UK: Government Commissioned Leadership for Libraries Taskforce Releases Progress Report

The progress discussed below was released earlier today.
From the Introduction of Report:

Libraries are highly valued by the public, providing a wide range of facilities and services to their communities. In order to examine how best to continue to do this in challenging economic times, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) jointly commissioned William Sieghart to produce an independent report. It was to consider the current structure and role of public libraries, including community libraries, in England as well as identifying any opportunities for future delivery.
Published in December 2014, the Independent Library Report for England recommended the setting up of a jointly sponsored (ministers and Local Government Association (LGA)) task and finish group to:

• provide leadership
• implement the recommendations
• help reinvigorate the public library service

The Taskforce, established by the Chair of LGA’s Culture, Tourism and Sport Board and Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy first met in March 2015.
Since then, the Taskforce has created a dynamic partnership that fosters and promotes different way of working across the library sector and beyond. This first six-monthly progress report sets out how the Taskforce has delivered specific actions against these priorities through the individual and collective input of its members. The report includes:

• an update on the Taskforce’s achievements, highlighting successes to date
• a summary of existing Taskforce activity
• proposed next steps and suggested areas of focus over the next six months
• annex A – background and structure of the Taskforce
• annex B – meetings with government departments
• annex C – Meetings with key partners and and library visits

Read the Complete Report: Leadership for Libraries Taskforce: six month progress report April – September 2015

Filed under: Libraries, Management and Leadership, News, Public Libraries