Here we have collected case studies from eight of the library services that took part in our Leading Libraries programme. Read summaries below and access the full case studies at the bottom of the page.

Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire wanted to find ways of maximising the value and impact of the Micklefield library in the community. The library there has meeting spaces and good facilities but is under used by the community.  The strategic challenge sought to make the library at Micklefield a community hub, a central focal point for the local community and a safe space where people can learn, engage and be inspired.

A collaborative approach was taken including working with local schools, the planning centre, police, local businesses, and places of worship.  There was a good appetite to work together...

Read the full case study below, including how the Leading Libraries programme contributed to the delivery of Buckinghamshire's strategic challenge.

Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire aimed to examine all aspects of the library service’s recruitment and selection process, in order to identify recommendations they could implement in order to recruit and retain a more diverse workforce that accurately represents the communities they serve.

The team worked with partners within Cambridgeshire County Council, including the Transformation Team and colleagues in HR, to identify different recruitment methods to trial.  These proposals were then presented to the Library Leadership Team by our two Powerful Talents, which generated internal support and buy-in. At a later stage they also presented the project to the library service’s recruiting managers at one of our “away days” for Area Library Managers...

Read the full case study below, including how the Leading Libraries programme contributed to the delivery of the strategic challenge.

Dorset

Dorset wanted to ignite passion and enthusiasm within their workforce for all things digital.

They worked through a reflective learning approach which encouraged them to engage meaningfully with relevant stakeholders and spend time on discovering what might lie at the root of this perceived lack of passion, rather than assuming they knew what the issues were and setting about solving them at speed.  This approach would take time but they hoped to build solutions on a foundation of evidence rather than assumptions, facilitating change for the better rather than change for the sake of it...

Read the full case study below, including how the Leading Libraries programme contributed to Dorset's delivery of the strategic challenge.

North Tyneside

North Tyneside wished to increase diversity in libraries by story sharing.

They wanted to pilot some multi-lingual story-sharing sessions to see whether they would work. There were still restrictions in place for the pandemic, so they decided to trial this by recording an online story session.  They knew that they had some speakers of other languages within the service and planned to recruit volunteers to help us pilot the approach, therefore also enabling staff to use their existing skills. One of their powerful talents speaks Farsi, so he became the initial guinea pig and with a colleague, they recorded an English / Farsi version of ‘The Giant Turnip’.  They used dual-language picture books that they had within the service.

The first session was effective, so they recruited some other team members and recorded story-sharing sessions in Spanish, French and British Sign Language.  The sessions were shared online during Creativity and Wellbeing Week and got more than 200 views on Youtube and more than 700 views on Facebook...

Read the full case study below, including how the Leading Libraries programme contributed to North Tyneside's delivery of the strategic challenge.

Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire's challenge was to articulate the value of their new digital offer. The pandemic ceased face to face interaction with customers and service users and resulted in the cancellation of a full programme of cultural events. The service wanted to continue the cultural offer to its service users and to continue working with and supporting artists. 

Among other things, they trialled a creative evaluation form on their website. This was presented whenever someone interacted with a resource or in an event. It helped to provide vital qualitative data which was missing from counts of activity...

Read the full case study below, including how the Leading Libraries programme contributed to Nottinghamshire's delivery of their strategic challenge.

Redbridge

Redbridge wanted to learn how to improve young people's mental health and engagement with the library service. The service had made considerable progress over recent years in reaching out to the local community by providing different activities and services that facilitate many of their needs. As a result, rapport and good relationships were established with a range of organisations and partners including Work Redbridge and Mind.

A 'Library and Culture Influencers' focus group was formed which comprised of 12 young people aged between 14 and 18 years from across Redbridge. The group met several times over a three month period and provided an opportunity to have informal and in depth discussions on young people's needs and impressions of the library service...

Read the full case study below, including how the Leading Libraries programme contributed to Redbridge's delivery of their strategic challenge.

Staffordshire

Staffordshire wanted to provide a voice for young people in their communities to help shape a more authentic, inclusive, and positive library offer for young people now and in the future. They decided that their challenge would be to work with teenagers and young adults to explore the possibilities of making their services more diverse, relevant, appealing and useful for young people today...

Read the full case study below, including how the Leading Libraries programme contributed to Staffordshire's delivery of their strategic challenge.

Surrey

Surrey wanted to grow the number of events that the service was running in order to reach out to the community and increase income, through evaluation of the current events offer and a robust program of staff training to upskill library staff. This would allow them to identify gaps, reach out to residents and plan events to meet community need.

Redhill Library was used as a case study. A year’s worth of events in 2019 were analysed to see what audiences they were marketed towards, and what type of event they were under the Libraries Deliver categories of Community, Culture, Digital, Learning, Prosperity, Reading, and Wellbeing. A gap analysis was created to show which audiences and categories the library could provide more events for...

Read the full case study below, including how the Leading Libraries programme contributed to Surrey's delivery of their strategic challenge.