Universal Offers: Next Steps by Sarah Mears
Jul 23, 2019
For the past 10 months Libraries Connected have been working with Shared Intelligence to review our Universal Offers. The resulting framework is based on extensive consultation with the sector and with key stakeholders.
The new framework reduces the number of offers from six to four: Reading; Information and Digital; Culture and Creativity; and Health and Wellbeing. For the first time it includes a draft mission statement which pulls the offers together. In this new model, the outcomes reflect the seven Ambition outcomes. These can be replaced with local outcomes so that library services can articulate what they do in terms of responding to local need.
The consultation process helped us clarify the role and purpose of the offer framework as both a strategic framework and a delivery tool. It should allow for local innovation but also for national planning. The Children’s Promise and the Six Steps Promise will be woven throughout the framework and learning is now part of the overarching mission.
The next steps for the Universal Offer Review are to:
- Define each offer – creating an “elevator pitch” for each of the four offers and to refine the mission
- Develop an annual planning cycle for the offers
- Review the role of the Universal Offer Leads and the regional reps
- Begin to work towards an outcomes framework to enable us to measure the impact of the work undertaken.
We’ll be planning a launch for the autumn and, with the aid of the development group, we are aiming to engage with lots of library staff in preparation for transition to the new framework in the new financial year.
We’ve been hugely grateful to the library staff, heads of service and stakeholders who have given their time to take part in the consultation and we hope that the new framework will give us a robust means to articulate, celebrate and demonstrate the crucial and life-enhancing role of library services now and into the future.