Driving best practice

Our work supporting improvement and promoting excellence spans museums, libraries and archives, and over the coming months this showcase will expand and be refreshed with new case studies. We started the ball rolling with a collection of achievements from library services which can be seen by following the autumn 2008 case studies link on the right.

We hope these case studies will inspire and challenge others to be more creative and aspirational in what and how they serve individuals and communities. Over the coming year we will be developing our work in this area and our ideas about exactly what constitutes Best Practice. We need the active involvement of museums, libraries and archives to do this and would love to hear from you about any work you are undertaking that might inspire others, or any thoughts you have about the best practice agenda. For more information, please email Tola Dabiri, MLA Senior Policy Adviser Excellence, Improvement and Innovation at tola.dabiri@mla.gov.uk

Readers for Life 2

North West looks to demonstrate how reading fits with local authority priority agendas

Readers for Life 2 is a strategy that involves libraries in the North West region working across local authority boundaries. It looks to demonstrate, more specifically, how reading fits with local authority priority agendas.

> Read more about Readers for Life 2

Manchester Libraries: Renewal and transformation

The library service has transformed itself following a thorough review

Manchester Library and Information Service has seen rapid change in the last five years and is now winning awards, meeting national targets and has seen a sharp increase in customer satisfaction.

> Read more about Manchester LIS

Planning for a 21st century Shepherd's Bush library

Section 106 planning agreement paves the way for innovative development.

The £2 million Shepherd's Bush Library was built and fitted out at zero cost to the taxpayer and shows that councils need not always look to fund service improvements through local resources or tax rises.

> Read more about Shepherd's Bush

Luton Cultural Services Trust proves its value

Trust is flexible, entrepreneurial and quick to react to cultural opportunities.

The charitable trust has overseen improvements to cultural services. It is now viewed as a strong third-sector partner of the council and has an improved strategic working relationship with those bodies.

> Read more about Luton trust

Essex e-book service

Essex proves worth of e-book service as users increase month on month

Essex County Libraries was one of the first library services in England to introduce electronic books. They launched the digital service in 2004 with two suppliers; ebrary, who provide a collection more suited to academic study, and Overdrive, who provide a large range of more mainstream titles for downloading. Five years on, 2,500 people are regularly using the Overdrive service and ebrary sessions total around 750 a month.

> Read more about essex e-books

Marketing approaches in Norfolk libraries

How to keep up book issues and visitor numbers through targeted marketing

A look at the services and approaches put in place by Norfolk Library and Information Service to meet the needs of the local population and the marketing methods used to used to discover those needs

> Read more about Norfolk marketing

Newcastle library plays a part in city regeneration

The new library is now an important community space.

The new Newcastle City Library has quickly become an award-winning landmark with high-profile architecture, high quality, sustainable design and furnishings and plenty of air and light.

> Read more about Newcastle Library

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

Hands on Horniman

Objects-based learning at the museum

The Horniman Museum, in London, has developed a wide-ranging programme of community engagement with hands-on handling of the museum’s collection of varied objects, which includes ethnography, natural history and musical instruments.

> Read more about Horniman Museum

Dockyard leads regeneration

Maritime heritage is a focus for business enterprise

Since the closure of the Royal Naval Dockyard in 1984 with the loss of thousands of jobs the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust has been successful in developing the site into a thriving business enterprise.

> Read more about Chatham

East Riding's one-stop site

The Treasure House, Beverley, attracts a wider range of users

This newly published MLA Best Practice case study, shows how combining museum,library and archive services can see a big increase in users - an extra 120,000 people a year using this archive - and great improvements to the standards of collection management.

> Read more about East Riding

Work with young offenders

Best practice case study - County Record Office guides project to reduce re-offending

The North Yorkshire County Record Office worked with the HM Young Offenders Institution in Northallerton, to educate young offenders about the lives of offenders in the past.

The New Deal Training Programme

Positive outcomes for job-seekers and archives

Bury Archive Service participates in a placement programme for those actively seeking employment.

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

Bringing collections into the classroom

Partnership results in learning resources and strengthened ties with schools

A partnership between Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Cumbria Record Office and a local history teacher has greatly benefited local schools.

> Read more about Tullie House

BMAG showcases Muslim cultures

Projects bring work of Muslim artists to audiences in the West Midlands

Exhibitions and events at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery leads to new relationships with diverse communities in the West Midlands.

> Read more about art and Islam

Project commemorates abolishment of slavery

Archive and museum events celebrate end of the slave trade

A series of events across Teesside have have led to an increased public understanding of the slave trade and strengthened links with the local community.

> Read more about manacles and money

Wolverhampton’s Sensing Sculpture Gallery

Sensory Gallery brings art to blind and partially sighted people

A gallery enabling people to experience art using senses other than sight has been welcomed by blind and partially sighted people in Wolverhampton.

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

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.

Whitechapel Gallery transforms archive

Gallery refurbishment leads to wider range of archive services

After a refurbishment taking two years, The Whitechapel Gallery has reopened to the public with more space for exhibitions and an improved range of facilities.

> Read more about Whitechapel Gallery

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

York Museum Trust's Territories Project

York Art Gallery established as 'centre of creativity' through Territories project

An external evaluation has commended the York Museum Trust's Territories project, saying it has "maximised the potential of working with the community."

> Read more about York Museum Trust

Woking Lightbox

Sustainably designed museum and art gallery comes to Woking

The Lightbox has already won accolades, scooping the Art Fund Prize for museums and galleries in 2008, along with a number of other awards.

> Read more about Woking lightbox

Archive works with teacher trainees

The BPMA serves as a useful resource for student teachers

A ongoing scheme that placed teacher trainees at the British Postal Museum and Archive (BPMA) has encouraged participants to look beyond the classroom.

> Read more about BPMA

Tyne and Wear volunteer programme

Tyne and Wear museums discover the secret to volunteering success

A federation of 11 museums and galleries on Tyneside has found the key to successful volunteer management through an innovative programme launched in 2005.

> Read more about Tyne and Wear

Archive helps 'looked-after' children

Imagined Lives enables ‘looked-after’ children to engage with archives.

An East Sussex archive scheme gave looked-after children the chance to explore what life was like for children like them in the 19th century.

Working Lives of the Thames Gateway

Scheme celebrates the memories of Thames Gateway workers

A project which has been recording the memories of workers in London’s Thames Gateway has been praised by participants, volunteers and children.

> Read more about Thames Gateway