Library Management Models

The ongoing controversy over Lincolnshire's library plans causes me to reflect on the various models of fulfilling the statutory library duty that are now available.  As I see these fall into the following options:

1) The Lincolnshire approach of minimalist provision.  As far as I know, Lincolnshire is the only authority that is aiming for the absolute minimum that they can get away with, although it is quite a logical approach if you adhere to a Tory ideology of minimal government.

2) Hollowing out.  I argued before that this is the main alternative to the Brent model.  It has been adopted by a number of authorities, although I expect largely by default rather than conscious reasoning.  One example is in the Wirral, where it appears to have been the default option after the famous Charteris Enquiry, a fact not often pointed out by campaigners.

3) A third option is the Suffolk model, which is unique to that county as far as I can see, and which in my opinion exposes that authority to potential liabilities.

4) Similar to this is the creation of an independent trust.  I first came across this idea in Falkirk, but it has been widely adopted elsewhere.  The main financial saving you get from this approach is avoiding business rates.  I am not sure what the situation is in Scotland, but business rates in England are now localised so an authority that takes this route will cut expenditure in paying business rates, but then lose the equivalent amount in revenue, so I would imagine fewer authorities will be taking it up in future.

5) Trusts can be a vehicle for privatisation.  They don't have to be, as they can effectively be publicly owned, rather like a housing ALMO.  However, this is a route being taken in Harrow and Ealing.  Privatisation obviously makes things less flexible for the future as management is determined by the terms of the contract, and it may be possible to vary a contract by agreement.  I don't see that the private sector are really likely to be more efficient than public sector managers per se, although they may be less subject to political control.

6) There is the Big Society approach, which many people suspect is just a slow motion closure programme.  Certainly, I am not convinced that this generates substantial savings, and it may generate further demands for money and other forms of support from the supposedly independent partners.

Finally, there is the Brent model of concentrating on high quality services from a smaller number of buildings, which I prefer.