Tameside Libraries
Social Inclusion Strategy
2007/8– 2009/10
Summary
This document can be made available on audio tape, in
larger print, in Braille and in electronic format as well as in
Bangla, Chinese, Gujarati and Urdu.
Please ask at you local Library or contact the Libraries
Service Inclusion Coordinator, Rachel Gee.
Telephone: 0161 342 2232 (textphone users dial direct
using the prefix 18001).
Contents
Page
Purpose
3
Exclusion and inclusion – brief definitions
3
Government agenda
3
Tameside MBC
5
Tameside Libraries Social Inclusion Strategy
Reading and Lifelong Learning
7
Digital Skills and Services
10
Community Focus and Inclusion
12
References
18
2
Purpose
This strategy document outlines the context of social inclusion both
nationally and locally and then looks at the challenges facing Tameside
Libraries and the way we intend to meet them.
Exclusion and Inclusion – brief definitions
The Government describes the term social exclusion as ‘a shorthand term
for what can happen when people or areas suffer from a combination of
linked problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, unfair
discrimination, poor housing, high crime, bad health and family
breakdown.’1 The Social Exclusion Unit stated that ‘The risk factors for
social exclusion tend to cluster in certain neighbourhoods, but not
everybody at risk lives in a deprived area’ 2 and ‘problems [faced by the
socially excluded] are linked and mutually reinforcing so that they can
create a vicious cycle in people’s lives.’ 3
Social Inclusion is concerned with breaking these cycles of deprivation and
reducing social exclusion. McDonald and Olley break this down further and
state that ‘Inclusion is the process where varying needs of a community,
and groups that constitute it, are recognised and priorities met. It is the
positive management of diversity, to which all organisations should aspire.’4
Government agenda
In his speech to launch the Social Exclusion Unit in December 1997 the
Prime Minister stated that ‘at the heart of all [the Government’s] work, is
one central theme: national renewal. Britain re-built as one nation, in which
each citizen is valued and has a stake; in which no-one is excluded from
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opportunity and the chance to develop their potential; in which we make it,
once more, our national purpose to tackle social division and inequality.’ 5
Since Tony Blair delivered that landmark speech in 1997 tackling social
exclusion has been one of the Government’s highest priorities, and Public
Libraries are viewed as a key player in combating inequalities that
communities and individuals face. In 1999 Secretary of State for Culture,
Media and Sport, Chris Smith stated that the Government wants ‘libraries to
be at the very heart of the communities they serve, allowing everyone,
irrespective of their age or social background, to have access to the widest
possible range of information, knowledge and services.’ 6
The most influential Government report concerning Libraries in recent years
is Framework for the Future (2003). This document embodies the
Government’s vision for libraries during the next decade and states that
libraries should have three areas of activity at the heart of their modern
mission, one of these being ‘measures to tackle social exclusion, build
community identity and develop citizenship.’ 7
The MLA has built on this statement in The Framework for the Future:
Action Plan 2006-08 8 by listing a number of ambitions that relate to social
inclusion. The plan states that public libraries will:
• Put people first, listening to and engaging with all communities,
changing and modernising services to respond to their needs
• Provide access to opportunities for every person and a gateway
in every community to the world of creativity, knowledge, skills
and information
• Pay particular attention to how the needs of children, families and
younger people and those in greatest need can be met
4
• Exploit libraries’ potential to provide access to and be champions
of reading, making it engaging, fun and accessible to all
• Modernise library buildings, spaces and services to meet the
needs and expectations of communities
Tameside MBC
Tameside MBC is committed to tackling social exclusion. The Council’s
priority areas are:
•
Education
•
The appearance of the Borough
•
Public safety and combating crime
•
Stimulating the economy to produce more and better jobs
These are directly linked to the themes in Tameside’s Community
Strategy 9 that were agreed as a direct result of consultation with residents
of the Borough.
•
Supportive communities [‘We want a cohesive community, where
there are strong and positive relationships between people from all
backgrounds and cultures, in the workplace, schools and neighbourhoods, and where all people have similar life opportunities’ 10]
•
Prosperous Society
•
Healthy Population
•
Safe Environment
•
Learning Community
•
Attractive Borough
Tameside Council’s commitment to social inclusion has also been
demonstrated in the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy 2004/2006 11,
Corporate Equality Plan 2005/08 12, Equal opportunities policy 13 and
5
attaining level 3 of the Equalities Standard for Local Government with plans
to reach level 5 by 2010.
Tameside Libraries
Our Mission is to be a continually improving modern library service that is
responsive to the needs of the local community, having at its heart the
promotion of reading and lifelong learning in its widest sense, access to
digital skills and services, and the provision of facilities which are open,
accessible and inclusive and play a significant part in establishing the local
community identity.
This mission statement is supported by 14 service aims14 that are grouped
under 3 broad subject areas.
•
Reading and Lifelong Learning
•
Digital Skills and Services
•
Community Focus and Inclusion
Tameside Libraries Social Inclusion Strategy will look at these 3 broad
areas, the challenge of delivering inclusive services, and how we intend to
meet those challenges.
6
Reading and Lifelong Learning
Challenge
To provide material
in community
How we will meet the challenge
We will provide access to books and periodicals in
the Borough’s predominant community languages.
languages and stock We will buy material by Black and Asian authors.
which reflects the
cultural diversity of
our community.
We will consider the needs of migrant workers
We will monitor the ethnic make up of the population
of Tameside and respond accordingly.
We will provide a Home Library Service to cater for
members of the community who are housebound, in
To provide library
services to people
who cannot access
our static libraries.
residential care, or are full time carers of adults or
children with disabilities.
We will provide Book Access Points in isolated
communities subject to demand.
We will work with the Children’s Centres to ensure
that children, their parents and carers can access
books.
We will buy material to support adult literacy and
Provide material to
numeracy at a suitable level using recommendations
support the
by training providers, the Literacy Trust and the
Government’s Skills
Reading Agency.
for Life agenda.
We will create moving on collections that include
Quick Read titles.
8
We will ensure that sufficient materials are available
in a variety of formats to meet a variety of needs and
this principle is embedded in our Stock Policy.
We will ensure that all of our staff are able to advise
where customers can access formats we are unable
To provide access to
material in different
formats
to stock such as Braille and Moon.
We will provide reservations for large print and
talking books free of charge to our visually impaired
customers to support their access to core services.
We will make sure that all staff are aware of the Bee
Aware scheme that lets us use the Inter Library Loan
system to borrow items we do not have in stock.
We will keep up to date with new formats that
become available
To ensure that tutors We will deliver structured class visits for literacy
and learners are
students
aware of the benefits We will sell the library message to tutors via regular
of using libraries
meetings and newsletters
To provide learning
We will work together with learning providers to offer
opportunities that
formal and informal learning opportunities in literacy
support Inspiring
and numeracy.
Learning for All.
We will work with partners to offer learning for
pleasure classes.
We will offer ESOL and citizenship classes in
partnership with providers and ESOL support
material.
9
We will use the Generic Learning Outcomes to
evaluate the success of the learning opportunities we
offer.
We will support national learning campaigns and
offer appropriate activities.
To ensure that
We will gain professional input in the selection of
Tameside meets the
stock for a dyslexia collection and continue to buy
Dyslexia Friendly
books aimed at children and young people with
Library Standards
dyslexia.
To support national
We will sign up to national literacy campaigns where
literacy campaigns
appropriate and promote them through our libraries,
and promote them to through outreach and through contact with other
our partners
professionals
Digital Skills and Services
Challenge
How we will meet the challenge
We will provide tiered provision of inclusive software
and hardware to serve people with disabilities and
To provide inclusive
technology in our
computer learning
centres
community language needs. Developments in this
area will be monitored by the Service Inclusion
Coordinator.
Our customers will be able to use the standard
accessibility options available on all PCs.
Library staff trained on how to use the standard
Microsoft accessibility options
10
To Improve usage
and increased
access to ICT
learning by the local
We will offer a range of low-cost IT courses in our
libraries
community
We will operate an Accessibility Passport scheme to
To ensure that
people who need
inclusive technology
know about our
resources and can
access them easily
aid customers who use the Microsoft accessibility
options in our Computer Learning Centres
We will run a 1-2-1 computer help service with
volunteers who are aware of the windows
accessibility options and the inclusive technology
available in libraries.
We will promote our accessibility technology to
professionals, community groups and individuals.
To use technology to
improve access to
library resources and
services for people
who have difficulty
accessing our static
Libraries.
We will offer remote access to a range of Reference
material via the internet.
We will offer our customers remote access to the
library catalogue and their personal record.
We will make our photographic archives available
online and endeavour to catalogue archival and local
studies materials using a CALM database that will be
available online.
11
Community Focus and Inclusion
Challenge
How we will meet the challenge
We will consult excluded groups about their needs
and implement results.
To consult groups
that are traditionally
considered hard to
reach.
We will collect equalities data during all consultation
and evaluation exercises and evaluate it to highlight
significant trends.
We will consult participants in the Homeless families
play and learning project.
We will consult visually impaired customers to
ensure we are meeting their needs.
To provide services
and resources that
are relevant to
communities, and
groups that make up
those communities.
We will consult users and non-users and work with
community workers and agencies that operate at
grass roots level to gain local knowledge
We will measure the effectiveness of our services by
monitoring usage (stock and visitors) and
membership as part of agreed targets listed in our
Business Plan.
We will celebrate different cultures and provide
To ensure that we
appropriate activities, making sure they are
provide activities that welcoming to all members of the community.
reflect the needs of
We will encourage the setting up of Readers’ Groups
the community for
with excluded groups
adults and children
We will work with partners to offer services and
activities to Homeless Families and children in care.
12
To ensure that
collections of
archives and local
We will collect material relating to Tameside’s Black
history material
Minority Ethnic population
reflects Tameside’s
diverse communities
To remove barriers
to joining
We will remove barriers to joining the library to
ensure all members of the community have access
to our services
We will provide buildings that are in a good state of
To provide buildings
repair and decoration.
that are welcoming
We will provide multilingual and colour contrasted
to all members of the signage
community
We will ensure that our buildings have a six monthly
health and safety check.
We will ensure that attitudes to social inclusion are a
criteria for staff recruitment.
To ensure that all
We will make equalities and inclusion a standing
staff have an
item at our staff team briefings.
understanding of
We will have an Equalities champion to lead on all
social inclusion
Equalities issues for Libraries and make sure that
issues and the
staff are briefed on all developments regarding the
appropriate
equalities Standard for Local Government.
commitment and
The Service Inclusion Coordinator will ensure that
understanding to
Work Group Managers are informed about all
address social
inclusion issues.
exclusion.
We will embed equalities and inclusion themed
action plans in to our annual business plan and
report on them accordingly.
13
All staff will undertake training on customer care
standards that includes an equalities element written
by the Service Inclusion Coordinator.
We will commit to providing all staff equalities
training once every 2 years as a minimum to comply
with the Performance Indicator for the Equalities
To provide staff
Standard for Local Government.
training to support
All our frontline staff will receive Early Years
our inclusion
Awareness training and Enquiry training that
objectives
includes equalities elements regarding services to
young people.
Our Service Inclusion Coordinator will attend l
relevant internal courses listed in the corporate
training calendar and advise the Service Delivery
and Inclusion Manager and Service Operations
Manager on their suitability for library staff.
To ensure that our
buildings and service
points meet the
demands of the
Our buildings will be audited in terms of the Disability
Disability
Discrimination Act.
Discrimination Act in
terms of physical
access.
To ensure continual
improvement and
best practice in
terms of social
We will benchmark our services in terms of inclusion
as appropriate.
inclusion.
14
We will make contact with other agencies and
networks in Tameside that work with socially
excluded groups and wherever possible form
To champion the
validity of libraries as
potential partners in
tackling social
exclusion
partnerships to provide supportive services.
We will invite professionals and agencies for
familiarisation visits to increase their knowledge of
our services.
We will ask other professionals for input in to stock
selection in their specialist areas.
We will continue to be a member of The Network
tackling social exclusion in Libraries, Museums,
Archives and Galleries.
We will ensure that all our information leaflets are
written in plain English.
We will ensure that our leaflets can be made
To provide
available in the following formats as necessary - in
accessible
large print, on audio cassette, electronically, in
information leaflets
Braille, and in our community languages.
When producing new leaflets we will follow our inhouse accessible printed information guidelines
where appropriate.
To ensure that all
new services and
We will evaluate changes in our services and
policies have been
policies using the Equality impact/needs assessment
assessed in terms of process.
Equalities issues.
15
To provide services
that are reasonably
priced with a system
We will review library fees and charges annually
of concessionary
rates
We will market the library service to excluded groups
and individuals, and list details of how we intend to
do so in our business plan.
We will contact professionals and agencies that work
with people from excluded groups and promote our
Increase the
knowledge that
socially excluded
groups have of
library services.
services to them.
We will produce guides to our services for the
visually impaired, deaf, and those who need adaptive
technology to access IT.
We will provide publicity material and information
leaflets for our Home Library Service
We will provide service guides in Tameside’s
predominant Asian languages and distribute them
via relevant community groups.
We will promote our services to residents of
supported housing units
To make sure that
We will work towards recruiting and retaining a
libraries are easy to
culturally diverse workforce that reflects the
contact for all
communities in Tameside.
members of the
We will provide access to interpreters in over 150
community
languages via the Language line service.
We will have a dedicated textphone number and staff
trained to use minicoms.
16
Customers are able to contact us in a variety of ways
including via fax and SMS text message, two
methods identified during consultation that are
becoming increasingly popular with members of the
deaf community.
We will advertise the RNID Typetalk service in our
libraries and add the following statement to our
publicity material: Textphone users can contact all
libraries via RNID typetalk. Dial direct using the
18001 prefix before the library telephone number.
We will have a hearing loop in every library.
We will provide BSL interpreters and lip speakers as
needed via the Tameside Interpreter and
Communications Service.
17
References
1. ODPM (2004) Tackling Social Exclusion: Taking stock and looking to the
future: Emerging Findings. March 2004, p. 4.
2. Social Exclusion Unit (2004) Breaking the Cycle: Taking stock of progress
and priorities for the future. September 2004, p.7.
3. Social Exclusion Unit (2004) Breaking the Cycle: Taking stock of progress
and priorities for the future. September 2004, p.7.
4. McDonald, V. & Olley, D. (2002). Aspiring to inclusion: a handbook for
councils and other organisations. Suffolk County Council. August 2002, p.29
5. Blair, Tony. (1997) Bringing Britain Together. Speech, 8 December 1997.
http://www.socialexclusion.gov.uk/downloaddoc.asp?id=61
p. 2.
6. DCMS (1999) Libraries for all: Social Inclusion in Public Libraries. October
1999. p.4.
7. DCMS (2003). Framework for the future: Libraries, learning and information
in the next decade. February 2003, p. 23.
8. MLA (2006). Framework for the future: Action plan 2006-08. Online.
http://www.mla.gov.uk/resources/assets//A/Action_plan_2006_08_9989.doc
p.4
9. Tameside MBC (2003). Tameside’s Community Strategy 2003-13
p. 3.
18
10. Tameside MBC (2003). Tameside’s Community Strategy 2003-13. p. 5.
11. Tameside Strategic Partnership (2004). Tameside’s Neighbourhood
Renewal Strategy. Online.
http://www.tameside.gov.uk/tmbc8/renewalstrategy.pdf
12. Tameside MBC (2005). Corporate Equality Plan 2005/2008. Online.
http://www.tameside.gov.uk/tmbc8/cep_res0508.pdf
13. Tameside MBC (2006). Equal Opportunities Policy. Online.
http://www.tameside.gov.uk/tmbc6/equaloppor.htm
14. Tameside MBC (2006). Tameside Libraries: Mission Statement and
Service Aims. Online.
http://www.tameside.gov.uk/libraries/mission.htm
Rachel Gee - Service Inclusion Coordinator
Libraries Service Unit
Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council
February 2007
19