For the Portfolio Holder for Customer, Communications and Culture to discuss with the Overview and Scrutiny Board their views on the direction of travel for this strategy.
Minutes:
The Portfolio Holder for Customer Communications and Culture introduced this item to the Board and explained that there had been further delay with this issue and it was hoped to bring the Library Strategy report to Cabinet and Overview and Scrutiny Board if requested in February 2024. The Board was advised that issues had arisen around the potential reductions in library hours arising from reduced library hours. Members views were sought on the library service and what the future library service would look like. The Board were informed that its feedback would be very useful as the consultation document was being finalised. The aim was to have a library service which met the needs of local communities. The Board raised a number of points in the subsequent discussion, including:
· What did financially sustainable mean in the context of the current budget constraints, what would be considered affordable in these circumstances. It was noted that this was part of a larger discussion but the future library offer would need to meet the budget conditions.
· Christchurch Library – It was noted that this was a community hub and offered a number of different services. Members suggested it would be useful to know which libraries were hubs and to have a matrix for each library and what they offered either as part of the library service or other services.
· Councillors commented that the libraries provided a vital service for the wider community.
· A Councillor recommended that the consultation be predominately paper based or at least available through the libraries. There was some concerns raised regarding the length of the consultation on Council savings and it was suggested that it needed to be an accessible length, focused and relevant.
· It was suggested that it was important for the survey to capture the views of both those who currently use the libraries and those who didn’t. It was important to find out how people get to the library and what they valued most from the service. The Portfolio Holder advised that the survey would look at usage of the current model but would also consider other options for how these could be run.
· Consultation should be genuine with an aim to find out what the community really feel about the service.
· Councillors suggested that they could be a resource in ensuring the questionnaire reached as many as possible.
· That there should be a calculation of the social value of libraries and whether there was a way to do this.
· Librarians were unsure as to whether they were able to promote the consultation.
· That there should be open ended questions about what people would like to see in the library service if money was no issue.
The Portfolio Holder advised the Board members that he wanted to approach the issue with the most positive view on what could be achieved. The Chair thanked the Portfolio Holder and Director for and confirmed that he would like for the Cabinet paper to come to the Board prior to Cabinet.