to enable networking;

• •

  the infrastructure and management needs to fulfil the vision of the networked service;

• •

  the use of smart card technology and the requirement for free access at the point of service delivery;

• •

  copyright and licensing issues; and

• •

  the requirement for performance measures in monitoring the developed services.

It also addresses the implementation of the network and the funding of it in pragmatic terms, with an emphasis on the network being a public service and not coming into the control of commercial interests. The role of the librarian as the honest broker of information is highlighted, as is the role of the emerging information and communication technologies as the new literacy.

A central co‐ordinating body for the project would be a public library networking agency, a small tight‐knit body with a UK‐wide remit. The public library network would also be connected to other networks such as SuperJANET, the academic network and various commercial and public networks. The whole information grid would then be available to the population through public libraries. The report should also be read in conjunction with the National Grid for Learning proposals.

This report is essential reading for public library managers all over the world. It encompasses what many of us have been trying to impress on our political masters in recent times. If Britain’s Blair Government takes the challenge and moves with this report then, in the words of the report, Britain will take “a quantum leap forward into the information society”, and so will its public libraries if public library managers grasp this wonderful opportunity to recreate their futures.