Our £80 million Community Libraries programme has funded 77 libraries in 58 local authorities across England since 2007. A key requirement of our funding was that projects must actively involve communities in their design, delivery and management. We have evaluated the programme in a study jointly commissioned with the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council
A few of the main findings follow:
- The most notable success of the programme has been to increase community involvement in libraries. Essential to this success was the requirement for projects to have a Community Engagement Plan, plus capital funding and revenue funding that could be used to buy in extra skills.
- Involvement in libraries manifests itself in different ways, most frequently by individuals volunteering in the delivery of added value services in the libraries.
- At its best, the programme has improved the quality of libraries as platforms of use by the community – involving, engaging and adding value.
- The inclusion of different spaces to support community activity has seen libraries across the programme becoming community hubs in a way that was not previously possible.
- There has been an increase in visits, in part because of the extended spaces. About a quarter of users stated they used the library more, and a similar proportion felt the library was busier and friendlier.
- The number of volunteers has increased, increasing the capacity of libraries and bringing in resources to deliver activities that would not otherwise be possible.
Read the full evaluation report, which discusses all these findings and more in detail, as well as making recommendations for libraries, local authorities and wider policy.
See a presentation of findings
Please contact us if you have any comments or questions.