UK: First Openly-Available Public Libraries Contact Database Now Available from Collections Trust

From a Collections Trust Announcement:

The UK’s first openly-available public libraries contact database has gone live as a result of a major data development project initiated by the Collections Trust, a not-for profit organisation which promotes excellence in collections and adds value for their users. The information is freely available on the Government’s data.gov.uk database.
The dataset comprises a list of the UK’s 4,040 public libraries and contains unique identifiers, branch-names, postal addresses, telephone, email and web addresses where known. It was compiled as a result of the Trust’s Find a Library website, which encouraged users to find the location of libraries.
It has been published in association with Association of Cultural Enterprises, The Society of Chief Librarians, CILIP: The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, UK Online, and the BBC. SCL President Nicky Parker says: “This incredibly useful resource is welcomed by all libraries and puts us one step closer to SCL’s goal of building a single point of contact for public libraries on the web.”
The database was originally developed from legacy People’s Network information, which was cross-referenced with more recent datasets from UK Online and the BBC. Updates were also received from Public Libraries and the public got involved by responding to the Put Your Library on the Map campaign in February, when they were able to update library details via their Smartphones.

Read the Complete Announcement Including Comment from Collections Trust CEO, Nick Poole
Download the Dataset (via data.gov.uk)

Filed under: Data Files, Libraries, Patrons and Users, Public Libraries, Resources