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Libraries and Multicultural communities in UK. Gillian Harris Gillian.harris@towerhamlets.gov.uk. Libraries and Multicultural Communities in UK. Libraries and Multicultural Communities in the UK. Demographics Award-winning library services Elements for good service development.
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Libraries and Multicultural communities in UK Gillian Harris Gillian.harris@towerhamlets.gov.uk Libraries and Multicultural Communities in UK
Libraries and Multicultural Communities in the UK • Demographics • Award-winning library services • Elements for good service development
Multi-cultural Communities • New arrivals • Families of settled people • Refugees • Asylum seekers • Migrant workers • Seasonal workers • Students • Mixed race people • Settled communities • English as second language • English as first language
The NetworkTackling social exclusion in libraries, museums, archives and galleries http://www.seapn.org.uk/default.asp?page_id=2
Welcome to your Library Project Libraries support reading, learning and information literacy Libraries are gateways to other services. Libraries are vital spaces for positive interaction and a place for people from different backgrounds to come together and share experiences. www.welcometoyourlibrary.org.uk/default.asp
Three rules for winning support Never assume that others understand what the library does or what it takes to do it. Take every opportunity to educate them Ask! Research shows that even people who don’t use the library appreciate its role and wish to support it Don’t do this alone – your message is most powerful when others speak up for you http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/olos/toolkits/rural_toolkit.pdf
Diversity Group of Cilip Diversity Award 2010 London Borough of Southwark, Rotherhithe Library Engaging with the Somali and Latin American Communities in Southwark Runner-Up Coventry University Ethnicity and Study Skills: active intervention in the library setting http://www.cilip.org.uk/get-involved/special-interest-groups/diversity/Pages/default.aspx
Libraries Change Lives http://www.cilip.org.uk/about-us/medalsandawards/libraries-change-lives/pages/lclawardintro.aspx
National Programmes The Reading Agency: Six Book Challenge http://www.sixbookchallenge.org.uk// The Book Trust: book-gifting programmes http://www.booktrust.org.uk/Bookgifting-schemes
Elements for Good Service Development • Good and appropriate resources • Knowledgeable staff • Understanding of the needs of the different communities
“Using the Needs-Based Library approach will cover Strategy, Structure, Systems and Culture - all of these must be aligned if the needs of multicultural communities are to be met. We used this holistic approach in Lincolnshire to good effect. We did not rely on special services or project based work - we took a whole service approach to meeting needs. And we did not merely consult on ideas we had already come up with - we genuinely engaged and involved local communities in the design, planning, delivery and evaluation of library services.” John Pateman
Resources http://www.seapn.org.uk/resources/ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-480265/Libraries-stocking-books-preach-terrorism-hatred.html# • http://www.outsideinworld.org.uk/
Staff training • Awareness of the culture and needs of local communities • Communication skills • Listening skills • Negotiation skills • Dealing with conflict • http://www.seapn.org.uk/events
Encompass http://www.cilip.org.uk/jobs-careers/qualifications/encompass/pages/aboutencompass.aspx In the UK, one person in thirteen comes from an ethnic minority. Among library & information staff, it could be as few as one in forty-four.
New Library Buildings • http://www.mla.gov.uk/news_and_views/news/2009/September/Northolt_library • http://www.mla.gov.uk/news_and_views/news/2009/July/Manningham_library • http://www.mla.gov.uk/news_and_views/news/2009/April/Luton_central
A positive thread that is running through this is the desire to maintain and develop services for people in real need (and to try to continue universal services which improve the lives of everyone). How far this is successful will depend on local political decision-making, and, right now, this is volatile. However, it is likely that there will be a reduction in the kinds of provision which we know reaches people who may not otherwise take up our services - Certainly there is already a reduction in the number of staff involved in these activities - and this is shameful at a time when all the research points to the need to close the gap between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots'. John Vincent, The Network