Agenda item

The Service Director – Community Services began by stating this was an opportunity for Members to review the draft strategy and associated Action Plan. This was the third strategy, and it was proposed it covered the next 3 years. It was particularly notable that it had come at the end of the pandemic, which had a major impact on residents and on the library service and section 4 of the report outlined some of the impact covid had on the library service and the adaptations that were made to continue to deliver support to residents during the national and local lockdowns and through the period of restrictions. She noted that Library staff were transferred during the national lockdown to support residents in other ways and whilst all of that was positive, it was a huge challenge for the service itself and it had an impact on what was delivered under the last strategy.

The Service Director – Community Services explained that Appendix 1 showed what was achieved against the key priorities, with a lot being very positive. The positive impact was 110% increase in digital downloads, and a huge increase in whose who used that service. Also, a key development, at this time was the merging of the One4All service with the Library Service which provided opportunities to enhance the provision of advice and information available to residents.  In terms of the draft library strategy, at Appendix 2, the Service Director - Community Services explained they had tried to keep it as accessible as possible, to enable people to get a feel for what the service was trying to do. Three key priorities had been identified to inform and shape future provision which would include the ability to deliver more blended approaches. The Service Director - Community Services stated that Members’ opinions were valued, and she asked for their opinion in terms of anything they would like to see amended or added. In terms of the Outcomes and Impacts, the Library Service is guided by the universal library outcomes that were identified in the sixth quality framework.

Appendix 3 detailed the action plan which identified how the Service hoped to meet the priorities and achieve the outcomes and impacts. In terms of finance, the Service was core funded but external funding had been drawn down, particularly for new projects which had enabled the Service to enhance the offer to Customers. The Service Director – Community Services concluded by saying there had been significant developments during the period and there had been progress against some key aspects of the previous action plan for 2019 - 2021, but the reduction in footfall because of the pandemic, had been significant and it was recognised it would be a challenge to draw people back in.  The other challenge going forward during the transitionary period, was meeting the needs of all customers, whether they were looking for more digital services or face to face services.

The Chair thanked the Officer for the report and, following the update, Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions.

A Member thanked the Officer and noted that she always listened to things from RCT libraries with pride but also sadness explaining that 7 years ago volunteers took over Beddau and Ty Nant library because RCT were going to close it and was very much a community hub which had been hugely successful.  The Member asked if Beddau and Ty Nant library could be included in future plans that involved RCT libraries.

The Service Director – Community Services acknowledged that the Service could certainly work and support Beddau and Ty Nant library, noting that when it had been possible e.g. during the Summer Reading Challenge, that those resources had been provided. However, she noted that in terms of the public library service, funding was provided to support 13 libraries and meet the requirements of the customers, but the service would be very happy to work in partnership and provide support to Beddau and Ty Nant library to access other funds that were available and continue to support with initiatives.  The Principal Officer - Libraries, commended the volunteers at Beddau and Ty Nant library and reiterated what the Service Director – Community Services had said, in terms of support.  He noted that whilst there had been a lot of communication via email, the regular meetings had stopped, and he felt it would be a good idea to start up a quarterly meeting to work together.

A Member commended the service and noted that feedback from residents was that they could not fault the library service in Llantrisant.

A Member acknowledged that with the opening of the Mountain Ash library, there were doubts by residents over the success it would make, and what would be lost, taking over from the Day centre however she noted what a massive success it had been and how great the staff were.

The Chair referred to Porth Plaza and Llys Cadwyn, which were the newest libraries and asked if the Service Director – Community Services could update Members on what the footfall was for these two new libraries. In terms of the footfall for other libraries the Chair asked for a more detailed breakdown of how the footfall had gone down. The merging of the One4All service with the library service had enhanced the library service and was a way forward and a great initiative.

The Chair asked what facilities were there for those that were deaf?

The Service Director – Community Services explained that a lot of training had been done with library staff on a range of issues where it was felt a better understanding would be helpful. The Wales Council for the Deaf had been successful in gaining funding from the UK Government’s Community Renewal Fund, to deliver in RCT, a range of British sign language opportunities for businesses and organisations so that people who were deaf were able to go to places and have somebody there, with some knowledge of British sign language. The Service Director – Community Services confirmed that this would be looked at being put in the delivery plan, and all frontline library staff would have access to some British sign language training, which would provide a bit more accessibility, recognising that it was nice for people to be greeted in their own language, whatever that was.

The Service Director – Community Services confirmed in relation to the previous question on overall numbers of visitors, in the last full year which was 2018 – 2019, there were 727,922 visits to the library. From 1 April 2021 to January 2022 with various alert levels in place, it was down to 284,145, which provided an idea of the impact.  The Service Director – Community Services noted the wider impact, with a large number of partners who would normally deliver face to face provision, not able to offer it during that period.

The Chair finished by thanking the Service Director - Community Services for all her hard work all the best for the future, on her impending retirement. The Service Director – Community Services thanked the Chair and Members of the Committee for all their help and kind words.

Members RESOLVED to note the content of the report and agreed that the library report should come back to the Committee on a regular basis.