The Library Vision
Page 5: Key issues and challenges
What is our role and purpose of a Library in a fast
moving environment?
The fundamental role and purpose of libraries is being
questioned nationally. Public libraries were conceived in an era
when many did not have easy access to education or books. Now we
have universal education, books, radio, television and the
Internet. Is a library really necessary in today’s society? We
believe our role in Bath and North East Somerset is to inform,
educate and provide access to leisure and cultural activities.
Sustainability and relevance
We must make ourselves a proactive and forward thinking service
that can rapidly and effectively respond to a changing environment.
We must ensure we make the best use of resources available, and put
in place sustainable projects that are relevant to customers.
Customer focus.
We need to ensure that we are customer focused. At present we do
not effectively target key groups, which would enable us to better
deliver Life Long learning and issues relating to social
inclusion.
Staff skills.
Our staff have excellent customer care and traditional library
skills, but in keeping with the changing environment, we need to
develop IT and information guidance skills.
Staff capacity and morale.
We must ensure we have sufficient staff to deliver an excellent
well-focused service, and provide the equipment to make that a
reality.
Accommodation.
Our library buildings were commented on by the Audit Commission
as poor. We need to ensure they give us good geographic coverage,
are well maintained, well signposted and are open when customers
need them.
Stock quality and quantity.
One of the commonest complaints from our customers is that the
choice of stock is poor in terms of both quality and quantity. We
must ensure that this is improved through better stock
management.
Delivery of corporate objectives.
Libraries have a role to play in education, leisure, heritage
and culture, and can contribute significantly to the corporate aim
of making Bath and North East Somerset a better place to live, work
and visit.
