Designated collection at John Ryland's Library

Communities

Museums, libraries and archives help to build strong and prosperous communities, support a strong sense of identity, community and well-being, and provide opportunities for people to learn, explore and interact. MLA seeks to support and advocate the role that the sector can play in delivering a wide variety of positive outcomes for communities.

In this section of the MLA website, you will find information, advice and other resources to help you engage and involve your community in planning and delivery. These pages set out some best practice minimum standards and examples of how a local authority or service might go beyond these minimums to involve people in innovative and exciting ways.

Why engage with and involve people?

High quality engagement and involvement will help to ensure that:

people feel empowered and able to have a real influence on service planning and delivery
services are of a higher quality, appropriate for the community and lead to increased positive outcomes for local people, and
local services and the community form ongoing, mutually beneficial relationships, through which they work together to improve people’s lives.

There are many different types of engagement and involvement and the most appropriate means and method of engagement and involvement will vary according to the service, the area and the issue.

Minimum standard: provision of information

Communicating with local communities to meet their needs

It is vital that we understand our communities in order to deliver high quality and appropriate services.

Minimum standard: carrying out a consultation

Public consultations are a traditional approach to engaging with people

The Government has published a Code of Practice on Consultation which should be read and followed in full.

'The duty to involve' - how we can help

Local authorities and listed public bodies must consult people

The ‘duty to involve’ requires local authorities to involve interested persons or their representatives in decisions which may affect them.

> Read more about duty to involve

Promoting local democracy - how we can help

The role of museums, libraries and archives

Museums, libraries and archives have a key role to play to support local democracy and encourage participation in civil life.

Working with community groups

Why you should work with your community

Working with community groups is a key way to engage with and involve local people in the design and delivery of services, and to help widen participation.

Working with volunteers

Why volunteers are so important

Volunteers make invaluable contributions to service delivery. How can we ensure that they feel valued; are able to develop and use their skills; and choose to continue to give their time, energy and expertise in the future?

Involving people in decision making

How to ensure that communities feel as though they have influence

Community engagement and empowerment are about more than the minimum requirements of consultation and information provision. They are about actively involving people in the planning and delivery of services.

> Read more about decision making

Community management and community ownership

Handing management over to the public

In some circumstances, buildings and services can be handed over to the public to manage and run. However, this approach should only be implemented where it is appropriate for the service and for the community.

> Read more about community management

Key resources

Resources to support community engagement and involvement

Information on subjects ranging from policy context to working with volunteers and community management to help you engage your community.

> Read more about key resources