Libraries for the 21st Century

Engaging with our Communities

Track 04 – speaker 3

Jean Palmer

Andrew Malin

Our presentation will cover:

• Link back to our presentation yesterday.

• Context and statistics prior to our review.

• Theme for this presentation will be PEOPLE.

Hillingdon Council

• Hillingdon is located in North West London and stretches from the Buckinghamshire border in the north to Heathrow Airport in the south. It is a key gateway into West London and the United Kingdom.

• At 42 square miles Hillingdon is the second largest of London's 32 boroughs as well as the Corporation of the City of London.

© Crown Copy righ t. A ll righ ts res erved. London Borough o f Hillingdon

100019283 2008

What our customers were telling us…

Only 29% said:

“the choice and condition of books is very good”

Only 28% said:

“attractiveness of the library is very good”

Only 20% said:

“computer facilities are very good”

A presentation with a twist !

• They say a picture says a thousand words

– have a look at these.

• They demonstrate clearly how we have

engaged with all people representing our

diverse community.

Engaging with the wider Community

• How have we reached diverse sections of

our communities ?

• How have we increased popularity across

established groups?

Engaging with local community groups

• Throughout the year organised events and themed sessions are held each month.

• There is always something new to see or do at the local branch library.

• These range from our annual reading challenge, national competitions, through to themed day and evening classes and workshops.

What are the events? • Examples of these include:

— Cakes and Crosswords

— IT tuition for ECDL*

— Coffee mornings/afternoons

— Games afternoons

— Story time for the children

— Reading groups

— Creative writing

— Craft, art and dance sessions

— (* European Computer Driving Licence)

Advertising the events

• The Councils Website publicises the events.

• Posters are put up in all borough libraries.

• In addition local interested parties are

contacted – e.g. local groups, schools and

community societies and the adult education

service.

Advertising the events and schemes

• We also work in partnership with the Primary Care Trust to promote events and National initiatives such as the BookstartScheme.

• 3,300 children are entitled to a free book pack this year.

Promotion of the Book Start scheme 2008

• A full programme of celebrations featuring

competitions, story times, fancy dress and baby

yoga.

• Promotional material is distributed to shopping

and health centres, schools and local community

groups.

To promote Bookstart 2008

• To promote the whole event Pirate fever is

sweeping across the borough!

• Bookstart Book Crawl launches mid Oct 08 with

high profile launch of canal trips, Gymboree,

early years drama workshops and special

appearance by the Bookstart bear at story time.

Examples of posters used to advertise

events – October 2008 is Pirate month.

A satisfied customer!

The Summer Reading Challenge 2008

• Part of the National Year of Reading

Campaign it was the 10th Annual

challenge.

• Featuring a sporty theme, it tied in with

high profile sporting events such as

Wimbledon, Euro 2008 and the Olympics.

The Summer Reading challenge 2008

• Activities were designed to encourage

membership at libraries and included ;

• Story times, craft sessions, creative

writing and celebration parties.

• 6,503 children joined the challenge this

year.

Posters from other events

Who attends these events?

• The outreach programme at the libraries

encourages participation from people of all

ages, and with varying skills and abilities.

• The rich diversity of our local community is

actively represented at these workshops.

• The variety and range of subject matters

offered to customers is appreciated by those

who attend.

Games afternoons

Games afternoon

Cakes and crosswords – an event held

throughout the borough

Cakes and Crosswords This event introduces library users to the IT

equipment at the Library and how to

undertake research on the Internet using

specialised software and thesaurus.

The informal atmosphere enables people

to relax and enjoy both the facilities and

the company of the other attendees.

The afternoon sessions are very popular with our

retired residents, shift pattern workers and part-

time students.

The groups are

normally a maximum

of 10 people - this

ensures that the tutor

has time to spend

with each individual

customer.

Story time

Story time and younger users

• The story time sessions are popular and

well attended.

• They are held after school and on

Saturday mornings.

• Local branch librarians will also visit

schools and run events within the

classroom environment to promote the

library service.

Story telling project

• Focuses on engagement with under 11 year olds.

• Fosters partnerships and encourages participation.

• Stakeholders include schools, voluntary sector, the elderly local authors and health services.

Story telling – involving volunteer

storytellers

Story sharers aims to produce a collection

of stories contributed by local people

across the borough. The contributors are

from different backgrounds and age

groups.

Story time with local community volunteers

Story time sessions

• Our librarians often select the story book theme based on other events being held in the borough or National initiatives.

• This Spring the theme at Harefield branch focused on a National TV Campaign on the BBC called ‘Springwatch’. It was based around wildlife preservation and environmental issues.

Boys into books

• This is a 5-11 yr old reader development

project.

• It improves literacy skills especially

amongst children from less advantaged

backgrounds and boys.

• Helps with Peer support.

Involving new younger customers

• In previous years there has been a declining

enrolment level at the libraries amongst boys

and young male adults.

• To address this we have introduced new book

stock and other activities which now engage

with subjects in which they have an interest.

Creative learning, literacy and conversation

Evening events for older children and

adults

• The evening events have encouraged older children, teenagers and young adults into the libraries.

• We focus on more modern subject matters and embrace current trends. This helps to retain the customer base.

Evening events

• In February this year we held a very successful Manga evening.

• Other computer technology evenings have also been popular - including Nintendo Wiigames evenings.

Wii – enjoying the game

Wii evening – Bowling !

Modern IT equipment and electronic

services at each branch

• Each branch has state of the art IT equipment available.

• Free Internet access is offered to all library users.

• The branches also run ECDL accredited courses to teach basic IT skills.

• Many children use the facility where they do not have access to these facilities at home.

IT equipment

• Local branch libraries have a selection of

PC’s available including Apple IMacs.

• Hillingdon Council is working in

partnership with Apple to set up

accredited Apple training centres at some

of the branches.

Child using Apple IMAC

Homework clubs

After school Homework clubs are run at branches, where children of a similar age can research and complete assignments.

Homework club

• Subjects covered at the sessions are linked

to the national curriculum.

• These groups provide an excellent

environment to discuss and research subjects

in safe and supervised surroundings.

Homework club

It is a good opportunity for children to meet

and engage with children from other schools in

the area.

Engaging with users who speak English as

a second language

• In Hillingdon we have a diverse community with people from many ethnic backgrounds.

• Our libraries stock books written in many other languages.

• Many events at branch libraries reflect the language needs of the local ethnic community.

Partnerships enhancing local engagement

projects

• A partnership between Healthy Hillingdon, Hillingdon Library service and Hillingdon HOPE developed the highly successful ‘Welcome to Your Library’ (WTYL) project of during 2006-2008.

• This is an action-learning project for effective library service engagement with refugee and asylum seekers.

Welcome to your library

Welcome to your library

• Through the work of WTYL, Hillingdon

libraries demonstrated their value and

appeal for minority groups in offering

neutral community-based venues that

promote learning, integration and

engagement.

Welcome to your library

• Encouraging participation, the value of community and the importance of well-being were key factors in the success of the Hillingdon WTYL project.

• Such themes are now embedded in the way individual libraries seek to engage their local communities. The lessons learned and the confidence built through WTYL has provided a solid foundation of good practice that is currently being rolled out across the borough.

Punjab Radio celebrating art project in

partnership with Yeading school -open day.

Adult learners enrolment

Yoga celebrating the Week of the Elderly

Citizenship question workshop

Coffee mornings

Coffee mornings

Women's group

Reflexology for the Elderly

Arts, craft and culture at the libraries

• Other events include dance, theatre, musical and crafts workshops.

• Regular exhibitions are held and many of the art pieces are created by local artists.

• Contributors have acquired their skills through study at the Adult Education Centres in Hillingdon.

Literary Groups

Creative writing workshops

Dance

Theatre

Music

Art

Crafts workshop

Crafts – working with people with learning

difficulties

Celebrating success

• Many of the learners in the borough use

the library facilities and resources in

conjunction with the adult education

tuition at our dedicated centres.

• We have an annual award evening to

celebrate their success.

Celebrating – Learners success

Our libraries are used by local groups and

societies for various meetings or informal

gatherings.

Sri Lankan New Year celebration

Our buildings attract visitors

• The 17 libraries within the borough vary

greatly in size, architectural style and age

of the buildings.

• They all have a loyal customer base, and

many are used as community centres and

a local resource for group meetings.

A selection of the library buildings

We are proud that our libraries are a focal point

within our community - for all the residents to enjoy