Community Libraries
The Big Lottery have asked libraries to bid for between £250,000 and £2,000,000 to make libraries more than traditional library services and work with their communities. What do you want in your library?
For 150 years libraries have been hubs for our communities… Is this changing?
In the past they have been spaces that have encouraged learning, reading and the central information point for communities. The digital age threatens this.
Libraries should be key to community regeneration, local economic activity and should contribute to formal education.
There should be a feeling of community ownership and engagement. They should be hubs of excellence, catalysts of community change and welcoming to all.
Our libraries need to move into the 21st century.
The Big Lottery have asked all libraries to bid for between £250,000 and £2,000,000 to make libraries more than traditional library services and work with their communities to:
- invigorate libraries as centres of wider community learning and development and learning based activity
- create, improve and develop library spaces that meet the needs of the whole community
- be innovative and promote good practice in the ways libraries are designed and run.
This is a fantastic opportunity to begin to place libraries back at the heart of the community.
There must be some fantastic ideas of what a great community library should be. I’d love to hear them.
