Everybody's Reading Toolkit
OLDHAM
Project 1 - Partnerships between Youth and Community and Libraries
Aims
To take a strategic approach to increasing library membership.
To build a working partnership with the Youth Service.
To organize a Conference for the Youth Service and the Library Service.
Where
Throughout Oldham
Target Groups
Library staff and youth and community workers
What took place
This strategic approach to the project was born out of despair! I had been unable to make successful links with local youth organizations and even where I had established contact; schedules and timetables militated against Reading Lifelines' involvement. I had only 6 months to show a result.
I tried to work in the no mans land between the two services and I quickly discovered that it wouldn't work.
I needed to get the two services together and let them organise a way of working together that suited the needs of both services.
Meetings began in April and went on through May and June. The meetings included managers who could make decisions: an area manager in the youth service and the literature development officer in the library service. The chief librarian was also kept informed of the plans.
Together we planned a conference which would pair each youth centre with a library and give the services the time to plan events in libraries for youth groups.
This would ensure that:
- there was sufficient time for planning events.
- the planning would be directly relevant to the planned work going on in the youth clubs.
- the staff of the two services would be able to establish a working relationship.
- organisational barriers would be lifted.
The Conference Day
The day consisted of 4 sessions plus time for Action Planning.
- Session 1 - Photo play: making a short photo story.
- Session 2 - Library Games for groups.
- Session 3 - ICT and homework clubs.
- Session 4 - Writing groups.
Action Planning-where the paired services discuss and plan how they'll move forward and organize activities for groups in the library.
Tips, strengths and weaknesses
Tips
- 'Invite those who can make decisions in the library service and those who will have direct contact with the youth groups.
- You need a definite plan for what you want the partnership and the Conference Day to achieve.
- If possible the Conference Day needs to address the problems and difficulties raised by library staff e.g. time to liaise with youth organisations, managing the behavior of large groups in the library,
- Gaining support of managers; You'll need to go through the head of the library service and managers to make sure you have their support.
Strengths
- This way of working elevates the project's status in the eyes of the service because it's an attempt to solve problems in a systemic way.
- The working innovations required of the staff are supported because key staff are involved in the conference day and decision makers are fully consulted.
- The potential for reaching large numbers of young people is greater.
- The potential for building a sustained and broad programme of events and projects is greater because the whole service is involved and aware.
- There's a greater likelihood of Reading Lifelines surviving after the project deadline if the service is trained to take up the baton.
Weaknesses
- You don't get to do the one off projects that were originally envisaged by the Reading Lifelines' remit.
- This doesn't have the immediacy of small project work and can make you feel a little removed from the action.
- You are working inside the Council organisation therefore you have to move at it's pace.
Training Template
- Involve a small group of senior staff team in the planning of a joint conference and working proposal as outlined in Paula's content.
- Further training for youth workers and library staff could look at the following topics in more detail:
Similarities and differences in each others' working cultures
Passing on youth work skills in building relationships and dealing with conflict to library staff
Passing on library skills in using books as a tool to work with young people and stock knowledge
Funding, setting up projects and where to find equipment, session specialists and support
Project 2 - Mail shot mechanism to encourage lapsed users back into the library
Aims
My intention, when I first started was to set up a cascade mechanism to encourage the friends of library users back in to the library, that is, to ask users to ask their friends into the library
It was soon apparent that with so few users in this age group something else would be needed to make the necessary connection with a large group who had ceased to use the library.
Where
Oldham Borough- Broadway and Chadderton
Target Groups
Lapsed users of Broadway and Chadderton Libraries aged 16-25yrs
What took place
John Lenton(-Accessions) at Oldham Central printed off a set of names and addresses for both Chadderton and Broadway Libraries. The numbers of lapsed users in this age group alone were an astonishing 1000+. Most of them were lapsed by two years but some by many more. Not too many of them were bad debtors; 20 at most.
Method
I decided to try the Dragnet approach (more a marketing ploy) and to mail all the lapsed users. In addition I decided to include in the mail shot 2/3 invitations to give to their friends. I thought that this might have a number of effects:
- a direct and personalised letter might be more effective than a general, impersonal one
- if they could invite their friends they might be more willing to come in to the library- perhaps as a group
- the possible overlap of mailings might reinforce the effort the library was making
- the good design of the invitations would make them take the mailing seriously
The time scale for the mailings seemed to take months. My initial decision to go ahead was taken at the beginning of January. After that there were a number of practicalities to consider and permissions to be sought:
- ask Chief Librarian Richard Lambert to fund a speculative exercise to the cost of £270
- design the prototype myself,take it to council designers, seek a second opinion on the design, make revisions and give go -ahead on the final draft, get addresses of lapsed users on disc from central library, learn how to do mail-merge
- Include 19p per letter for posting = £190
From sources I was led to expect a 1-2% response from the mail-shots. If this estimate was correct we could anticipate between 10-30 new members. I estimated that if we were to get any response it would happen within 1 month.
Letters were sent to each branch library telling them of the mail shot and warning them of the possibility that some users may go astray and try to use the bookmark in libraries other than B'way or Chadderton. They were given the option of accepting it or of sending the user to the participating library. Either way instructions for use were included.
Tips, strengths and weaknesses
Tips
- 'Encourage all local libraries to participate -on reflection I don't think it was a good idea to restrict it to two.
- Don't link it to friends -the young people may have regarded having to invite friends as an onerous task. Keep it simple and just invite them.
- Learn how to do a mail-merge -handwriting envelopes takes far too long!!
- I might have over complicated it by adding on freebies that were dependent on friends joining. Again keep it simple
Strengths
- With a mail-shot you can contact a lot of prospective users
- It's a direct method
- It should be a good bet that those who were once members might come back with a little encouragement
- If it works it's cheap
Weaknesses
- Unless someone responds it's impossible to find out where you've gone wrong
- It's tempting to overcomplicate the information and say too much
- It's not personal and doesn't address why people become lapsed users
- It's quite expensive if it doesn't work
Training Template
This project is a useful piece of work to allocate to on central member of staff, or a number of people in a central location. Paula's tip on keeping things simple seems the main message to come out of the project.
The staff training issue would be learning how to use mail-merge on the computer. This is available in many basic computer manuals or could be introduced as a half day training session with support from experienced admin staff from another department or from an IT central training unit.
Time To Read currently has a full time paid co-ordinator, supported by Arts Coucil of England and Museums, Libraries and Archives, North West.