Local Authority Annual Library Plans (Appendix One).

Please state if the Plan has been approved by your authority's full Council or if it is a draft Plan. If a draft, state if the Plan has been approved by the Executive Committee (or similar) and when the full Council will meet to consider the Plan.

1.1

Local Authority Characteristics

Please give a brief description of the area served by your authority, including a topographical map. Provide demographic information about the authority's communities covering the previous 3 years, including trend data from local sources, the profile of statistical data (e.g. ethnic make up, age profile, day time population,) and a socio-economic analysis. Emphasise the implications of the demographic trend data for the development of the library service.

2.1

Corporate and Library Service Objectives and plans.

Please state the long term objectives, or mission, of the library service. The library service should fit within the authority’s corporate objectives and plans. Identify the authority’s overall objectives and plans, including plans from other departments which affect the library service. State the nature of those public and private partnerships you have developed. Identify how the authority responds to or is affected by key corporate plans and plans requested by other Government departments which affect the public library service. Please at least refer to:

• Best Value performance plan,
• local and regional cultural strategies,
• the asset management plan,
• plans for e-government,
• plans for regeneration,
• plans to improve the health of your population

Throughout the sections in this chapter please concentrate on policies rather than the description of services. Bullet points may be used to indicate policy papers which the Department may request if it requires evidence of specific policies. Draw attention to the full range of library materials, e.g. books, periodicals, recordings, and electronic resources, in your responses.

3.1

Access

Please state the policies relating to the location of libraries, both static and mobile, as well as opening times and availability. The policy in relation to the provision of access outside the normal range of office hours (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, i.e. Mondays to Fridays) should be stated. Co-operation with other bodies including other local authorities on access to library services should be included. Authorities which provide differing hours of opening at differing times of the year (e.g. summer or winter) should state their policy. Authorities should also state their policy in relation to closures for public holidays.

3.2

Buildings and Mobile Libraries

Please review the buildings and mobile libraries used by the library service in relation to the access policies in 3.1 and the asset management plan in 2.1. State the overall level of adequacy of the buildings and mobile libraries to meet user expectations, demographic trends and trends in library provision. Identify any issues relating to inadequacy of repair, or furnishings, or tenancy. Also state if any provision has been made in corporate plans, a capital programme or other funding methods (including private finance initiatives) for the provision of new static and/or mobile libraries, as well as any upgrading or renewal of existing buildings or mobile libraries.

3.3

Services for Adults, young people and Children

Please state your service philosophy and the key points of your policies in relation to services for adults and children. You should cover at least:

• stock selection and deployment,
• stock conservation, including digitisation plans,
• reader and audience development, including encouraging children to read
• outreach work and events programmes,
• study and homework facilities,
• reservation services, including any limitations on the availability of the request service (e.g. differing charges for inter library loans, or the exclusion of some types of stock),
• support for research through the provision of special collections,
• services for business,
• community information,
• library services related to local history, whether provided by the library service or another department
• co-operation and inter-lending.

Include lending, information and reference services.    State your policies relating to your service to schools and identify links to education services. Identify the specialist staff posts in your establishment for services to children and young people.

3.4

Services for Special Groups

Please say which special groups or individuals you have identified as requiring specific services. State your service philosophy and key points of your policies. (Special groups include ethnic minorities, those unable to visit libraries, people with physical disabilities, people with special needs, travellers, those whose first language is not English and similar groups). Include lending, information and reference services as appropriate.

3.5

Wider Community Use

Please state your policies relating to the use of library premises by community and similar groups, as well as services where library premises are used to give access to broader council and government services, including services from other authorities.

3.6

Staff

Please state the number of staff (in FTEs) and in salary grade bands, and state the target for the number of staff with appropriate information management and ICT qualifications. (Until the CIPIL commissioned research is available, each authority should identify its own appropriate qualifications).

Identify any areas where staff numbers and/or skills are not yet adequate to carry out the policies identified above.

State the steps you are taking to address any skills shortages you have identified. (The expenditure on training and staff development, as a percentage of payroll costs, should be shown in section 3.8.

3.7

ICT Systems and Services

Please state your policies relating to the provision of ICT systems and services. This should include library housekeeping systems as well as direct public services, such as the provision of electronic information sources, facilities for e-government and personal computing services for the public. Include the provision of the People’s Network.

3.8

Finance

Please set out the overall level of expenditure for the library service for the preceding 3 years and identify expenditure trends to date.

State the main headings and budget figures for the library service’s budget for 2002/03. Include the financial requirement identified in the 2001 Plan as necessary to move towards meeting the public library standards, and the outcome of the budget negotiations for 2002/03.

Indicate overall financial trends for 2003/04 to 2004/05 as identified by your authority’s finance department.

State the process you intend to follow to achieve the budget necessary to meet the public library standards.

Include:

• an assessment of the adequacy of the level of investment in books and other library materials
• the resources allocated to training and development for the library service, including departmental and corporate expenditure, as well as external funding (which should be separately identified). State the level of this expenditure as a percentage of the payroll costs for the library service
• how you intend to provide the finances necessary to sustain the quality of your ICT systems

State your policies to generate income and in kind support, and identify areas within which financial assistance is provided by other bodies, such as private companies, trusts and grants.

Readers will be asked to consider evidence of the extent to which authorities state their financial processes and forecasts realistically. Examples of such evidence are:

• the history of previous budget changes,
• the bid for resources in the 2001 Plan,
• the outcome of the budget negotiations relating to the 2002/03 budget,
• the level of the bid for resources for 2002/03 in relation to previous budget outcomes,
• the level of commitment to the proposed budget for 2003/04.

Performance appraisal, assessment against the standards in "Comprehensive, Efficient and Modern Public Libraries", marketing and customer response

4.1

Public library standards and trend data

Please complete the pro-forma shown in appendix 3 giving the performance of your library service in relation to each of the public library standards where measures have been identified, and for which information has been requested in “Comprehensive, Efficient and Modern Public Libraries”. (Please use the electronic pro-forma which is available from the annual library plans website www.libplans.ws.)

In this section include data for your performance against those local targets you have previously set which extend the standards, including services to children and young people, socially excluded people, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities.

Show significant variations between your service and comparator authorities.

Comment on this data in section 4.2.

4.2

Commentary on approach to meeting the standards and local targets

Please comment on the performance of your library service against both the public library standards and your local targets

Highlight any areas of concern to your authority (If your authority has not yet met particular standards, state your strategy for meeting the standards in section 6.3.).

Authorities with libraries known to provide one or more service points of first choice for resident populations in excess of 150,000 persons are asked to consider the merits of providing opening hours of 60 hours a week or more for those libraries, and to comment on their policies in relation to access to those libraries. (This is broadly equivalent to 500,000 visitors a year to a specific library.)

State how you carry out benchmarking for your library service and state the conclusions you have drawn. Include process benchmarking.

4.3

Public Consultation and Marketing

Please state your approach to marketing the library service. State how you identify who uses your services, and state the principal conclusions you have drawn from your marketing activity. Include the outcome of user surveys, public consultation exercises and market research carried out in the last 2 years.

Set out your authority’s policy on complaints.

Include a review of comments and suggestions received in the previous year.

4.4

Quality Assessment

Please state the processes you follow to assess the quality of your service and state your principal conclusions based on the evidence from your quality management process.

Comment on the quality of the stock of your library service.

5.2

Achievement of the Action Plan for 2001/02

Please state those aspects of the Action Plan for 2001/02 for which you have not been able to achieve the outcome predicted. State why and indicate whether or not this action will be carried forward.

State any actions where the predicted outcome or target was achieved by more than 10%.

It is not necessary to state those actions in the 2001/02 Action Plan where the predicted outcome or target was achieved by a margin of 0% to +10%.

6.1

Analysis of strengths, areas for development, opportunities and threats

Analyse the strengths, areas for development, opportunities and threats for your library service in tabular format against at least the following key areas:

• stock provision and deployment, including the quality of the stock,
• reader and audience development,
• meeting the public library standards,
• social inclusion,
• lifelong learners,
• customer response,
• resource issues

6.2

Best Value reviews

Please comment on your authority's approach to the Best Value principles. Summarise the findings of those Best Value reviews affecting the library service which have taken place in the preceding 2 years. Include the score and summary sections from the executive summary of any Best Value inspections affecting the library service over that period Show how the ALP links to the Best Value implementation plan. (The action plans in section 7 could incorporate the Best Value implementation plan if that is appropriate).

6.3

Service  improvements and variations

Please state your rolling 3 year medium term strategy for improving or varying your library services, based on the analysis of strengths, development areas, opportunities and threats, and the outcome of Best Value reviews.

7.1

Action plan for 2002/03 and 2003/04

In response to the rolling 3 year medium term strategy (section 6.3) please give details of your immediate action plans. These should cover 2002/03 (already half way through) and 2003/04. The action plan should concentrate on firm actions, firm timescales, specific targets and identified responsibilities. The cost of the action plans for 2002/03 and 2003/04 should be included in the budget in section 3.8. (The development of cost estimates linked to action plans is an area which assessors will be asked particularly to check)

7.2

Action plan - third year

In response to the rolling 3 year medium term strategy (section 6.3) give the outline of your action plan for 2004/05. This should state the major service initiatives which are planned and should give broad outlines of costs. Any significant budget variations which will be required should be identified.

7.3

Performance Targets

Please state your local performance targets for the 3 years of the Action Plan. Targets should be challenging and achievable. (Targets relating to "Comprehensive, Efficient and Modern Public Libraries" should be stated in appendix 3, while local targets should be stated here.)