The Sub-Committee will receive an update on the Volunteer Programme.
Minutes:
At the request of a Member, the Frontline Services Manager, Library Service provided an update on the Library Service
It was mentioned that with the support of Members all libraries have been allowed to remain open, although opening hours had to be reduced.
As part of the recent Libraries restructure, which included the reduction in hours, the Library Service embarked on a partnership model involving staff and volunteers working alongside each other to a much greater degree than they have previously.
Libraries had an excellent history of working with members of the community and it started the process with approximately 300 signed up volunteers.
The roles volunteers covered were mainly reading buddies, summer reading challenge (SRC) and ICT support. Volunteers would offer between one or two hours at a time and for SRC in the summer months.
The aim of the new model was to increase the roles that volunteers were able to provide support with. This in turn would support libraries to remain open and for existing services and activities to continue to be provided by either staff or volunteers. There were 12 different task roles for volunteers.
Following an earlier recruitment campaign, the service had recruited an additional 120 volunteers from the community and a further 50 volunteers were undergoing checks and training.
The Sub-Committee was informed that many of the volunteers were retired members of the community who also had other commitments and activities that they pursued; it was often difficult to encourage volunteers to sign up for more than one session per week of about two hours.
The Sub-Committee noted that another part of the restructure programme was for volunteers to undertake the Housebound Service (HBS). The new model entailed that the service would be provided by volunteers; including the choosing of books and delivering to customers’ homes and returning books to the library. It was noted that the arrangement would require the biggest commitment as often customers do not see many people throughout the day or week.
The Services Manager informed the Sub-Committee that the service had developed guidance and procedures for a Community Managed Library. It was envisaged that established community organisations or groups of volunteers would form Friends of Groups to open libraries beyond their core hours to provide a basic level of service and activity to the community.
So far, only one organisation had indicated an interest but at present do not have the resources.
In response to a Member enquiry, the Sub-Committee was informed that a volunteer was able to outline a preference of which library they preferred to work in.
Following a comment that travellers had invaded a library car park, a Member suggested that the by-laws that applied to the Park enforcement team required a urgent review. It was also mentioned that an alert number should be advertise for members of the public and that a restructure of the working arrangement in order that the service could provide a 24 hours service be considered.
The Sub-Committee NOTED the position.