Time For A Change Toolkit
RECOMMENDATIONS
We are aware that here in North West England we are in a currently unique and advanced position to move forward co-operatively with reader development. The activities which the co-ordinator is taking forward, described briefly below, could serve as a model for other regions.
Priorities for action so far:
- To strengthen and support the Time To Read partnership through regular meetings and development of a website which all partner authorities contribute to.
- Visits and regular contact with individual Time To Read members and authorities ensure that staff feel part of a larger project
- A training plan to be offered across the region is currently being drawn up and will be delivered during the period Sept 2003 - Sept 2004
- To promote new and contemporary writing, the first Poetry Readers Day aimed at readers' group members across the region was delivered on June 28th. In addition the co-ordinator is assisting with design and delivery of large-scale outdoor events on National Poetry Day in 6 separate authorities as well as drawing up a strategy and securing funding for future reader's days.
- To forge and sustain partnerships with a focus on reading, liaison with outside agencies and business organisations for the benefit of partner authorities such as Libraries NW, Resource, Arts & Business, the NW Cultural Consortium is ongoing. New partners are continually sought in order to develop future joint working.
- In order to develop a regional strategy for reader development some mapping of activity across the region happened early. This is now being updated and a draft strategy will be circulated for consultation before being passed for approval to the region's Chief Library Officers.
- An important area is evaluation of reader development activity, as well as more co-ordinated marketing. New models of evaluation are continually developing within individual authorities. A co-ordinator can monitor these and make recommendations.
- Developing marketing campaigns across a number of authorities can result in economies of scale and enable more effective marketing.
Librarians in the North West have pioneered partnership working to encourage new readers into libraries. Time To Read is a partnership of librarians engaged in reader development activity in public library authorities in the North West Region. All 23 public library authorities in the region currently support Time To Read.