John Holden
Head of Culture
John Holden is Head of Culture at Demos and a visiting Professor at City University. He has Masters Degrees in law and art history and is the author of an influential body of work on cultural value and on leadership
at 2:56pm on Friday, 7th December 2007
More than half the population have a library card and the number of visits to public libraries is on the increase - 342 million, more than football matches, heritage sites, museums and theatres combined. Every local tax payer funds public libraries, which cost about £1 billion a year to run, and are among the most loved and trusted public services. But over the last few years, a heated debate has been going on about the direction that libraries should take, and about where and how resources should be invested. This article, by John Holden, Head of Culture at Demos and Yinnon Ezra, Director of Heritage and Recreation at Hampshire County Council looks at some of these debates and argues that the future of our libraries should lie in the hands of local people.
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Hi John/Yinnon,
This is a really interesting article, and timely given the recent tight Local Government settlement. I was at an LGA conference recently on <A HREF="http://www.lga.gov.uk/Briefing.asp?lsection=758&id=SX120A-A784D4D6&ccat=426">engaging citizens through libraries</A>. There was a lot of comment around the unique position of libraries as a place for the state and the citizen to interact. As an institution they obviously enjoy high levels of public trust and are one of the few genuinely inter-generational public spaces that exist right across the country. As such they should be at the forefront of community empowerment drives and a focal point for building community conscience.
I'm particularly interested in where you say "in rural communities...for example, small branches threatened by falling use and diminishing resources are being rescued by volunteers and the people who use them". Through <A HREF="http://www.lga.gov.uk/OurWork.asp?ccat=1327">the Innovation Forum</A> I'm currently involved in a project with Durham CC and the Co-Op which is looking at the potential for engaging the private sector in supporting Library provision, as well as using co-location of Libraries and Co-Op stores in small rural towns as a catalyst and focus point for community empowerment.
I'm interested in your thoughts around using the private sector in such a central/visible way within cultural provision, and whether you think it might be a lot for even some your "diversifiers" to stomach?