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DRAFT
ITEM EX10

EXECUTIVE – 14 OCTOBER 2003

LIBRARY OPENING HOURS

Report by Head of Cultural Services

1. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) expects all library authorities to meet the Public Library Standard of 128 aggregate opening hours per thousand population per annum by April 2004. The Council’s 2002 Annual Library Plan stated that the Standard would be achieved in two phases by 2004/05.
2. Following the full implementation of Phase One from 1 February 2004, with increased opening hours in the 11 busiest branch libraries, there will be a total of 1398 hours open per week or 72,696 hours per annum. This excludes the extra 32 hours per week paid for by West Oxfordshire District Council up to the end of March 2003. (These hours were originally substitutes for the 15% cuts to opening hours the County Council had implemented: when the County reinstated these hours, West Oxfordshire District Council had continued to fund extra opening hours in the libraries in their area, over and above opening provision across the rest of the library network).
3. Assuming a county population figure of 621,200 in 2005 (estimate figure provided by the Council’s demographer), at 117 opening hours per thousand population per annum, Oxfordshire will still be 11 hours short of the Standard, the equivalent of 131 hours per week.
4. The proposals below make recommendations to meet this shortfall and form two parts – the static libraries not included in Phase One and the interim recommendations of the Mobile Library Review. A summary of all the proposals, including annual costs, can be found at Annex 1 (download as .doc file). In addition a number of associated issues regarding opening hours are addressed, from Sunday opening to single staffing, in order that as many outstanding aspects are brought together for a coherent picture and set of options to be presented.

Static Libraries

5. It is proposed that the libraries not included in Phase One should have their overall hours increased by 52 hours per week, at an annual cost of £147,000. A table at Annex 2 (download as .doc file) summarises the proposals for each library. Key points to note include:

• An extra 2 hours per week for the Central Library, to enable opening at 9.00 am each morning and a 5.30 pm closure on Fridays. (Should it be considered appropriate that the Centre for Oxfordshire Studies (COS) also opened these extra 2 hours a week, there would be a cost implication of c. £15,500 p.a. This is not included in the above £147,000, and would need to be considered alongside the inclusion in the initial list of budget pressures and growth for Cultural Services for 2004/05 of the option of opening COS on Wednesdays in future).
• The provision of extra hours in those libraries where current hours are inadequate for the high level of business already being experienced.
• A reduction in hours for some West Oxfordshire libraries where the level of business does not justify the Council ‘subsidising’ extra hours previously paid for by the District Council. All hours previously funded by the District Council will be supported up to the implementation of Phase Two.
• Within the proposed total of hours for each library, more work will be undertaken later in 2004 to ensure that the proportion of ‘out of office’ hours (i.e. post 5.00 and weekends) increases, in order to meet the overall DCMS Standard of 30%. This will be done in consultation with local library managers, members of the public, Friends’ groups, etc.
• The implementation of the new opening hours would start from 1 February 2005. (This start date is dependent on c. £100,000 being allocated to Libraries for extra opening hours in the February 2004 Budget setting: this figure is being included in the initial list of pressures and growth for Cultural Services. The option of pulling this start date forward to October/November 2004 would entail an extra one off cost of £75,000).

6. The ‘Bee-online’ online Centre in the Central Library is a partnership between the Library Service and Adult & Community Learning, in which the latter manages the Centre and its staff, while the Library Service provides the accommodation and the equipment (including some of the Central Library’s complement of People’s Network computer terminals). The Centre became operational on 28 October 2002. It was immediately well subscribed and between 80 and 100 people use the Centre on a drop-in basis every day, free of charge; it is very rare to find a spare seat at a terminal throughout the Centre’s opening hours. To date the Centre has also enrolled over 260 learners on learndirect courses and the income raised from these courses funds the day-to-day operation of the Centre as a whole. Recent steps have been taken to maximise income from learndirect courses through the provision of dedicated sessions for learndirect learners from 9.30 am to 11.30 am each weekday morning. However, even with these steps, income is insufficient to provide staffing to match the full opening hours of the Central Library, resulting in numbers of terminals lying unused while those elsewhere in the Central Library are fully booked, and potential users are being turned away.
7. In order to extend the opening hours of this valued and high-profile service, it is necessary to provide a staffing budget to supplement the income obtained from the sale of learndirect courses. Extension of the opening hours so that the Centre would close every day half an hour before Central Library’s closing time (allowing time to correctly close down the terminals) would take an additional 11 hours per week, and would cost £18,000 p.a. This option is strongly supported by the Head of Community Learning. The staffing cost could be lowered if the level of service was to be reduced for the additional hours, but a two-tier service at different times of the day is not recommended.
8. Blackbird Leys Library and Learning Centre could also benefit from an extension to opening hours, to open at lunchtimes (the Library is currently closed between 12.00 noon and 1.30 pm on three days per week). This would improve the presentation to the community of an integrated centre (although it has to be said that the extra opening hours are not strictly required to meet the current Library workload). Moreover the staffing cost of opening over these lunchtimes would be £17,000, and it is not certain at this point that the likely level of take-up would warrant the sum involved, and therefore it is not recommended that this amount be considered as a bid at this point. However it is proposed that officers monitor this situation and investigate whether there are other ways of addressing this issue.

Mobile Library Review

9. One outcome of the Library Service Best Value Review was a review of the Mobile Library Service, including the re-designation of an existing vehicle to serve homes for older people (very much in line with the Culture Bus pilot earlier this year and its possible development in 2004/05). An interim report is appended as Annex 3 (download as .doc file), together with a proposed Charter for the Service (Annex 4 - (download as .doc file)) and revised Criteria for Mobile Library Stops (Annex 5 - (download as .doc file)).
10. The following recommendations in the interim report would result in an extra 79 opening hours per week for mobile libraries, at an annual cost of £126,700 (see Annex 1 (download as .doc file) for breakdown of costs):

• Increased administrative support at the mobiles’ base libraries in order to free off crews for more public service (12 hours)
• Evening crewing (12 hours).
• Half-day Saturday crewing (18 hours).
• Improved hours of re-designated Community Services vehicle (12 hours).
• Second new Community Services vehicle (25 hours).

11. Officers had planned to undertake detailed work on staffing formulae and workload analyses during this financial year, for both the public and support services. However, it is now felt that such a significant investment in time should be left until a later date, when:

• The Library Management System Replacement project has been fully implemented, and all 50 libraries are computerised for the first time, with more cost-effective systems in place in support services.
• Managers have accurate and consistent performance figures for all libraries arising from the above.
• The full impact of the installation of the People’s Network is more evident.

12. The issue of Sunday opening for libraries has been examined as part of the analysis of opening outside of office hours. There has been to date no public pressure for Sunday opening in Oxfordshire, either directly or via the extensive Best Value Review public consultation. However, it is felt professionally that Sunday opening should at an appropriate time and in suitable locations be trialled in the County. There would be sense in starting with the Central Library, given it is adjacent to shops opening on that day. (A preliminary examination of the costing of a full scale Sunday opening indicates this could be around £3,000 per week for an 11 – 5 opening span for library services alone, totalling c. £150,000 p.a.).
13. A question that needs to be addressed is whether a full range of services would be offered, (including the Centre for Oxfordshire Studies and the Learning Centre?), or as a number of other Library Authorities are providing, a skeleton self-service operation (e.g. the new Norwich Central Library). In the case of the Central Library it does seem that realistically Sunday opening should be delayed until a measure of refurbishment is completed, which if necessary could take Sunday opening into account. For example, the option of installing (relatively expensive) self issuing terminals could be investigated and costed, with the complementary impacts on counter and security layouts as well as the possible creation of a café area (which has been highlighted as a priority through public consultation). Given that there are a number of imponderables in this area, it is recommended that further work is undertaken, linked to the staffing formulae and work load analysis mentioned above. Options for Sunday opening will also need discussions with staff and Unison. A report would then be brought back in 2004/05 to the Executive on recommendations for the best way forward.

Christmas and New Year Closure

14. Several years ago the Council agreed that, in order to make savings, all branch libraries except Central would close in the period between Christmas and the New Year. A similar decision regarding Saturday and Tuesday closure at the other Bank Holidays was subsequently reversed in 2002/03. It is now recommended that the opportunity is taken to restore the opening of static libraries in the Christmas to New Year period. This would cost £21,000 per annum.

Single Staffing

15. As planned an analysis of single staffing on Mobile Libraries was undertaken as part of the above Review. Given the move towards improving the quality of the service to better focused client groups, be they elderly residents in sheltered accommodation, day centres and residential homes, or children in rural primary schools, it was decided to retain double crewing. This also provides sufficient capacity for exploiting the new ICT terminals on vehicles – particularly on-line Galaxy book issuing and enquiry facilities planned for all mobiles in 2004 – as well as operating lifts (to be provided on all vehicles) providing access for users with disabilities. Furthermore the retention of two crew members addresses the concern amongst staff on mobiles for personal security, particularly with the recommendation to develop evening stops.
16. In the case of single staffing in smaller branch libraries, Unison had expressed some concern for staff health and safety in 2003/04 to library management. A total of 10 libraries only ever have one member of staff on duty at any one time; in addition a number only have one on duty for some of the opening hours in the week. Risk assessments have already been made to ensure staff are not put at undue risk when working alone – particularly on late nights. In certain cases a second assistant is employed (either permanently or temporarily) to overcome risks, over and above what is strictly required for the workload of that branch. In all other cases the situation is regularly monitored. It has to be reported that one or two unfortunate incidents have occurred over the past year at single staffed libraries. Given the extreme pressure on the casual staffing budget at present, it is considered a high priority that risk management provision is created to cover the deployment of extra staffing to cover specific problems – these can be short-lived particularly if a prompt management response is seen to have been made. It is recommended that £5,000 p.a. be provided, from 2005/06, which would provide c. 11 – 15 hours per week, to be used as and when appropriate (e.g. on winter evenings).

Financial Implications

17. In the build up to the 2002/03 budget setting, an indicative sum was highlighted to achieve the residual opening hours (after Phase 1 was implemented) to meet the DCMS Standard. This figure has been uplifted for inflation and included in the initial medium term financial planning process for 2004/05 at £100,000 (PYE) in 2004/05 and £345,000 (FYE) from 2005/06. The present report identifies a possible package to achieve this balance of hours, along with costings for associated matters affecting opening hours. The total full year effect of £317,700 has been achieved by rigorous analysis of the most economic effective way of meeting the Standard, taking into account the other priorities of the BVR (e.g. the revamp of the Mobile Library Service). In summary the financial implications are as follows:

		2004/05 (Feb-March) £	2005/06 £	2006/07 £
(1)	Central & Branch Libraries extra hours	24,600	147,000	147,000
(2)	Mobile Library extra hours (including extra vehicle)	75,400	126,700	126,700
(3)	Christmas & New Year Opening – Branch Libraries	_	21,000	21,000
(4)	Provision for Risk Management in single staffed branches	_	5,000	5,000
(5)	Central Library Learning Centre – extra opening hours (from July 2004)	13,500	18,000	18,000
	TOTAL	113,500	317,700	317,700

RECOMMENDATIONS

18. The Executive is RECOMMENDED to:

 

1. approve in principle the approach advocated in the report for the second phase of increased opening hours and associated matters, with implementation from February 2005;
2. approve in principle the opening of branch libraries in the period between Christmas and the new Year, with effect from Christmas 2005;
3. note the financial implications of Phase Two for consideration as part of the budget setting process for 2004/05;
4. approve the Mobile Library Service Charter (Annex 4) (download as .doc file); and
5. approve the new Criteria for Mobile Library Stops (Annex 5) (download as .doc file).

RICHARD MUNRO
Head of Cultural Services

Background Papers: Nil

Contact Officers:
Andrew Coggins, County Librarian Tel: 01865 810212
Rex Harris, Assistant County Librarian, Performance and Development Tel: 01865 810234

October 2003

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