Flex muscle into public service delivery
Jinfo Blog

1st March 2010

By Joanna Ptolomey

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One of the real messages of 21st century public service delivery is the ‘joined up’ approach especially for local community planning – as I discussed in my last post on ‘capable communities’ [http://www.vivavip.com/go/e28030]. This includes not just libraries but health, police, social care, volunteering, sustainability and inclusion, and local businesses. So how does this more joined up approach make communities and its stakeholders more robust and thrive especially in a digital age? This was one of the key issues under discussion at the Edge2010 conference [#edge2010]. ‘Capable communities’ is about engaging and informing – but how would that actually happen? The question was asked, and quite rightly, are libraries the correct and only arena for engaging and informing stakeholders? And is there any evidence that it works? Susan Benton, President and CEO of American Urban Libraries, and a local authority worker of some 30 years, understands that strategically libraries are not reaching their full potential. There is a gap between the perceptions and reality about what libraries do and their impact. In the USA and Canada she reported that most chief executives have no idea how people are using e-resources for health, jobs and government issues. They are trying to be capable communities. Some interesting impact studies were reported by Susan such as the ‘Making cities stronger: public library contributions to local economic development’ [http://digbig.com/5bbdqp]. The interesting thing to note is the language used- the language of senior execs that are keen on big picture strategic ideas such as education, public safety, sustainability and inclusion and economic issues such as workforce development and worklessness. The use of other business and strategic language implies libraries mean business. Libraries are the ‘market intelligence’ in a community, and Susan Benton thinks that we need to take ownership and show leadership of this knowledge arena. Nicky Parker, head of libraries at Greater Manchester, is a librarian but is called a Transformation Manager. This immediately said so much more about what she did with her services. Like the call from Susan Benton, she talked the business talk but was also looking to show impact…..skilling-up people (worklessness and low skills), family services, and sustainable communities. Also they are no longer standalone library services, they are integrated into the big public service delivery model and in some cases have partners. Rather than public library services having to justify their costs, John Shipley Leader of Newcastle City Council considered libraries to be ‘cheap efficient services to create inclusion and encourage regeneration – value for money’. Are the Edge2010 public service delivery case studies ‘library services reborn’?

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