A thirst for knowledge

• 70% of children believe that a library is one of the best places to learn outside school
• 80% of users believe that archives provide useful and enjoyable learning experiences
• 96% of teachers believe that their students can learn something unique from museum objects

Inspiring and supporting learning is at the heart of the mission of every museum, library and archive. Their collections are the building blocks of learning, and they work in partnership with a wide range of learning organisations to offer high quality learning experiences which support both formal and accredited education and informal lifelong learning.

Museums, libraries and archives are learning organisations themselves that support their staff in the development of their own learning and skills.

Case studies

Developing new IT skills for employment:  Knowsley Library Service

Amanda went to the library to do a basic computer course. She was very nervous as she had left work to bring up a family and had not been in employment for over 10 years. She was eager to learn and develop new skills and was advised to enroll on a Learndirect basic computing course. Since then she has completed basic courses in Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Database and Internet. As Amanda’s confidence grew so did her ambitions and she enrolled on The Complete Desktop Tutor course and recently completed the ECDL qualification.

Since completing her ECDL Amanda has been applying for employment in an office environment something she would never have thought about before coming into the library and that it has given her a "greater chance of finding employment in a good job." Library staff who have worked with her said: "It has been wonderful to see Amanda grow in confidence as she completed each module. We are all really pleased and proud of her and her achievements."

Stoke-on-Trent Libraries:  Gypsy and Traveller Project

‘If they miss us at the site, they wait at the next stop’

At the mobile library’s first visit to the Linehouses site, the trailer was deluged by children from the travellers’ settlement. "The staff were quite concerned by some of the children’s behaviour, and by the hostility shown by some of the young men on the site, but they were determined not to give up at this first hurdle" said Kath Reynolds, the community services principal librarian for Stoke Libraries.

So subsequent visits included more library staff, and the support of Lorna Park from the Citizens’ Advice Bureau which made a valuable contribution to the project, and they have been less intimidating, and gradually more rewarding.

"We have come to understand some of the cultural issues and are able to take these on board when dealing with people" says Kath, "and the training provided by the CAB was invaluable in achieving that understanding."

A regular core of about five young readers come on to the vehicle, and more of the community are coming to look, chat and ask about the stock. "Many people need time to adapt to new things, and this group of people are no exception, so to have people coming and showing an interest is very encouraging", says Kath.

And the librarian in charge of the mobile library adds: "Some of the children are so confident in using the service that if they miss us at the site because they are in school, they wait for us at the next stop - our only problem now is actually pulling away from the Linehouses site in time to reach our next stop."

Bexley archives, library and museum:  Blitz

When a group of schoolchildren dutifully wearing their gas masks and identification labels got ready to board the train, they were making more of a link than with their evacuee predecessors of 60 years ago. They were creating a chain for the local organisations that had come together to create the Blitz Kids project for them.

Instigated by Bexley Council, the borough library, archive and museum services had come together to help these four schools deliver Key Stage 2 history - by reliving the history. Actual Second World War evacuees had been into the schools to talk about their experiences, and the Bluebell Railway and Second World War re-enactment groups were brought in.

Documents from the local archive centre and objects from the museum were made available, and a mobile library took an exhibition about the project to other schools in the borough. During half term libraries invited the children in to pictures relating to the war, and every Bexley primary school has had a Blitz Kids resource pack. With the help of Orpington Video Club, a film was made of the whole project.

Funded from the Single Regeneration Budget and Bexley Council, the project’s aim was to open up libraries, museums and archives to children, and help teachers deliver the National Curriculum in an interesting way. And teachers also got a better idea of what resources the borough has available to hemp them and how to access to them. But unexpected benefits included giving a higher community profile to the services involved, and creating a working relationship between them.

The original evacuees, too, benefited – some had been traumatised by their experiences, and the "reminiscence therapy" the project put them through proved to be very helpful for them.

"Even the former evacuee who helped us set it up, Jean Slattery, was surprised at the number of evacuees who came forward to say it hadn’t been a wonderful experience for them" said Stuart Bligh, the then local services manager for Bexley. "The eye-opener for all of us was when they sat on the train with the children and began to tell them how frightening it was to be leaving home and family, with the air raids going on around them. It was very valuable.

"Unfortunately, it was quite expensive for us – about £5,000 – and it was a one-off grant that paid for it, so that although we had hoped it would be an annual event, so far it hasn’t been possible to do it again", he added.

Liverpool Central Library:  Surfzone

There are queues round Liverpool's Central Library every weekend now, thanks to Surfzone and Kids.com.

The project came out of Liverpool Libraries' wish to bring more children and teenagers into the Central Library, making inner city communities feel the library was accessible to them, but also to challenge social exclusion and give new, informal learning opportunities to Liverpool's young.

"We knew we had to change perceptions of the service and what was on offer", said Kathy Johnson, Liverpool Central Library manager. "So we brought in young designers to create colourful graphic areas for two groups, eight-to-12 –year-olds (Kids.com) and 13-to-19s (Surfzone)."

Funded by the People’s Network and revenue budgets, the result was a special area for kids, with 18 dedicated computers, comfortable seating and space for them to do homework, or just to sit and read.

The service also looked beyond their own resources to make a partnership with the local radio station, Radio City, creating a brand consciousness with young listeners – DJ Louis "Large Portion" Hurst helped push the Liverpool’s "It’s cool to be in school" campaign on air as well as the library zones.

The scheme was completed in summer 2002, and goes from strength to strength bringing in housing estate youngsters, many of whom don’t have home computers.

"The result has been startling", said Kathy. "Visits to the Central Library increased by 25 per cent in 2002/3. These young people wouldn’t have come near the library before, the image was not cool, but now this is a place to hang out as well as to get access to computers and books". And the kids? "It’s good to have a separate place where we can work and have fun too, but I especially like the music and magazine chill out zone" said Francine Ndahiro, and Susan Law’s verdict was even more succinct: "I love the Surfzone because it’s a fab idea" she said.

Made possible by partnerships with organisations such as MENCAP, NLB, Burnley College, British Dyslexia Association, Tor View Community Special School, Galloways Society for the Blind and Ulverscroft Foundation, there are trained library staff to promote the service.

Each SMILE centre organises a range of activities for children to ‘experience’ literature, and they are all given a SMILE diary which encourages and motivates them to collect achievement awards. SMILE awards ceremonies take place at school and on arranged visits to the SMILE centres.

Zoe is a profoundly deaf ten-year-old who was part of the school group visiting the library – she had never been able to go to the library before. During the activity a teacher, signed the session for Zoe whose severe apprehensions quickly began to disappear at coming to the library. Her teacher was allowed to borrow material for Zoe, and now she is a regular library visitor.

Project director for SMILE is Carole Wolstenholme of Lancashire County Libraries public service department, whose original idea it was, and it won her the Public Finance National Civil Servant of the Year award for 2003 in the social inclusion section.

Community Service Volunteers:  Helping Older Users Get Online

Bournemouth Libraries are one of six pilots in the Community Service Volunteers (CSV) Lending Time project. More and more older people want to be able to use computers, but the language of new technology can be confusing so a team of experts nearer their own age has been created. "Being older means that I am not always able to retain all the information I am told, so having a volunteer to re-explain things to me is brilliant" said one user. And it’s not just those who attend the peer support courses that benefit. Chris Lyon, in his fifties, took voluntary redundancy a year ago and is now on a teacher training course. Meanwhile, he took on some volunteer teaching at the library. "I find it very rewarding to see a big smile on the face of someone who has just learnt to use a mouse, or who has been able to send his very first email to a daughter in Australia ", he said. "When they thank me and ask if I’ll be here next week, I can’t put into words my feelings."

Manchester United Museum:  Playing for Success

30,000 schoolchildren visit Manchester United Museum and Tour Centre at Old Trafford every year, out of a total of 230,000 visits. The Museum also runs after school Study Support Sessions for pupils as part of the DfES ‘Playing for Success’ scheme, to improve their literacy, numeracy and ICT skills. These sessions have proved to be very successful, and children often get to meet the players, go on field trips, and are able to learn in more informal way, all of which help to improve not only their academic attainment but also their life skills. One parent said "Ashlea has talked non-stop every evening after her Study Support sessions."