構建合作共享、數字包容的未來
——英國利茲圖書館館長訪談

安德里亞·埃里森

訪談對象：安德里亞·埃里森（Andrea Ellison），英國利茲圖書館館長。曾經在拉夫堡大學學習圖書館和信息科學，并擔任學校圖書館員、兒童和青少年圖書館服務負責人。2017年6月加入利茲市議會，擔任利茲圖書館館長，目前是英國圖書館合作組織Libraries Connected（LC）①約克郡亨伯地區的區域主席，對發展區域共享服務特別感興趣。

本刊：首先想問一個有關疫情的問題。2020年爆發的新冠疫情給全世界都帶來了巨大的影響，您和您的圖書館是如何度過這段最艱難的時間的？現在疫情有了好轉，世界各地圖書館的服務也在逐漸恢復中，您覺得疫情給圖書館帶來的最大的變化是什么？

安德里亞·埃里森：我們應對新冠疫情的做法與我們國家的大部分圖書館類似。

（一）做好用戶支持服務

疫情初期我們的許多員工被分配到了其他的崗位，比如支持食品銀行和熱線服務電話的工作。與此同時，我們的服務也從“面對面”更多地轉向了“數字”的形式，包括提供更多用戶可以在家訪問的數字資源。

在因疫情封鎖的第一階段，我們加入了多個圖書館當局制定的一項倡議，并推出了“保持聯系”項目，給我們的9 500多位老用戶打電話，讓他們隨時了解圖書館服務的變化；支持他們能夠以數字的形式訪問圖書館和一些其他機構的服務；確保他們知道必要時從哪里獲得幫助或支持（例如 COVID 幫助熱線）。

這項行動獲得了用戶非常積極的反饋：

“今天早上我接到了你們的電話，詢問我是否還好，能否應對當前的封鎖，并且向我介紹了最新的圖書館可用服務。這是非常有價值的舉動，你們為我做了這么多，請接受我的感謝。”

“你們讓我迷上了有聲讀物。我現在每周大約聽兩本書。聽有聲讀物最棒的是你可以同時做其他的事，這讓人感覺很放松。我用耳塞聽書，同時做很多縫紉工作。可選的有聲讀物也很多。”

“你們做得特別出色。非常感謝所有圖書館員的辛勤工作，在這個可怕的時刻，讓我們仍然可以獲得信息并且閱讀。”

我們與一位對電子書、電子雜志以及本地和家族歷史非常感興趣的用戶進行了長時間的交談，他說，“非常感謝，這是我這段時間以來接到的最美好的電話”。對于我們提供的預約圖書服務，一位用戶說“如果沒有這項服務，我感覺我會活不下去，我會一直處于焦躁不安的狀態中”。

（二）支持用戶發展數字技能

新冠疫情暴露的最大問題之一是我們的數字排斥程度，以及公民面臨的日益嚴峻的挑戰，包括無法獲得必要的支持、心理健康狀況惡化和經濟困難。這促使我們重新審視利茲圖書館的數字支持服務，我們現在將其更名為#Digital121。

#Digital121的核心是圖書館的電話咨詢服務，它捕捉并指導圖書館用戶和合作伙伴的數字支持請求，通過圖書館自身的服務或推薦的其他服務，將它們的需求與最合適的信息匹配起來。雖然#Digital121是一項通用服務，但主要還是針對那些數字技能較低的人，他們以前可能從未能自己使用這些設備，需要全面的指導。一個專門的#Digital121推廣活動專注于提供數字支持，鼓勵公民加強聯系，以便我們的圖書館員團隊可以幫助他們發展數字技能并建立信心。在疫情和當下的限制期，我們通過電話或 Zoom遠程提供該項服務。2020年5月至2021年5月間，我們共提供了200多次此類服務。

我們還加大了對數字資源的投資，增加了電子書目錄并購買了新資源，例如：Niche Academy ——一系列免費的在線教程，包括如何設置電子郵件帳戶、使用社交媒體、使用圖書館在線資源（例如電子書、商業支持和家譜檢索）等的技能培養。該資源自2020年4月推出以來，引起了人們極大的關注，訪問次數超過13 500次；Press reader——RB Digital提供的電子報紙服務，讓我們的用戶可以免費獲取最新的新聞。從3月27日投入使用到3月底，共有137篇文章的634次下載量，包括一些不是以英文出版的全球性的報紙。

用戶對所有這些活動、數字支持項目和新資源給予了積極的評價：

“能夠訪問電子書是我的生命線。它現在是我手機上最好的應用程序了！”

“電子報紙是一項很棒的服務，即使在家里我也可以使用。”

“很高興在家里我也可以找到我的祖先的血統。”

“圖書館員真是太棒了——資源非常好，并且很容易掌握!”

隨著限制令的逐漸解除，我們計劃在加強遠程服務的同時重新引入面對面的服務方式以擴展#Digital121項目。我們將專注于提供小組研討，支持用戶管理他們的健康和福祉、保持在線安全以及研究他們的本地和家族歷史。我們還將招募數字志愿者來支持我們的文獻傳遞和能力構建。

（三）開發我們的數字圖書館產品——資源和在線活動

在封鎖的最初階段，數字內容爆炸式增長，似乎有勢不可擋之勢。除了引入Niche Academy和電子報紙之外，作為信息領域的專家，我們還利用專業技能在官網上創建了一個新的虛擬圖書館，不但展示我們自己最好的在線內容，還提供了其他優秀網站的指引。同時還為我們的教育合作伙伴提供優質資源信息，并定期向學校發送通訊。此外，我們開發了一系列全新的虛擬活動，以與圖書館在信息、教育和娛樂方面更廣泛的目標保持一致。其中的一些重點項目包括：

大英圖書館展覽，“未完成的事業：為婦女權利而戰”。2020年底，作為我們與大英圖書館（The British Library，BL）合作的一部分，我們策劃了一個虛擬展覽和活動項目，以慶祝BL的展覽“未完成的事業：為婦女權利而戰”。我們的在線展覽突出了利茲對性別平等運動的獨特貢獻，同時展示了與更廣泛的婦女權利歷史相關的重要書籍。展覽跨越300多年，以1669年凱瑟琳·菲利普斯的詩歌開篇，到1970年代和80年代的激進主義，最后以當代地方口語藝術家的作品終章。與BL合作舉辦的周末活動包括工作坊、作者演講和表演，吸引了來自世界各地的800多人參加。為了慶祝這次展覽，“12號工作室”②與年輕詩人、著名文學活動家、作家和劇作家卡蒂查·伊布拉希姆共同舉辦了5場詩歌工作坊和指導課程。工作坊探討了女性的聲音、行動主義和為爭取更公平世界的斗爭。參與者的詩歌被改編為口語表演電影，并在一個特別的現場口語展演中展示。這一展演包括了卡蒂查和詩人/活動家Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan之間的專題討論，隨后是“周日實踐”③的口語表演。有300多人通過社交媒體參與了我們這次特別的展演活動，來自約克郡的觀眾最多，其次是倫敦。

BBC（British Broadcasting Corporation，英國廣播公司）的“塑造我們世界的小說”。BBC全國性項目“塑造我們世界的小說”其中的一個內容是探索游戲與講故事之間的聯系，包括如何創建文學密室逃脫游戲的研討會，探討BBC小說列表中那些小說背后的真實歷史、家庭動漫活動，討論圖書館和博物館如何使用游戲活動吸引新的用戶等，這一切促成了為期兩天的“游戲果醬”活動。這一活動要求人們設計一款受BBC小說列表啟發的數字或實體游戲，參加者可以訪問利茲圖書館特別收藏的圖片以獲取靈感。這個周末的圖書館重大事件是虛擬現實藝術家羅茜·薩默斯的現場混合現實表演，她將納尼亞世界帶入了我們的現實生活。提交的游戲都可以在itch.io頁面上查看，所有的事件都會被記錄下來并添加到YouTube頻道。

另外我們還開展了一個以藝術活動和文化活動為基礎的項目，包括藝術活動：我們舉辦了一系列受藝術家約瑟夫·康奈爾的雕塑和集合藝術“盒子中的世界”啟發的工作坊。在這些工作坊中，我們將物品組裝在一個盒子里，以此來捕捉小說、故事、旅行或某一個地方的靈感。最終的藝術作品可以在我們和合作伙伴Space2共同舉辦的展覽中在線觀看；文化活動：我們和利茲市的讀者和作家團體合作，在社交媒體上舉行了一系列活動。我們希望讀者在社交媒體上分享那些對他們產生了重大影響的小說，并且盡可能地挑戰閱讀100本書。對于作家，我們設置了一些寫作挑戰，參與者還可以參加由當地作家艾莉森·塔夫脫教授的寫作課程。這些參與者撰寫的作品目前都在我們的電子書平臺上展示，你可以在我們的網站上讀到更多的相關內容。

（四）提供商業及知識產權服務

盡管采取了數字化的方式，但是對于一些關鍵的服務領域，我們仍然像往常一樣提供服務。例如，2020年我們的商業和知識產權服務迅速地轉向了在線模式，以確保本地企業在疫情期間能夠得到持續的支持。這些服務包括：

（1）通過社交媒體和合作伙伴渠道加強信息傳遞，讓當地的商業團體知道我們的服務還將繼續，圖書館支持企業通過電子郵件和電話進行信息查詢。

（2）將面對面的咨詢轉變為電話咨詢。事實證明這一形式特別受歡迎，我們為此增加了額外的研討時間。

（3）提供在線資源訪問，確保我們的團隊能夠高效地處理電子郵件和電話咨詢。需要查閱這些資源的用戶還可以預訂一對一的Zoom會議，圖書館提供屏幕共享服務。

（4）將之前的面對面活動改為網絡研討會的形式，以確保我們的商務和知識產權服務平臺能夠一如既往地提供服務支持。

（5）隨著企業尋求適應新的工作和營銷方式，我們的網絡研討會也調整了關注方向，聚焦新興領域開展額外的網絡研討，重點是在線銷售、社交媒體和初創業暑期學校。

（五）實現了一次成功的重啟

我們與大英圖書館合作開展了重啟對話項目，旨在支持企業轉型，面向未來，實現增長。這一項目提供了訪問一系列新的網絡研討會以及與專家顧問一對一咨詢的機會。我們最成功的重啟項目之一是以音樂行業為關注重點的在線活動，該行業受疫情的影響尤為嚴重。這一活動與曼徹斯特圖書館合作進行，邀請了來自該領域的音樂家和其他代表參加，并就如何應 對疫情和向前發展展開了熱烈的討論，超過120人參與了現場直播。

（六）制作了總結短片

我們制作了一部關于過去一年以及更長時間活動的短片作為總結，可以在Youtube上觀看。

本刊：BBC曾報道了過去十年英國公共圖書館預算緊張的情況，十年間英國公共圖書館的數量也有明顯的下降。利茲圖書館有沒有受到這方面的影響？疫情的爆發是否加深了英國公共圖書館的經費問題？圖書館又該如何去應對？

安德里亞·埃里森：目前，利茲市共有34家圖書館，這幾年沒有圖書館關閉。然而，作為2011年7月至2013年7月“圖書館審查”（新章）的一部分，利茲有16家圖書館被關閉，3家轉入社區管理，另外還有3家小型圖書館也在2015年關閉。

許多地方政府多年來一直面臨著重大的財政挑戰，而新冠疫情無疑加劇了這一狀況。在上一個財政年度，利茲市議會被要求大幅節省預算，包括圖書館服務在內的所有服務都將在這一考慮之內。然而，我們還沒有走到要關閉圖書館這一步。我們都認可這一事實：目前利茲在運行的34家圖書館都在為主要的社區服務，并且采用了“精益思維”的方法，通過高效的工作實踐來節省開支，舉措包括：

（1）審查圖書館服務的人員配置，創建更精簡的結構，并引入通用的職位描述，以增加靈活性。

（2）作為公眾咨詢的一部分，對開放時間進行審查，審查的結果包括取消周日開放，全市大部分圖書館每周只安排一個晚上開放。為了與新的開放時間保持一致，制定了更有效的員工輪崗時間模式。

（3）減少在圖書上的支出。

（4）采用性價比更高的服務提供方法，例如減少印刷報紙的訂購并引入電子報紙。

我認為，當面對預算挑戰時，圖書館應該創造性地思考如何提高內部工作效率，而不是單純地關閉圖書館或減少資源的數量。然而，隨著預算的不斷縮減，提高效率也變得越來越困難。因此，我認為應該利用這段時間來證明，圖書館可以在控制疫情和疫情后的復原中發揮重要的作用，這一點非常關鍵。

Libraries Connected在其出版的《圖書館：復蘇的重要部分》一書中確定了五個關鍵領域，認為圖書館可以在幫助個人和社區克服新冠危機的影響方面發揮核心作用：（1）經濟復蘇，為求職者和企業經營者提供幫助和培訓；（2）為兒童，尤其是在家學習困難的特殊需求兒童提供教育支持；（3）緩解弱勢群體的隔離焦慮，幫助人們重新建立當地聯系；（4）為缺乏IT技能或無法訪問互聯網的居民提供數字包容服務；（5）建立文化伙伴關系，幫助當地藝術家和藝術組織繼續他們的工作。

我們將這五個廣泛的主題作為利茲圖書館重新恢復計劃的戰略支持，并力圖確保我們的所有活動與這些關鍵優先事項中的一個或多個保持一致。

本刊：利茲圖書館是一個由多個圖書館組成的圖書館集群，您能否介紹下這個集群是如何保持高效運作的？尤其是在經費和人員管理方面？利茲的圖書館又是如何和英國其他地區的圖書館以及國家層面的圖書館合作的？

安德里亞·埃里森：利茲地域廣闊，是英國第三大城市，人口約78萬。這一規模也反映在我們整個城市有34個圖書館這一事實上，這使我們成為了英國較大的城市圖書館服務體系之一（曼徹斯特大約有24個圖書館，利物浦有18個圖書館，紐卡斯爾有14個圖書館）。

利茲正經歷著強勁的經濟增長。然而，雖然該市一些人的預期壽命更長、社會流動性更強、工作更好，但還是有很大一部分人生活在不斷加深的貧困之中。利茲約有20%的人口處于貧困線之下。正是這一貧困問題推動了利茲市社區中心網絡的建設。社區中心一般處于一個地區核心區域的建筑中，提供多種服務，其中包括圖書館服務。作為這一聯合服務供給模式的主要合作伙伴，我們擁有一套相當獨特的管理模式來提供在利茲的圖書館服務。

基本上，我們只有一個“前臺”團隊。這意味著當地社區中心和圖書館的工作人員需要為人們獲取圖書館服務或其他服務需求提供幫助和支持。例如，議會服務、福利建議或就業支持。這個一線員工團隊由我們的客戶服務同事管理，而我作為圖書館館長，直接負責整個圖書館網絡專業圖書館服務的開發和交送，以及中央圖書館一線服務的交送（中央圖書館不包含在代管模式中）。

我在附錄1中附上了一份我管理的團隊人員結構圖，包括服務專家（例如商業和信息館員）和一般的圖書館員，他們在我的責任范圍內在社區圖書館工作，提供諸如兒童活動、閱讀小組、數字支持服務以及幫助老年人進行回憶治療等。但是，正如前面提到的，除了這些由我管理的圖書館員之外，還有一個由社區中心經理管理的一線工作人員團隊。

利茲圖書館的經費直接來自利茲市議會，盡管有時候我們會通過為特定的項目申請一次性經費補助來獲得額外的資金支持。

我們國家的公共圖書館是一個聯系非常緊密的網絡，我認為對英國圖書館更廣泛的治理安排做一個簡要的概述對我的答案是有幫助的：

1964年的《公共圖書館和博物館法》將圖書館認定為一項法定服務，要求地方當局提供“全面高效的圖書館服務”。圖書館的法定責任在于地方當局（在我們的案例中是利茲市議會），文化、媒體和體育大臣（Duty of the Secretary for State for Culture, Media and Sport，DCMS）的法定職責是監督和促進地方當局提供并改進公共圖書館服務；英格蘭藝術委員會（Arts Council England，ACE）是發展圖書館的機構，雖然他們沒有對圖書館直接的法定責任，但他們的角色是支持和鼓勵圖書館的發展；Libraries Connected前身為首席圖書館員協會，是一個由英格蘭、威爾士和北愛爾蘭的所有圖書館服務機構組成的會員組織。LC部分地由英格蘭藝術委員會資助，作為其中一個支持圖書館發展的部門。LC擁有專門的工作人員團隊和理事會，它的目標是通過發展和分享最佳實踐、鼓勵創新、將合作伙伴與當地圖書館聯系起來等方式，推動圖書館服務的改善。各個圖書館的主管作為LC的成員，定期在各自的區域集群中會面，討論來自LC受托人和顧問委員會的信息，向其提供反饋意見，并探討與該地區相關的其他問題。因此，雖然在利茲我們作為地方層面的圖書館運行，但我們也通過我們的服務網絡在次區域層面（西約克郡）、區域層面（約克郡和亨伯地區）與其他圖書館建立聯系，并且通過LC的網絡在國家層面上建立聯系。

我目前是約克郡和亨伯地區LC的區域主席，這一地區共有15個地方政府建立的圖書館系統。我們越來越多地在這個更廣泛的區域層面開展合作——例如在采訪領域。這涉及開發一個單一的框架，以為該地區采購一個圖書館管理系統。最終這將使我們能夠跨越邊界共享資源。我還與西約克郡各個地方當局的圖書館鄰居們保持了密切的合作關系。例如，我們最近就一項資金招標提案開展合作，如果成功，我們將能夠共同開發一個增強型數字產品，可以通過圖書館網絡支持整個西約克郡的數字包容性。

作為利茲地區的圖書館主席，我是利茲市在國家LC咨詢委員會的代表。我還代表利茲加入了一個全國性的LC小組：書籍和閱讀委員會。作為一個城市圖書館機構，我們還與大英圖書館建立了合作伙伴關系，特別是通過“鮮活的知識”網絡和“商業與知識產權”網絡。其中一個激動人心的計劃是大英圖書館將在利茲建立一個北部分館（BL North），因此我們將在未來幾個月內與我們的國家圖書館開展更緊密的合作。

本刊：利茲中央圖書館內設有利茲美術館，并且提供藝術圖書館、音樂圖書館等服務，您覺得圖書館、美術館和音樂、藝術等的關系是什么？在利茲，他們是怎樣融合在一起的？

安德里亞·埃里森：利茲中央圖書館和城市美術館是獨立但相鄰的建筑，由利茲市議會、圖書館服務部門以及博物館和畫廊服務部門負責不同區域的管理和運營，但它們確實既有物理（建筑）上的聯系，又有歷史上的聯系，并且經常合作開展項目。直到2000年，利茲的城市博物館都位于中央圖書館大樓的一樓，這也說明了這兩項服務之間長久以來的密切關系。兩幢建筑物之間的物理聯系很明顯。一樓有一扇門，訪客可以直接在兩座建筑物之間穿行，進入到城市美術館的上層畫廊和中央圖書館的藝術圖書館。一樓美麗的瓷磚大廳曾經是圖書館的主閱覽室，也是城市美術館的雕塑館，現在是兩座建筑的訪客都可以進入的咖啡館。

（一）藝術圖書館

藝術圖書館是公共圖書館中獨一無二的專業圖書館，也是英國為數不多的此類圖書館。這一圖書館始建于1956年，最初位于利茲市美術館大樓內，作為利茲印刷室和藝術圖書館提供服務，由利茲圖書館和市美術館共同管理。藝術圖書館匯集了利茲市珍貴的水彩畫和版畫收藏以及來自參考圖書館和中央借閱圖書館的13 000本藝術類圖書，涵蓋了美學、建筑雕塑、平面藝術和裝飾藝術等多個領域。多年來，隨著藝術圖書館的不斷發展，對空間的需求越來越大，館藏圖書也變得越來越難以獲取。因此，2000年，當利茲市博物館的藏品被搬到新的地方時，一樓就成為了我們現在看到的圖書館藝術層，一邊是音樂圖書館，另一邊是藝術圖書館，中間是展覽和活動空間。藝術圖書館最近與市美術館合作的一個例子是，美術館的員工團隊為我們在藝術圖書館內開發一個新的繪圖室（藝術和工藝品工作室）提供了支持。

為了應對新冠疫情的挑戰，從2020年5月開始，藝術圖書館和利茲美術館合作，推出了每月一次的虛擬展覽之旅活動，并通過圖書館的借書箱或者pdf格式提供書籍。藝術愛好者讀書俱樂部（The Art Lovers Book Club，ALBC）帶來了藝術家們選擇的發人深省的圖書，這些書對藝術家思想或實踐的形成產生了特別的影響。開列書單的藝術家們都有作品在畫廊展出或被利茲美術館收藏。藝術愛好者讀書俱樂部匯集了多種主題的圖書閱讀活動，從弗吉尼亞·伍爾夫和托妮·莫里森的杰出小說，到有關火山噴發、毛利文化、散步和入侵、自然、菌絲體和蘑菇的各種書籍應有盡有，每個月平均有40人參加活動。

（二）音樂和表演藝術圖書館

1950年，音樂圖書館作為中央圖書館一個獨立的主題部門開放。當時，圖書館藏有7 500份樂譜和書籍，到了1969年，館藏已經增長到了33 000份書籍、樂譜和手稿以及10 000份唱片，涵蓋了爵士樂、古典、民間、音樂和非音樂作品，如戲劇詩和語言記錄。音樂圖書館的館藏已經取得了長足的發展，我們現在擁有超過10 000種各種載體形式物品的專業收藏，可以為教師、學生和音樂愛好者提供廣泛的資源。我們還收藏有當下的音樂期刊，以及大量的、在某些情況下罕見的、可以追溯到1800年代甚至更早一些時候的期刊過往目錄。目前的收藏還包含大約6 000多張涵蓋了各種音樂流派的CD，以及大量的古典音樂精品。

2012年，音樂圖書館更名為音樂和表演藝術圖書館，并成為了約克郡圖書館和信息服務中心12 000 部戲劇劇本的所在地。2016年，圖書館的館藏再次擴大，納入了更多聲樂和管弦樂方面的收藏。現在我們的成套出借服務擁有3 000套管弦樂作品和超過300 000 套聲樂作品，可以提供給英國各地的團體租借使用。

本刊：我們知道，利茲中央圖書館是一座著名的歷史建筑，在最初設計時就融入了“商業”（主要為當地人結算煤氣、水、稅單等提供服務）的一面和“大眾化”（免費的公共圖書館）的一面。您覺得這樣的空間兼容設計在現代城市圖書館的設計中還有意義嗎？會重現嗎？

安德里亞·埃里森：利茲中央圖書館是一座宏偉的二級保護建筑。1884年，它作為市政大樓的一部分開放，以為之前遍布整個城市的公共服務提供一個集中服務的場所，目的是將利茲的行政管理匯集到市政大樓和1858年開放的市政廳之間。

今天的中央圖書館已經占據了原市政大樓的整個空間，其他服務也早就搬進了利茲的市政大樓。然而有趣的是，現在許多社區圖書館正在提供類似的服務。正如我在問題3的回答中提到的，在利茲，圖書館服務是市議會用戶服務團隊的一部分，該團隊的關注重點之一是解決貧困問題。作為對這一問題的回應，并且在確保可持續提供服務的同時節省預算，2014年我們提出了發展社區中心網絡的建議。圖書館是這一發展過程中不可或缺的合作伙伴。因為社區中心已不再是一項單獨的服務，而是匯集了現有的社區圖書館、一站式中心和住房管理辦公室，通過一個前端團隊進行統一管理。雖然社區中心的重點是解決貧困和不平等問題，但中心的發展還有一個更廣泛的目標，即在當地社區提供一個可信賴的場所——一個社區居民可以以一種簡單的方式一次性獲得所有市政服務的地方。這一方式與圖書館的角色完全一致，圖書館本身就被稱為“社區中心”，是當地社區的一個聚點，為社區居民聚集在一起并獲得一系列服務提供了一個安全和熱情的空間。

對許多人來說，圖書館擁有友好且訓練有素的工作人員，他們靠近社區，幫助人們建立與當地決策和更廣泛議會服務的聯系。圖書館員可以提供一系列查詢服務，提供有關與住房、健康、教育和其他福利相關的法律規定和服務信息，并且在需要的情況下為人們接受其他社會機構的服務提供指引。對于那些不能接觸其他主要議會服務（如教育或社會關懷）的人來說，圖書館通常是他們與議會建立聯系的關鍵。因此，圖書館可以并且確實在形成地方政府的社區意見方面發揮了重要的作用。利茲圖書館每年有近300萬的訪問量，一線工作人員完全可以擔當起積極宣傳城市價值觀、理想和愿景的大使的角色。作為社區中值得信賴的地方，我們的圖書館是利茲社區中心模式的設計核心。如同其他圖書館一樣，我們繼續提供熱情的、非污名化的、免費的和無障礙的空間，人們可以在這里見面、參加活動、進行互動、學習和實現自我發展。通過我們的活動、資源和項目，我們的圖書館可以在早期介入和預防議程中發揮關鍵作用。

本刊：2018年的第26屆歐洲圖書館、情報與文獻聯合會管理局年會提出了“圖書館跨越邊界”的會議主題，您是怎樣理解這個“邊界”的？

安德里亞·埃里森：我會從最廣泛的意義上來解釋“邊界”。

正如我在之前的回答中所說的，圖書館網絡是一個聯系緊密、有凝聚力的網絡。這意味著作為專業人員，我們需要在本地、區域、國家和國際層面通力合作，通過分享最佳實踐來支持我們的服務和員工發展，同時也為圖書館所在區域之外用戶的信息需求提供服務。

本刊：從您的職業生涯來看，您覺得現在的公共圖書館和過去相比發生了哪些變化？對公共圖書館的未來，您有怎樣的看法？我們面臨的最大挑戰是什么？圖書館員又應該怎樣適應未來的發展，我們最需要提升的技能是什么？

安德里亞·埃里森：1983年畢業之后我開始了我的第一份圖書館工作，很難描述我們今天的環境有多么不同。我想分享一些我記憶中的事，來說明自我開始職業生涯以來圖書館行業的變化程度：

20世紀80年代初，我曾在一個小型社區圖書館工作，我記得那里有很多大字印刷版圖書和西部書籍，一些平裝書（不像精裝書那么受歡迎）被隨機地歸類，稱作“垃圾站”。

有大量的黑膠唱片。當有人想借這些唱片時，他們還必須帶上自己唱片機的觸控桿來檢查一下是否能使用。那時音樂圖書館的館員告訴我黑膠唱片很快就會過時，大家都會轉而用CD時，我還不相信。

那時候家用錄影帶剛剛被引入，但還沒有我們今天普遍使用的電腦——盡管在20世紀80年代末的時候，我們的中央圖書館有了一個“微服務”系統（但只有一個！）。

當時是用布朗系統④來實現圖書的手動借閱的。

凈價圖書協議（Net Book Agreement，NBA）⑤已經生效，所以選擇和購買圖書的方法與今天大不相同，需要召開大量的圖書采選會議，并且訪問圖書館供應商。

人員配備結構也很不一樣，那時候有更多的專家和專家服務。但在20世紀80年代末90年代初，對圖書館環境、家具和設備的投資很少。為了讓書架顏色明亮些，我們自己給這些書架刷了油漆。后來我們終于有經費了，我們興奮地買了塊新地毯把拼花地板蓋了起來，然而現在我們正在我們的許多圖書館里修復原來的拼花地板！

有人預測圖書館沒有未來，電子書的出現使得人們不再對圖書館有需求，但圖書館已經證明了自己的彈性和韌性。書籍和閱讀仍然是我們服務的核心，而且我相信，這將繼續成為未來圖書館服務的關鍵。疫情再次激發了人們對閱讀的興趣，并且閱讀對健康的作用也已經得到了證實（如：僅僅閱讀6分鐘就可以減少壓力和焦慮）。

不管是現在還是未來，物理空間仍然是我們可以提供的一個關鍵內容。圖書館為社區提供了一個安全的、受歡迎的空間，一個開放、自由、屬于社區中每個人的場所。它供人們聚會、建立聯系，人們在這里見面、參與活動、互動、學習和分享——這是一個分享的空間，分享資源，建立信任，這對社區融合來說至關重要。但是，圖書館對空間的設定除了關乎建筑本身外，也關乎在這座建筑中發生的活動——這是一個關于如何使用空間的問題。

在利茲，我們一直在為圖書館空間的翻新工程作投資，并將它作為社區中心項目的一部分。翻新后空間的一個關鍵點是能夠舉辦社會和文化活動（兒童圖書館空間除外），可以輕松地滿足小組會議的需求，若有更大型的文化活動，書架也可以移動以騰出更多的空間。服務、項目和各種活動是圖書館的一個重要內容，在后疫情時代，這一點也許更加重要。雖然書籍和其他資源的服務提供是我們的核心，但圖書館也是活躍的場所，項目和活動可以幫助社區加快發展的步伐，支持經濟復蘇。

就未來的挑戰而言，確保對圖書館的持續投資是至關重要的。無論是在基礎設施方面，讓圖書館的空間更熱情、明亮、有吸引力和具備相關性；還是在人員配備和資金提供方面，有能力策劃并開展高質量的活動來吸引更多的社區參與。而且，為了確保這種持續的投資，我們需要有一個專業、清晰、有力的論述，來說明我們的圖書館服務是如何為政府報告《雄心壯志：2016—2021年英國公共圖書館的發展目標》（以下簡稱《目標》）中所描述的7項關鍵任務作出貢獻的。

《目標》描述了公共圖書館未來的發展愿景，以及英國的圖書館服務是如何幫助改變人們的生活、社區和社會的。它確定了圖書館對個人和社區產生至關重要影響的7個方面：①豐富文化和創意；②提高閱讀和讀寫能力；③提升數字訪問能力；④幫助每個人充分發揮其潛力；⑤更健康、更幸福的生活；⑥更加繁榮；⑦更強大、更具彈性的社區。

重要的是，我們需要確保圖書館所有活動與這些關鍵方面以及本地的優先事項保持一致。

本刊：我們還想特別跟您探討有關技術和圖書館數字化的問題。圖書館一直在談論數字化，您覺得疫情之后和疫情之前大家對數字化的認識有沒有什么變化？在下一階段的發展中，利茲圖書館在新技術應用和數字化方面有哪些規劃？

安德里亞·埃里森：英國的政府報告《目標》指出，“數字訪問能力和數字素養越來越重要，尤其是對中央和地方政府有關經濟發展、渠道轉變、減少社會孤立和創造社區凝聚力方面的戰略而言”。

利茲有78萬人口，其中數以萬計的成年人處于不上網、或者數字技能非常有限的狀態：在利茲，有9萬名成年人不具備基本的數字技能；有5萬人根本不上網；40%的公租房租戶不上網。

研究表明，不具備基本數字技能的人健康狀況也較差，通過提升數字包容性，我們可以對抗其中的一些健康不平等問題。數字包容存在三個主要障礙：缺乏數字技能和信心；設備的連接有問題或者訪問受限；沒有上網的動機/不了解上網的好處。

自1997年引入People’s Network⑥以來，支持數字訪問就一直是利茲圖書館服務的核心。我們目前提供免費使用電腦、訪問互聯網、連接無線網絡以及平板電腦的借閱服務（提供iPad和4G連接）。我們還有一個技術嫻熟的“數字冠軍”員工團隊，通過免費的培訓和支持項目，幫助用戶發展數字技能。

新冠疫情讓人們意識到了數字訪問的重要性，約瑟夫·朗特里基金會在一篇博客文章中強調了關閉圖書館，特別是第一個封鎖期對圖書館的關閉，給我們社區中一些經濟弱勢群體帶來的影響。這些影響包括：

更多的人被要求通過數字方式獲得一些基本的服務，例如獲取健康信息、購買食品、訪問網上銀行賬戶或就住房問題與市政當局取得聯系。許多人不具備必要的技能或設備，他們以前可以去圖書館學習相應的技能或使用設備，但現在這些服務因為圖書館的關閉而無法獲得。

更多已經具備了一些數字技能的人發現自己需要以一種新的方式來工作和生活，例如線上工作會議、線上咨詢醫生、使用網絡通訊工具（如Zoom或微軟Teams）等，盡管以前也有一些新的數字技能需要學習，但從來沒有這么迫切過。很明顯，對于那些基本不具備數字技能或設備的人來說，這是一個更大的挑戰。

在疫情期間，更多的人面臨健康風險，更容易受到社會隔離對其身心健康產生的影響。

為了應對這些挑戰，我們提出并進一步發展了我在問題1中提到過的服務倡議。在圖書館走向全面重新開放的過程中，我們將吸取這一經驗，進一步拓展我們的服務。例如，我們把利茲社區圖書館的數字中心建設作為優先發展事項。包括引入數字健康中心的概念，利用社區參與來覆蓋更多的服務群體，提供對數字醫療保健和更廣泛福祉的支持。我們還將探索圖書館作為數據中心的概念。

疫情期間，圖書館的許多活動都轉到了線上。當重新開放時，我們不會撤回這些線上服務，相反，我們會努力將線上線下服務融合起來。例如，我們一直在網上舉辦樂高活動，疫情之前，這些活動只在圖書館里進行，由于時間/地點的關系，一些兒童無法參加，所以即使一切恢復如常，我們可能還會兩者兼具。另一種情況是，疫情期間我們開始提供在線報紙，之后我們可能選擇繼續保留在線報紙，而不是重新引入紙質報紙，因為電子報紙可選的主題范圍、語言翻譯功能以及多個讀者可以同時訪問的功能更符合需求。

本刊：為多元人群、弱勢人群服務是城市公共圖書館的一項重要工作，我們看到利茲圖書館在2019年的時候就已經免除了圖書的逾期費，中國的一些圖書館也開展了類似的行動，您能不能介紹下利茲圖書館免除圖書逾期費這一服務的成效如何？在為弱勢和多元人群服務方面，利茲圖書館還實施了哪些舉措？

安德里亞·埃里森：英國第一家取消逾期費的是大曼徹斯特地區的特拉福德圖書館（2018年取消）。這一變化符合特拉福德議會提出的“無人拖后腿，無人掉隊”的目標。因為“罰款對用戶來說是不愉快的經歷”。取消逾期費也消除了人們訪問圖書館的一大關鍵障礙，這反過來也會提升圖書館服務的使用量。其他圖書館也效仿了這一做法，比如利茲圖書館就在2019年秋季取消了逾期費。但很可惜，我們現在并沒有辦法評價這個新方案的好壞，因為2020年年初我們就閉館了。

當然，至今我們并未發現任何重大問題，已經實施了這項措施一段時間的特拉福德圖書館也沒有報告任何取消逾期費的負面影響。

關于如何支持弱勢群體和多元群體的其他活動，在問題3和問題5中，我已經回答了一些社區中心在支持弱勢和多元人群中發揮的作用，圖書館是其中不可或缺的一部分。一些具體的案例概述如下：

平板電腦借閱服務——由于資源和數據成本的關系，設備獲取和網絡連接的障礙越來越大，導致了數字鴻溝問題的惡化。為了幫助用戶解決這一問題，圖書館推出了平板電腦借閱服務。圖書館將設備借給社區組織，社區組織用這些設備培訓和幫助成員/用戶。在一些政府的衛生和就業支持機構的額外資金支持下（如英國國家醫療服務體系和就業及退休保障部/歐洲社會基金)，我們增加了可出借的平板電腦的數量（約300至600個）。這些設備有助于幫助弱勢群體尋找工作、與醫療服務機構保持聯系等。

健康假期文化項目——2020年夏天，利茲社區基金會為健康假期項目提供了資金。這一項目主要服務于利茲的弱勢兒童，讓孩子們能夠在假期獲得食物、參加有趣的活動、得到學習支持和幫助。大多數活動都在網上進行。由于許多孩子家里沒有電腦或不能連接網絡，導致了他們無法參加這些項目。因此，除了平板電腦借閱服務外，我們還購買了額外的平板來支持這一計劃。我們還為這些家庭提供了專門制作的文獻資料，讓孩子們在得到平板電腦的同時也獲得了更多的學習資源。我們的新服務計劃將努力確保我們所有的活動都能夠吸引和幫助在利茲生活和工作的不同社會群體，讓他們感受到平等。

本刊：《歐洲圖書館宣言》（2019）提出了“圖書館對歐洲很重要，歐洲對圖書館也很重要”的論點，您覺得城市公共圖書館應該怎樣建立起和城市發展更好的關系？

安德里亞·埃里森：《歐洲圖書館宣言》在六大關鍵領域對圖書館及其用戶提出了要求，其中包括圖書館支持教育和技能培訓、研究和創新、文化和遺產工具等。這些領域體現在了LC的圖書館服務倡議中，關注重點是圖書館支持人們在每一個生活階段獲得閱讀、培訓、數字技能、可信信息和文化體驗方面的作用。此外，就圖書館在幫助個人和社區克服新冠危機影響方面發揮的核心作用確定了5個關鍵領域（見問題2）。

另外，如前文所述，圖書館作為一個物理空間，為社區中心提供了一個安全的、受歡迎的空間，一個開放、自由的空間，一個屬于社區每個人的空間，一個藏書空間，也是一個讓人們彼此聯系的空間。LC主席最近在《圖書館復蘇文件》中表示，“社區需要依賴圖書館來恢復元氣。圖書館為當地經濟、教育以及社區所有人，特別是弱勢群體的健康和福祉帶來了切實的利益。現在比以往任何時候都更需要圖書館”。

圖書館是地方和國家政府支持疫情后復蘇的關鍵部分，也是體現政府成效的重要一環。我們擁有以社區為基礎的空間，擁有技能嫻熟且知識淵博的員工團隊以及豐富多樣的活動項目，我們需要做的就是更好地展現我們的服務，確保能夠吸引到必要的資金來維持和擴大我們的服務范圍。

圖3 服務提供

附錄：利茲圖書館的組織架構

利茲圖書館正在實施一個新的組織架構來支持我們的愿景。與之前相比，新架構更扁平、更易于管理，原先分為11個層級，現在只有5個層級。新架構還引入了通用職位描述，實現了更大的靈活性，從而將職位職責和職位描述的數量從之前的40多個減少到包括館長在內的6個（見圖1）。該架構分為3個關鍵領域，分別是：服務支持、服務提供和服務開發（見圖2—圖4）。

圖1 組織架構

圖2 服務支持

圖4 服務開發

以下為訪談的英文原文：

Building a Future of Cooperation, Sharing, and Digital inclusion——An Interview with the Chief Librarian of Leeds Libraries

Q:Let’s start with the question about COVID-19, which broke out in 2020 and obviously has greatly affected the world, so how did you and your library respond to it? Now the epidemic has been generally under control in many countries, and libraries around the world are gradually recovering services, what do you think is the biggest change that libraries have experienced since the outbreak of COVID-19? A:Our response to the COVID pandemic followed a similar path to that of many other library services across the country.Customer Support

Initially many of our staff were deployed into different roles to support the foodbanks and helplines. At the same time we were pivoting our service from a ‘face to face’ model of delivery to a digital offer. This included providing more resources for customers to access from home.

During the first period of lockdown, we picked up on an initiative being developed in other library authorities and introduced a ‘Keep in Touch’ project telephoning over 9,500 of our older customers to:

Keep them updated about what was happening in the library service

Support them to access the library service and other services and agencies digitally

Check that they knew where to get any other help or support as necessary (e.g. the COVID helpline)

We had some very positive feedback to this initiative which evidenced the real impact of the calls:

‘I had a telephone call this morning from yourselves just to check on whether I am alright and coping with the current lockdown; also to update me on the library services now available. It is a worthy initiative and did a lot for me. Please extend my thanks.’

‘You’ve got me hooked on the audio books. Ilisten to about two books a week. The great thing is you can do something else at the same time. I find it very relaxing. I do a lot of sewing and with earbuds in listening works well. Great variety of titles too.’

‘You are all doing a fantastic job. Thank you very much for all your hard work you Librarians are doing keeping us informed and reading during this horrible time.’

Quite a long chat with a customer who was very interested in eBooks, e-Magazines etc. and also Local & Family History “Thank you that was the nicest phone call I've had in days"

Of the Order and Collect service - ‘We wouldn’t have survived without it! We would have been climbing the walls.’

Customer support for developing digital skills

One of the biggest reveals of the pandemic was the extent of digital exclusion and the increased challenges our citizens faced including isolation from essential support, deteriorating mental health and financial hardship. This prompted us to review our digital support offer in Leeds libraries, which we have now rebranded as #Digital121.

At the heart of our #Digital121 service is the library enquiries telephone service which catches and directs requests for digital support received from customers and partner organisations and matches them to the most appropriate support and information available from within the service or through referral.

#Digital121 is a universal offer but we have targeted those with low digital skills who may have never previously had access to their own device and need support to use it more fully. A dedicated #Digital121 marketing campaign is focusing on our core offer of providing digital support and encouraging our citizens to get in touch so our librarian team can help them in developing their digital skills and confidence.

During the pandemic and current restrictions, we delivered this support remotely by telephone or Zoom. Between May 2020 and May 2021 we delivered over 200 support sessions.

We also invested in more digital resources, increasing our e-book catalogues and purchasing new resources such as:

Niche Academy – a range of free online tutorials from setting up an e-mail account or getting started with social media to helping you build your skills using our online resources, such as eBooks, business support and genealogy searches. There has been significant interest in this resource with tutorials accessed over 13,500 times since its introduction in April 2020.

Press reader – an e-newspaper service ‘PressReader’ via RBDigital, allows our customers to keep up to date with the latest news, free of charge. There were 634 downloads from install on 27th March to the end of March, with 137 different titles being downloaded including some worldwide newspapers, some of which are not published in English.

Feedback from customers about all these activities, digital support sessions and new resources has been very positive

“Accessing eBooks has been a lifeline. It is the best app on my phone now!”

“A wonderful service (eNewspapers) that I can still use from home”

“Delighted I can get on Ancestry at home”

“The librarians have been BRILLIANT - the resources are really very good and easy to follow!”

As we move out of restrictions, we will plan to extend our #Digital121 offer with the re-introduction of face-to-face support sessions alongside our remote offer. We will focus on delivering group sessions that support customers to manage their health and wellbeing, stay safe online, and research their local and family history. We will also be recruiting digital volunteers to support our delivery and build capacity.

Developing our Digital library offer – resources and online events/activities

The initial period of lockdown was marked by an explosion of digital content which at times seemed overwhelming. As well as introducing Niche Academy and e-Newspapers, in our role as information professionals,we used our specialist skills to create a new virtual library on our webpages, curating the best of our own online content and also signposting to some of the ‘best of what else’ was available on others’ websites.

We also curated information about quality resources for our partners in education and sent out a regular newsletter to schools.

In addition, we developed a whole new range of virtual activities aligned to the broader library purpose to inform, educate and entertain. Some highlights include:

British Library exhibition, ‘Unfinished Business: The Fight for Women’s Rights’

Later in the year, as part of our work with the British Library (BL) we curated a virtual exhibition and programme of events to celebrate the BL’s own exhibition, ‘Unfinished Business: The Fight for Women’s Rights’. Our online exhibition highlighted Leeds’ unique contribution to the campaign for gender equality and featured important books connected to the wider history of women’s rights. The exhibition spanned over 300 years from the poetry of Katherine Philips in 1669, through to the activism of the 1970s and 80s, culminating in the work of contemporary local spoken word artists. The weekend of events, created in partnership with the BL, included workshops, author talks and performances, and attracted over 800 people from all over the world.

To celebrate the exhibition Studio12 led a series of 5 poetry workshops and mentoring sessions with young poets and renowned literary activist, writer and playwright Khadijah Ibrahiim. The workshops explored women’s voices, activism and the fight for a fairer world. The participants’ poetry was transformed into spoken word performance films, which were showcased at a special live Spoken Word Showcase. The showcase involved a panel discussion between Khadijah and poet/activist Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan, followed by a spoken word takeover by The Sunday Practice. We had 300 engagements via social media in the lead up to the Spoken Word Showcase, and over300 people tuned in. Our largest audience was in Yorkshire, followed by London.

BBC’s ‘Novels That Shaped Our World

We also took part in the BBC’s national ‘Novels That Shaped Our World’ project and one strand of activity explored the connection between games and storytelling. A programme of events that included a workshop on creating your own literary escape game, a talk on the real history behind some of the novels from the BBC’s Novels list, animation activities for families and a panel event discussing how libraries and museums can use games to engage new audiences, which all led up to a two day Games Jam. The Jam challenged people to design a digital or physical game inspired by the BBC’s Novels list, and the participants were given access to images from our special collections for inspiration.

Our headline event of the weekend was a live mixed reality performance by virtual reality artist Rosie Summers who brought the world of Narnia to life. The games that were submitted can be viewed on our itch.io page and all events were recorded and added to YouTube.

We also delivered a programme of activity based around Arts and Cultural activities.

Arts Activity: We ran workshops inspired by the artist Joseph Cornell’s ‘world in a box’ sculptures and assemblage art. In these workshops, we captured the feel of the novel, its story, journey or place by assembling items in a box. The resulting artwork can be viewed in an exhibition with our partners Space2.

Cultural Activity: We ran a number of activities on social media and with readers and writers groups across the city. We asked readers to share the novel that has shaped them on social media, challenging readers to read as many of the 100 titles as they can. For writers we set a number of writing challenges and participants could also attend a writing class led by local author Alison Taft. Work written by the participants is currently featured on our digital book platform and you can read more about it here.

Business & Intellectual Property Service

For some key aspects of our service we took a business as usual approach albeit digitally. For example during the last year our Business & Intellectual Property Service quickly pivoted their services to an online model, ensuring local businesses had continuous support during the pandemic. This included:

Intensifying messaging across social media channels and via partners to inform the local business community that the service would continue to be available to support businesses with their enquiries via email and telephone.

The team and our business advice partners moved face-to-face consultations into a telephone format that proved particularly popular leading to the addition of new sessions.

Online access to our business resources ensured that the team were able to effectively deal with enquiries via email and telephone. Customers needing to consult these resources were able to book on one-to-one Zoom sessions providing the option of screen sharing.

Our face-to-face event programme was moved to webinar format ensuring continuity of our full programme of support Business & IP Centre Leeds Events | Eventbrite

As businesses looked to adapt to new ways of working and marketing, our webinars also refocused upon these sought after areas. This included extra webinars focusing upon online selling, social media and our first Start-up Summer School.

A successful Reset. Restart programme of talks aiming to support businesses transform, future-proof or grow was developed in partnership with the British Library. This provided access to a range of new webinars and follow-up one-to ones with specialist advisors. Reset. Restart - The British Library (bl.uk) .One of our most successful Reset. Restart online events focussed on the music sector, which had been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. This online panel event, which was held in partnership with Manchester libraries, featured musicians and other representativesfrom across the sector and provided a lively discussion about how to cope and pivot moving forward. Over 120 people attended the event live.

Short film summary

Finally, we have created this short film about our activity during the past year or more. youtu.be/QfGwr2vW8tQ (Live from Tuesday 29 June)

Q:The BBC has reported about the tight budget of British public libraries in the past ten years, and the number of public libraries in the UK has dropped significantly during last decade. Have Leeds Libraries been affected by this problem? Did COVID-19 aggravate the funding dilemma of British public libraries? How should libraries respond?

A:There are currently 34 libraries across the city of Leeds and there have been no closures in recent years. However, as part of a Library Review (New Chapter) back in July 2011 – 2013, 16 libraries closed, 3 moved into community management and a further 3 small libraries also subsequent closed in 2015.

Many local authorities have faced a significant financial challenge for a number of years and the situation has certainly been exacerbated by the pandemic.

In the last financial year, Leeds City Council was required to make a significant budget saving and all services, including the Library Service, were expected to contribute to this saving.

However, rather than going down the route of further library closures, and in recognition of the fact that the 34 remaining libraries in Leeds all serve major communities we instead used a ‘lean thinking’ approach to deliver savings through more efficient working practices.

This has included:

A review of the staffing structure of the library service, creating a more streamlined structure and introducing generic job descriptions to enable flexibility.

A review of opening hours as part of a public consultation and then developing a more efficientpattern of rota hours for the staff team to align with the resulting new opening hours. The review of opening hours has included the removal of Sunday opening and there are now a significant number of libraries across the city which only have 1 late evening opening a week.

Reducing spend on books.

The introduction of more cost effective methods of service delivery, e.g. reducing the range of print newspapers and introducing e-newspapers.

I think it is important that libraries respond to budget challenges by thinking creatively about how back-office efficiencies can be achieved, rather than always reducing the number of libraries or resources.

However, with ever shrinking budgets it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the efficiencies and so I think it is crucial that library services use this time to clearly articulate the role that libraries can play in the Covid recovery and beyond.

In its publication ‘Libraries: An Essential Part of Recovery’, Libraries Connected identifies the five key areas where libraries can play a central role in meeting the needs of individuals and communities who may be struggling to overcome the effects of the Covid-19 crisis.

These are:

Economic recovery, with help and training for job seekers and entrepreneurs

Education support for children and SEND (special educational need) students who struggled to learn at home

Isolation mitigation for vulnerable groups and to help people to reconnect locally

Digital inclusion for residents who lack IT skills or have no access to the Internet

Cultural partnership to help local artists and arts organisations to continue their work.

We have adopted these five broad themes to inform and underpin our new Recovery Strategy in Leeds Libraries and will ensure all our activity is aligned with one or more of these key priorities.

Q:As we know Leeds Libraries are a librarygroup composed of several libraries, could you share with us about how this group runs efficiently, especially in terms of funding and personnel management? How does Leeds library cooperate with libraries in other regions of the UK and with those at the national level?

A:Leeds covers a wide geographic area and is the third largest city in the UK by population with around 780,000 people. This is reflected in the fact that we have 34 libraries across the city, which makes us one of the larger city library services (Manchester has around 24 libraries, Liverpool has 18 libraries, Newcastle has 14 libraries).

The city is currently experiencing strong economic growth. However, whilst there are some in the city who enjoy increased life expectancy, social mobility and better jobs, others in Leeds live in deepening poverty. Approximately 20% of the population in Leeds live in poverty.

It is this issue of poverty which has driven the development of a network of Community Hubs across the city. A Community Hub provides access to multiple services, including Library Services, from one building located at the centre of a district community. As a key partner in this combined service delivery model, we have a fairly unique model of management for the delivery of our Library Service in Leeds.

Essentially, we have a single ‘front of house’ team. This means that the staff in the local Community Hub and Library will provide help with accessing library services as well as supporting customers needing to access, for example, council services or benefit advice or support with finding a job.

This front line staff team is managed by our Customer Service colleagues, while I, as Chief Librarian, am directly responsible for the development and delivery of professional library services across the entire library network as well as the delivery of the front line service from Central Library (which is not included in the co-location model).

I have attached in Appendix 1 a copy of thestaffing structure for the team that I have under my area of responsibility. This team includes the service specialists (e.g. Business and Information Librarians) but also librarians who, while based under my area of responsibility, work out in community libraries delivering sessions such as children’s events, reading groups, digital support sessions and reminiscence sessions for older people.

But, as already outlined, in addition to these librarians managed by me, there is a team of frontline staff who are managed by Community Hub Managers.

The funding for the Library Service comes directly from Leeds City Council although as a service we are sometimes successful in securing additional funding through one-off grants for specific projects.

The public library sector in this country is an extremely well connected network and I think it would help to illustrate my answer with a brief outline of the wider governance arrangements for libraries in England.

Libraries are a statutory service under the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act which requires Local authorities to deliver a ‘comprehensive and efficient library service’.

The statutory responsibility for libraries lies with the Local Authority (in our case Leeds City Council) and it is the statutory duty of the Secretary for State for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to superintend, and promote the improvement of the public library service provided by local authorities.

Arts Council England (ACE) are the development agency for libraries; although they do not have any statutory responsibility for libraries, their role is to support and encourage the development of libraries.

Libraries Connected (LC), formerly The Society of Chief Librarians, is a membership organisation made up of every library service in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. LC is partly funded by Arts Council England as a Sector Support Organisation for libraries, with a staff team and board of trustees. Its aim is to improve library services by developingand sharing best practice, driving innovation and connecting partners to local libraries. Heads of Library Services regularly meet in their regional clusters, as members of Libraries Connected, to discuss information from, and provide feedback to, the LC Trustees and Advisory Board, as well as to discuss issues pertinent to the region.

So, whilst we operate as a Library Service at a local level within our own authorities, we are also connected through our networks, at a sub-regional level (for Leeds this is West Yorkshire), a regional level (for Leeds this is the Yorkshire and Humber region) and at national level through Libraries Connected.

I am currently the Chair of the Libraries Connected Yorkshire and Humber region which has 15 local authorities in the group.

We are increasingly working more collaboratively at this wider regional level – for example in the area of procurement. This has involved the development of a single framework to procure a Library Management System for the region.This will ultimately allow us to share our resources across our boundaries.

I also work closely with my local authority neighbours in West Yorkshire.For example, we have recently collaborated on a proposal for a funding bid which, if successful, would allow us to develop an enhanced digital offer to support digital inclusion across West Yorkshire through the library network.

As Chair of our local region, I am our representative at the national LC Advisory Board. I also represent the region on one of the national LC sub groups: Books and Reading.

As one of the city based library authorities we are also involved in partnerships with the British Library (BL), particularly through the Living Knowledge Network and the Business and Intellectual Property Network.There are some exciting plans for the BL to establish a BL North in Leeds and so we will be working even more closely with our national library over the coming months.

Q:We know that Leeds Central Library holdsLeeds Art Gallery, and provides services such as Art Library and Music Library. From your perspective, how does a library connect with a gallery, or in a more general sense, what’s the relationship between library and art or music? How did they come together in Leeds Libraries?

A:Leeds’ Central Library and the City Art Gallery are separate but adjacent buildings managed and operated by different areas of Leeds City Council, the Library Service and the Museums and Galleries Service, however they do have both a physical and historical connection, and often collaborate on joint projects. The long-standing connection between the two services is also illustrated through location of the City Museum on the first floor of the Central Library building until 2000.

The physical link between the adjacent buildings is evident in two places.There is a door for customers to move between the buildings at first floor level, bringing a direct connection for visitors to the upper galleries of the City Art Gallery into Central Library’s Art Library.On the ground floor, the beautiful Tiled Hall, which at one time has been the Library’s main reading room and has also housed the City Art Gallery’s sculpture gallery, and is now the Café accessible to the visitors to both buildings.

Art Library

The Art Library is a unique specialist library within a public library setting, one of just a few in the country. Originally located in the City Art Gallery building, the service began in 1956 as the Leeds Print Room and Art Library and was jointly managed by Leeds Libraries and the City Art Gallery. The library brought together the city’s valuable collections of watercolours and prints and 13,000 art books from the Reference and Central Lending Libraries; the books covered aesthetics, architecture sculpture, painting graphic and decorative arts.

Over the years, the Art Library outgrew the space and the books became hard to access. Therefore, when the City Museum’s collections were found a newhome in 2000 the first floor then became the Arts Floor we now know it, with the Music Library at one end, Art at the other and space for exhibitions and events in between.

A recent example of partnership working with the City Art Gallery is the support provided by their staff teams for the development of our relatively new Drawing Room (an art and craft studio) within the Art Library.

Due to the challenges of Covid-19 launched online in May 2020. Co-hosted by Leeds Art Gallery and the Art Library, each month we bring a Virtual tour of the exhibition and make books accessible via Libraries Borrow Box or pdfs. The Art Lovers Book Club (ALBC) brings thought provoking books chosen by artists. These books are all texts that have been particularly formative or influential on the artist's thinking or practice. The artist-selectors are always either exhibited in the gallery or represented in the Leeds Art Gallery Collection. ALBC has brought together diverse reading from the outstanding fiction of Virginia Woolf and Toni Morrison to books on erupting volcanoes, Maori culture, walks and trespass, nature, mycelium and mushrooms.An average of 40 people attending the monthly meetings.

Music and Performing Arts Library

The Music Library opened as a separate subject department in the Central Library in 1950. On opening, the library had 7,500 music scores and books and by 1969 the stock had grown to 33,000 copies of books, scores and manuscripts and 10,000 records, covering Jazz, Classical, Folk, Musical and non-musical works, such as drama poetry and language records.

The book stock has developed and we now have a specialist collection of over 10,000 items with a wide range of resources for both teachers, students and hobbyist.We also house current music periodicals and an extensive, and in some cases rare, back catalogue of bound journals dating back to 1800s and some earlier.The current collection also holds around over 6,000 CD titles covering all genres and boasts a veryextensive classical selection.

In 2012, the Music Library rebranded as the Music and Performing Arts Library and became home to 12,000 drama scripts from the Yorkshire Library and Information Service and then in 2016 the collection expanded yet again taking in the vocal and orchestral side of the same collection. The set lending service now boasts 3,000 orchestral sets and over 300,000 vocals sets, which are available for loan to groups throughout the UK.

Studio 12

The Arts Floor is also home to Studio12 where art music and design come together in a long established young people’s project situated in between both libraries and of course next to the gallery. This project encapsulates how music and art collide in Leeds libraries. The planned refurbishment of the Music Library will see ambitious and exciting programming to engage a diverse audience to access the resources, learning, collaborative social spaces and cultural opportunities.

Q:As we know, Leeds Central Library is a famous historical building.When it was originally designed, the concept of "business" (where local people came to settle their gas, water and rates bills) was well integrated with the concept of “popular” (Free Public Library).Do you think this kind of space compatibility still makes sense in the design of modern urban libraries?

A:Leeds Central library is a magnificent Grade 2* listed building.It opened in 1884 as part of a Municipal Building which provided a place for all the services previously spread across the city with the objective of concentrating the administration of Leeds between the Municipal Building and the Town Hall which had opened in 1858.

Central Library today occupies the entire space of the original Municipal Building, other services having long since moved into the city’s Civic buildings.However, what is interesting is that in many of the community libraries today offer a similar service.

As outlined in my answer to question 3, in Leeds, our library service is part of the Council’s Customer Service team, which has a specific focus on tackling poverty.As a response to the need to address poverty and deprivation in the city, as well as the need to deliver budget savings while ensuring the sustainable delivery of services, proposals were made in 2014 to develop a network of Community Hubs.

Libraries are an integral partner in this development and as such have ceased to be a standalone service.The Community Hubs bring together all existing community based libraries, one stop centres and housing management offices to be managed as a single set of front of house services.Whilst there is a clear focus on tackling poverty and inequality, the development of the Hubs also has a broader aim of providing trusted places in local communities – places where local people can access the whole range of council and partner services in an easy and integrated way.

This approach is entirely consistent with the role of libraries, which are often referred to as ‘community hubs’ themselves, providing a focal point within local communities and offering safe and welcoming spaces for people to come together and access a range of services.

For many, the local library, with friendly and well-trained staff who are close to their communities, also provides the connection to local decision-making and wider council services.Library Staff are able to help and support with a range of enquiries, providing information about statutory requirements and services relating to housing, health, education and other welfare provision or signposting to other services and agencies as appropriate.

For those who are not in contact with other major council services, such as education or social care, the library service is often the key point of contact / interface with the council and so libraries can, and do, play an important role in shaping opinion about the local authority in the community. With almost threemillion visits each year the frontline staff team members are well placed to act as positive ambassadors for the city’s values, vision and aspirations.

As trusted places at the heart of the community, our libraries are central to the design of the Leeds Community Hubs model. We continue, like other library services to offer welcoming, non-stigmatised, free and accessible spaces, where people can meet, engage, interact, learn and develop.Through our activities, our resources and our programmes of events, our libraries can play a key role in the early intervention and prevention agenda.

Q:In 2018, the 26th annual meeting of EBLIDA (European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations) proposed the theme of “libraries bridging borders”, how do you understand the term of “border”?

A:I would interpret ‘border’ in the widest sense.

As outlined in my earlier answer, the library network is a well-connected, cohesive network.This means that we work collaboratively as a profession at a local, regional, national and international level, supporting the development of our services and staff through sharing best practise while also supporting customers from outside the local area with their information needs.

Q:In your career, how the public libraries have changed compared with the past? What is your point of view about the future of public libraries? What is the biggest challenge we are or will be facing? How do you think librarians should adapt to the future development? In what aspects should we improve most urgently?

A:I started my first job after graduation in 1983 and it is really hard to describe how different the environment in which we operate today is.

A few memories I would like to share, which illustrate the extent of changes since I began my career, include:

At the small community library where I worked in the early 1980s I remember lots of large print andwestern books; paperback books (less popular than hardbacks) were filed in random order called ‘dumps’.

There were large collections of vinyl records – when someone wanted to join the service to borrow these records, they had to bring in the stylus of their record player for it to be checked; I was disbelieving when the music librarian said that vinyl records would soon be a thing of the past and we would all have CDs.

Videos (VHS) were just being introduced, but computers in libraries as we know them today were absolutely a thing of the future - although by the late 1980s we had a ‘have a go micro’ in our central library (but just the one!).

Issuing and discharging books was all done manually using the Browne issuing system.

The Net Book Agreement was in place and so approaches to stock selection and purchasing were very different from today, involving lots of book selection meetings and visits to library suppliers.

Staffing structures looked very different – with more specialists and specialist services but in the late eighties and early nineties there was very little investment in library environments, furnishings or fittings.We painted library shelves ourselves to brighten things up and there was great excitement when money was eventually found for a new carpet in one library to cover the parquet flooring!We are now restoring parquet flooring in many of our libraries!

There are some who predicted that there would be no future for libraries, and that the advent of e-books would remove the need for libraries; but libraries have proved themselves to be resilient and adaptable.

Books and reading are still very much at the heart of our offer and this I believe that this will continue to be a key aspect of library services into the future, given the resurgence of in interest in reading post-Covid and the proven wellbeing impacts of reading (e.g. just 6 minutes reading reduces stress and anxiety).

A crucial part of our offer now and in the future will continue to be the physical space. Libraries provide a safe, welcoming non-stigmatised space in theheart of the community, a space that is open and free for everyone to go to; a space that belongs to everyone in the community. It is a space for connections as well as collections. A place where people can meet, engage, interact, learn develop and share– share the space and share the resources helping to build the sense of trust which is so vital for community cohesion and the wider place making agenda

But, the library contribution to place making is not only about the building, it is also about the activity that takes place in the building – it is about how the space is used.

In Leeds, we have been investing in the refurbishment of our library spaces as part of the Community Hub programme. A key feature of our refurbished spaces has been building in the capacity for social and cultural events – in addition to space in the children’s library, small groups can comfortably meet while the library is open and some shelving is mobile to allow for larger cultural events out of hours.

An important aspect of the library service and possibly even more so in a post-Covid environment is our programme of services, events and activities. Whilst providing access to books and other resources is central to our offer, our libraries are also lively places with events and activity which, in turn, has the potential to help increase footfall in neighborhoods, supporting economic recovery.

In terms of future challenges, ensuring investment continues to be made into library services is critical – both in terms of capital infrastructure so that our library spaces are welcoming, bright, attractive and relevant but also in terms of the staffing required and funding to enable the delivery of a high quality programme of events and activities to engage the whole community.

And, to ensure this continued investment, we need as a profession to be developing a clear and strong narrative about how our library services contribute to 7 key outcomes as outline in the Government’s report Libraries Deliver: Ambition for Public Libraries inEngland 2016 -2021.

‘Ambition’ outlines the vision for the future development of public libraries and describes how library services in England can help transform lives, communities and society.It identifies seven key outcomes that libraries deliver against and which are critical to individuals and communities:

cultural and creative enrichment

increased reading and literacy

improved digital access and literacy

helping everyone achieve their full potential

healthier and happier lives

greater prosperity

stronger, more resilient communities

It is important that we ensure that all our activity aligns with these key outcomes as well as local plans and priorities.

Q:We also want to talk about the technology, more specifically, the library digitization, an issue frequently discussed. Do you think people’s understanding about digitization has been changed after COVID-19? In the next stage of development, what Leeds Libraries plan to do in terms of new technology application and digitization?

A:‘Digital access and literacy is increasingly critical, especially to central and local government strategies around economic development, channel shift, reducing social isolation and creating community cohesion’.

Across our city, with a population of 780k, tens of thousands of adults are offline or have very limited digital skills:

90,000 adults in Leeds are without essential digital skills

50,000 are not online at all

40% of council housing tenants are not online

Research shows that those who are digitally excluded also have poorer health and that by improving digital inclusion we can combat some of these health inequalities.

There are three main barriers to digital inclusion:

Lack of skills/confidence

Limited or no access to equipment/connectivity

Not motivated to get online/not understanding of the benefits of being online

Providing support for digital access has been at the heart of library services since the introduction of the People’s Network back in 1997.We currently have provide free access to computers, the internet, free wi–fi, and a tablet lending scheme providing iPads and 4G connectivity, and we also have a skilled staff team of Digital Champions who are able to support customers with the motivations and skills development through our free training and support programmes.

The Covid-19 pandemic has emphasised the importance of digital access and a blog from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation highlighted the impact that the closure of library buildings, especially in the first period of lockdown, had on digital inclusion for some of the most economically disadvantaged people in our communities.

These impacts included:

More people were required to access essential services digitally, for example to access health information, do their grocery shopping, access online bank accounts, or make contact with the council about their housing.Many people did not have the necessary skills or equipment, and may previously have visited a library to learn the skills or to access the equipment, and these services were simply not available.

More people with some digital skills found themselves needing to operate in a new way, for example replacing face to face work meetings, doctor consultations, and attendance at social clubs with their virtual equivalent, such as Zoom or MS Teams, and many had never needed to do this before, and although had some digital skills they needed to learn new ones.And obviously for those with no skills or equipment – this was an even greater challenge.

More people who were at risk of, or vulnerable to, the impacts of social isolation on both their mental and physical health have suffered during the pandemic.

In response to these challenges we introduced and further developed the service initiatives outlined in my response to Question 1.As we move towards the full reopening of our buildings we will take the learning from this experience to develop our services further.

For example, we have also identified, as a priority, the development of our community libraries in Leeds as Digital Hubs. The concept will include the introduction of Digital Health Hubs which use community engagement to reach poorly served groups and support access to digitally enabled health care and wider wellbeing.We will also be exploring the concept of libraries as data hubs.

Many of our activities moved online during the pandemic.As we reopen we will not be withdrawing these online offers, but instead we will be reviewing how they might work as a blended offer of both ‘in person’ and online. For example, we have been running Lego activities online rather than in our libraries. Before the pandemic these were only run in our libraries and some children were unable to attend because of the times/locations of the sessions.Once things start to operate more normally we are likely to continue to do both. In contrast, we moved to an online newspaper offer in the absence on hard-copy newspapers being available in our libraries; we may choose to maintain the online newspapers because of the range of titles available, the language translation functionality, and the ability of multiple readers to access a title simultaneously, rather than re-introduce hard-copy newspapers once more.

Q:For public libraries, serving diverse and disadvantaged groups is an important mission, and we know Leeds Libraries have already abolished fines for overdue library books since 2019. Some Chinese public libraries have also carried out similar actions. Could you present the effects or results of Leeds Libraries waiving overdue fines? In terms of serving disadvantaged and diverse groups, what other measures have Leeds implemented?

A:The first Library Service to abolish fines in theUK was Trafford in Greater Manchester in 2018. The change was in line with Trafford Council’s ambition of ‘no-one held back no-one left behind’. The rationale was that ‘fines can be off putting for customers’ and abolishing fines would remove one of the key barriers to access libraries. This in turn would lead to an increase in usage across the service.

Other authorities followed this example, including Leeds in Autumn 2019. Unfortunately we have been unable to review how the initiative this as we had planned to at the six month stage as we went into lockdown early in 2020.

Anecdotally however, we are not aware of any major issues and certainly Trafford who have been doing the scheme longer have not reported any adverse impacts.

Other activities to support disadvantaged or diverse communities.

The role played by community hubs, of which libraries are an integral part, tackling poverty is covered in my responses to questions 3 and 5.Some specific examples are outlined below:

Tablet Lending – The Library service operates a tablet lending scheme to help tackle the barriers to digital inclusion of access to equipment and connectivity, which is often exacerbated due to the cost of these resources and the data.We lend these devices to community organisations who use them to assist with training and support of their members/customers.With the help of additional funding from government bodies that support health and employment (e.g. the NHS and the Department for Work and Pensions / European Social Fund) we have increased the number of loanable iPads available (from approx. 300 to 600).These devices help to support the most vulnerable customers to stay connected with their health providers or to find work, etc.

Healthy Holidays cultural programme - Last summer, Leeds Community Foundation provided funding for the Healthy Holidays programme for schoolchildren in Leeds.The programme enablesvulnerable children to have access to food, fun activities, learning and support during the school holidays.Many of the activities had to be online. Because many of the children would struggle to take part in the activities because their families did not have access to a computer or network connectivity, we supported the programme through buying additional iPads for the tablet-lending scheme.We also created additional literature for the families to support their use of the device and accessing additional learning resources whilst the tablet was on loan to them.

Our new service plan will be looking to ensure that all our activities embrace equality, attracting and supporting the diverse communities living and working in Leeds.

Q:The "Library Manifesto for Europe" (2019) put forward the manifesto that ‘Libraries matter for Europe and Europe matters for libraries", so in what aspects do you think urban public libraries could make efforts to better serve the city’s development?

A:The manifesto sets out requests in six key areas for libraries and their users, and these cover the work of libraries in supporting education and skills, research and innovation and culture and heritage.

These areas are reflected in the Libraries Connected Universal Offers; these focus on the role of libraries in promoting access to reading, training, digital skills, trusted information and cultural experiences for people at every stage of their lives.In addition, LC have identified 5 key areas where libraries can play a central role in meeting the needs of individuals and communities who may be struggling to overcome the effects of the Covid-19 crisis. These are:

Economic recovery with help and training for job seekers and entrepreneurs

Education support for children and SEND students who struggled to learn at home

Isolation mitigation for vulnerable groups and to help people to reconnect locally

Digital inclusion for residents who lack IT skills or have no access to the Internet

Cultural partnership to help local artists and arts organisations to continue their work.

In addition, as outlined earlier in this document, libraries play an important role in the place making agenda. The library as a physical space provides a safe, welcoming non- stigmatised space in the heart of the community; a space that is open and free for everyone to go to; a space that belongs to everyone in the community. It is a space for connections as well as collections.

The President of LC has recently stated in the Libraries Recovery Document, “….communities need libraries to recover. They deliver tangible benefits to the local economy, educational outcomes and the health and wellbeing of all in our communities and especially the most vulnerable.Libraries are needed now more than ever”.

Libraries are a key part of the solution to outcomes that are important to local and national government and in supporting the post-Covid recovery.We have all the right ingredients in terms of our community based spaces, our skilled and knowledgeable staff teams and a rich and varied programme of activity aligned to priority outcomes. What we need to do is better articulate that provision to ensure we attract the funding necessary to maintain and extend our provision.

Appendix: The structure of Leeds Libraries

We have just completed a service review and are in the process of implementing a new structure to support our vision. Compared to our previous structure, the new one is a flatter, more manageable structure with just 5 tiers of staffing as opposed to the previous 11 tiers.

This new structure also introduces generic job descriptions enabling greater flexibility resulting also in the reduction of the number of job roles and job descriptions from over 40 in the previous structure to just 6 including the post of Chief Librarian.

The structure is split into 3 key areas; from left to right these are: Service Support, Service Delivery and Service Development.

The structure of Leeds Libraries

Service Support

Service Delivery

Service Development

注釋：

① Libraries Connected。LC，英國藝術委員會支持的慈善性質的公共圖書館會員組織，由英格蘭、威爾士和北愛爾蘭的圖書館服務機構組成。

② 12號工作室。藝術樓層也是12號工作室的所在地，它位于兩個圖書館（藝術圖書館和音樂和表演藝術圖書館）之間，毗鄰畫廊。在這里，藝術、音樂和設計融合在了一個歷史悠久的面向年輕人的項目中，也展示了音樂和藝術是如何在利茲圖書館發生碰撞的。音樂圖書館的翻新計劃將讓人們看到更多雄心勃勃且令人興奮的項目，以吸引不同的用戶訪問資源、學習、在社交空間中合作，并且獲得更多的文化機會。

③ The Sunday Practice。利茲的一個現場音樂和詩歌之夜活動。

④ 這是一種在計算機技術出現之前在圖書館使用的借閱系統，該系統主要基于卡片，借書時，圖書館員拿走讀者的一張借書卡，并取出書中的借書卡，兩張卡放在一起按日期歸檔；歸還圖書時，將讀者的借書卡從相應日期的檔案中取出交還給用戶，并重新將借書卡放入書中。

⑤ 英國和愛爾蘭出版商協會和書商之間的一項固定圖書價格協議，規定了圖書向公眾出售的價格。

⑥ People’S Network。一項由英國公共圖書館聯合提供的服務。