East of England

Suffolk Libraries The East of England covers the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk and the unitary authorities of Luton, Peterborough, Southend on Sea and Thurrock. The region is mainly rural in character, made up of a large number of historic market towns and fewer large urban centres than other regions. The southern parts of the region are influenced largely by their proximity to London, whilst in the north and east of the region there are extensive areas of sparsely populated countryside.

There are 11 museum, library and archive collections Designated as being of national and international importance in the East of England.
165 of the region’s museums have achieved, or are working towards, Accreditation
The region’s 10 library services have 304 branches and 53 mobile libraries. There are also a wide range of other libraries including University and college libraries, health and business libraries.
The region has 7 local authority archive services and over 200 other archives are held in universities, museums, local history study centres, and the private sector.

Arts Council England, Sport England, English Heritage and the MLA are working together in the East of England to jointly deliver a set of shared priorities across the culture and sport agenda. These are

Regional Strategies
Local Government commitment to culture and sport, and Local area Agreements
Place Shaping and
2012 and the Cultural Olympiad

Since January 2008, Arts Council East, Sport England, MLA, English Heritage, Heritage Lottery Fund, living East Screen East, East of England Development Agency (EEDA) and Government Office for the East of England (GO-East) have been meeting regularly to develop a regional action plan to implement new ways of working. As part of the planning process, consideration has been given to the legacy of Living East’s work.

Early in 2008, MLA East of England commissioned NIACE (National Institute of Adult Continuing Education) to research how key national strategies around adult, community and family learning were being implemented in the East of England and the opportunities for museums, libraries and archives to link in with this work.

The report is a useful resource for museums, libraries and archives who are interested in developing this work. To read the report click on the 'Adult and family learning' link below or to the right.

Cambridge Central Library transformed

£7.5m refurbishment aims to take library past one million users mark

Staff welcomed more than 17,000 visitors in its first week of operation with new features, such as the British Film Institute’s (BFI) Mediatheque – the first in a UK library.

> Read more about Cambridge

Great Yarmouth library gets £1.3m facelift

Space for the community at refurbished library thanks to Big Lottery Fund

The newly refurbished Great Yarmouth Community Library now has more books, DVDs and video games to borrow, as well as 42 flat-screen computers.

> Read more about Great Yarmouth

Public art at new £1.4m local library

Ipswich's newest library includes eye-catching exhibits

Local people have been involved in the project, part of the Big Lottery Fund's Community Libraries programme, from the beginning to ensure the it meets the needs of the community.

> Read more about gainsborough