North West

Tate Exterior_North West The North West covers the five areas of Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, Cumbria and Lancashire and has a population of 6.7 million, making it larger than several EU countries.
80 per cent of the region is rural, but most people live in the urban areas with 60 per cent of people in the two core conurbations of Greater Manchester and Merseyside.

The region generates 11 per cent of the UK's Gross Domestic Product, despite a decline in traditional manufacturing and engineering industries. Creative Industries are an area of growth for the region with 29% growth between 1995 and 2002 and a further 18% growth is projected by 2013.

Areas such as Cheshire, Liverpool and Manchester city centres continue to grow, but there is also a continued presence of North West neighbourhoods high in the Indices of Deprivation.

There are approximately 290 museums and galleries in the Region receiving 8 million visits a year
The region has 22 public library services which receive approximately 40 million visits each year. In addition to public libraries the region has 15 universities and higher education colleges with libraries, 64 further education colleges with libraries and over 50 health libraries
The North West has the highest percentage of the population using archives of any of the English regions. The region has 200 archive holding organisations with 45 main archive offices.

MLA in the North West has a history of working strategically in partnership with local authorities, cultural agencies, Government Office North West and the North West Development Agency. Since the findings of the Hodge Review this commitment to partnership working has been formalised with a renewed emphasis on joint delivery of a core set of priorities across the culture and sport agenda.

Living Places Pennine Lancashire

MLA North West chairs the Living Places Pennine Lancashire– one of only five ‘Priority Places’ in the country. The programme is focussing the regional cultural agencies on working together to develop links between culture and sustaining communities through housing led regeneration. For more information visit: Living Places

Liverpool's £50m central library redevelopment

Historic reading rooms will be restored to old glory and archives given new storage.

The aim is to create a building which is a heritage attraction in its own right with historic areas restored and new features that include an atrium dome and new café.

> Read more about Liverpool Central

Cheshire library gets £1.5m boost

Joint site for Wharton Library and community facilities

As well as traditional public library facilities such as books, reference sources and internet access, Wharton has an ICT suite, social area, extensive community areas.

> Read more about Wharton

Bolton library co-locates with health centre

Joint project between Bolton Council and NHS Bolton

Purpose-built £1.1m Breightmet library shares the same building as heatlh facilities thanks to Big Lottery Fund grant.

> Read more about Breightmet library

Halton Lea's state of the art library

One of the borough's largest library gets a revamp

Halton Lea library, in Runcorn, gets £1.4m for refurbishment including a new cafe and community facilities.

> Read more about Halton Lea

New library welcomes minister

Moss Side Powerhouse library is smarter, safer and more high-tech

Young library users were consulted, by Manchester Library Services, about all aspects of the design and marketing of the project.

> Read more about Moss Side

Interpretation and access at Helmshore Mills

Widening the audience and meeting the access needs of all visitors

Addressing the problems of access to meet the Disability Discrimination Act, at this Lancashire museum, also led to fresh look at ways to improve interpretation for audiences, such as school parties and enthusiasts.

> Read more about Helmshore Mills

New community hub library for Oldham

Improvements at Lees Library will benefit the whole community

Lottery funding for Lees Library, in Oldham, will see a range of new facilities including lifelong learning classes and an after-school homework centre.

> Read more about Lees Library

Activity with children and young people

The outcomes of a review of museum, library and archive activity with children and young people.

2008-9 Training Programme

A range of full and half-day training events designed to meet the practical needs of the sector in the North West.

Morecambe Library welcomes a Hollywood star

Actress turned singer, Juliette Lewis, performs for Get it Loud

Hollywood actress, Juliette Lewis, gave a sell-out show at Morecambe Library. She is the latest in a line of impressive acts to perform as part of the Get it Loud project for Lancashire Libraries.

> Read more about morecambe library

Presentation to Merseyside Cultural Forum

MLA explains how it can help local authorities

In a meeting with councillors and council officers from Merseyside regional manager Nathan Lee explains more about the work of the MLA.

> Read more about merseyside

Intervention in Wirral

Culture Secretary orders local Inquiry into public library service in the Wirral

Culture Secretary Andy Burnham has today (Friday 3 April) intervened in the public dispute about proposed library closures in the Wirral.

> Read more about wirral

Teenagers get in tune at Lancashire Libraries

Teenagers learn the finer points of songwriting from rising star VV Brown

One of the most hotly tipped pop acts of 2009 is coming to Lancashire and she is going to teach young people how it’s done - in libraries. V V Brown, who has written hits for Madonna and Sugababes will visit Skelmersdale Library and Leyland Library on May 8th to take song writing workshops and give advice on making it in the world of pop.

> Read more about vv brown

Archive helps tourism in Blackpool

Scheme celebrates history of Blackpool's fairgrounds in a bid to boost tourism

The National Fairground Archive has been instrumental in an ongoing scheme to promote tourism in Blackpool.

New community library in Bury

From semi-derelict shop to community hub

Getting the local community involved has transformed a council estate and provided a model for further community libraries in the Borough.

> Read more about Bury libraries

VV Brown master class at Lancashire Libraries

Pop songstress shows teenagers how it's done

VV Brown, who has written hits for Madonna and Sugababes, held two song writing classess at libraries in Lancashire.

> Read more about vv brown

Grosvenor project brings in 'hard-to-reach'

Hard-to-reach groups benefit from access to museum collections

A programme run by Chester's Grosvenor Museum to engage 'hard-to-reach' groups has been commended as a success by all involved.

> Read more about grosvenor museum

Teenagers take over Knowsley

Creating a space for young people

Getting local teenagers involved in transforming an area in the new Halewood library see young peoples' library use soar

> Read more about Knowsley libraries

Manchester scheme for looked-after children

Long term project nurtures creativity in looked-after children

Image and Identity encouraged the sharing of collections, collaborative working and the exchange of best practice between national and regional museums.

> Read more about image and identity

Creating a new Wigan Trust

Charity begins at home for Wigan libraries

Constrained by Government spending limits, Wigan Council decided the only way to improve its libraries was to set up a charitable organisation.

> Read more about Wigan Trust libraries

Film-making project for homeless in Manchester

Films based on MOSI’s collection shown on the BBC Big Screen in central Manchester

A film-making project for homeless men in Manchester has successfully taught film-making skills and enhanced self-esteem, confidence and employability.

> Read more about Manchester MOSI