Memorandum submitted by West Sussex County
Council
Following a meeting of the West Sussex County
Council Resources, Information and Liaison Services Select Committee
on 24 November, please find attached the following issues that
we would particularly request be noted:
— that additional central government
funding needs to be provided to support the continued provision
of Information Technology access, as well as the development of
suitable specialised reference databases, in community libraries.
This will ensure that access to all is maintained, preferably
at no charge, whilst ensuring that funding is available to maintain
and update facilities in order to deliver a level of service which
is acceptable to the community on an on-going basis;
— that the issue of encouraging bequests
to public service establishments, such as libraries, be reviewed
in order to enhance the capacity to deliver services in the future.
In particular, this committee suggests that consideration be given
to provision of enhanced tax relief for such inheritance donations;
and
— that the Library service plays an
invaluable role in society, both in developing reading and learning,
and in supporting the social inclusion agenda. The demands on
this service continue to grow and, consequently, this committee
strongly believes that additional funding should be made available
in order to ensure the continued development of this vital community
resource.
In addition to requesting that your inquiry
take note of these three key points, this committee would also
highlight that it has decided to establish a task force to investigate,
in depth, the issue of marketing in the West Sussex Library Service.
The scope of this review is likely to include consideration of:
— additional income generating opportunities;
— extension of opening hours to reflect
the demands of modern day life;
— targeting groups of citizens who
currently use the library service least (eg teenagers and adult
men); and
— making comparisons against national
benchmarks.
The committee trusts that the above will be
taken in to account as your Public Libraries Inquiry progresses,
and it looks forward to receiving feedback on the outcomes that
this inquiry achieves.
30 November 2004
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