Libraries key role in supporting Telford’s 50th birthday celebrations
A strategy to guide Telford & Wrekin library service’s future development says the service will continue to improve the well-being of residents and visitors by opening up inspirational opportunities for reading, information and discovery.
The service’s ambition for the future is to ensure that Telford and Wrekin’s libraries are modern and relevant to the needs of local residents in the 21st century.
It also recognises the vital role that libraries play in the health, well-being, education and increased creativity of the borough’s community.
Telford & Wrekin’s libraries are also playing a key role in supporting Telford’s 50th birthday celebrations, including a 50th birthday themed Summer Reading Challenge for local children.
The strategy builds upon the partnership working that has been undertaken with a number of town and parish councils and Hadley Learning Community which has resulted in them operating four community libraries.
The strategy for the next three years is set to be approved by Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet, which meets on July 12.
It says that the service has seven objectives:
•To develop libraries as a cultural and leisure destination
•To promote both core and community-led library spaces as community focal points accessible to all
•To increase the number of people borrowing material regardless of the format
•To increase digital inclusion across the borough by developing the IT skills of residents, ensuring access to new technology through our libraries
•To increase income through successful bids, book sales and commercial opportunities
•To ensure that new library services are successful and efficient
•To provide material, activities and spaces that support positive health and well-being
Councillor Rae Evans, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for Libraries, said: “We faced difficult decisions in 2016 about the nature and size of the library service moving forward.
“However our successful partnerships with Town and Parish Councils resulted in four libraries being saved and run as community led libraries.
“These libraries all remain a key part of the council’s statutory offer and complement the five remaining core libraries that are run and managed by the council.
“This year is providing us with the opportunity to regroup and plan ahead and this strategy covers the period up till 2020.
“It outlines how we intend to achieve each of the seven objectives that are identified, including who will do that and what the intended timescale is – with each objective broken down into a number of individual areas.”
