Welcome and Introduction to the conference

Chair of PLG, Trevor Knight

Programme Director, David Ruse

Session 1 - The political environment

The Government perspective

Speaker: David Lammy, MP, Minister for Culture

The Local Government perspective

Speaker: Cllr Chris White, Chair of Local Government Association Culture, Tourism & Sport Board

A Chief Executive's perspective

Speaker: Joe Duckworth, Chief Executive, Isle of Wight Council

Session 2 - Improving customer satisfaction and media perceptions

Lessons from what surveys tell us about customer satisfaction

Speaker: Ben Page, Chair, Ipsos-Mori Social Research Group

How to get the media message across

Speaker: Alex Aiken, Head of Communications, Westminster City Council

Parallel sessions for Members

Facilitated by John Dolan, Head of Library Policy, MLA, this session will give elected Members an opportunity to share ideas and good practice on political leadership and advocacy for libraries in the context of the broader community engagement agenda.

Parallel sessions for Officers

Session 3 - Information divide - Digital or otherwise

Paper 1 - Promoting Healthy Communities: Exploring the Role of Public Libraries

Can public libraries meet the health information needs of local communities - evidence from Canada and the UK.  This project is part of a large international programme of research called Action for Health funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Speakers: Professor Flis Henwood, University of Brighton & Samantha Burdett PhD Candidate, The University of Western Ontario, Canada.

Paper 2 - Coming to terms with the e-government agenda

Reporting on recent focus group studies showing how citizens are coming to terms with the e-government agenda, especially when supported in safe environments - could this be libraries?

Speaker: Ian Baines, Business Development Director, BT London Region

Session 4 - Building libraries for communities

Paper 1 - The Community Libraries and Learning programme - How to apply for the money!

Speaker: Stephen Dunmore, Chief Executive, The Big Lottery Fund

Paper 2 - The CILIP Public Libraries Group Building awards 2007 - Announcement of the categories and the timetable for the 2007 Awards

Speaker: Pamela Tulloch, Chair of the PLG Marketing Panel

Session 5 - Designing libraries for customers

A focus on library design with the customer in mind.  This session will highlight the impact of good design, new design concepts and models, key learning points and will draw on overseas - particularly US - examples, as well as UK design solutions.

Speakers: William Sannwald, Professor of business administration at San Diego State University, California, former Director of Libraries and Director of Library Development for the City of San Diego, and author of the ALA guidance on library design, and library design consultant.

Dr Alexi Marmot, BArch, MArch, MCP, PhD, Director AMA Alexi Marmot Associates, Architect and advisor to CABE, DCMS and others will present this session.

Breakfast briefing session from the MLA - The 2012 Olympics - what can libraries offer?

Fran Hegyi of MLA (currently seconded to LOCOG) and Angela Haynes of MLA South West will brief delegates on the MLA prospectus for our sector's contribution to the Olympics, due to be published in October, and invite feedback and any ideas and thoughts around how the sector can engage with 2012.

Session 6 - So who are our customers and what do they want?

What do 14-35 year olds think of public libraries, and librarians, and what do we need to do as a consequence?

This session will combine a presentation of recent research findings, examples of work developed through the Fullfilling their Potential programme and structured table discussions of the actions we need to take in order to attract new audiences.

Speakers: Claire Vernon, Define Research and Insight Ltd and Nicky Parker, Chair of ASCEL, and Head of Library & Information Services, Manchester City Council

Session 7- The voice of the customer

Paper 1 - The view from Kent - representatives from user groups in Kent will share their expectations and involvement.

Paper 2 - The view from the Library Campaign

Speaker: Brian Hall, Chair of the Library Campaign gives their perspective

Paper 3 - Creative routes to engaging communities

Speaker: Helen Thomas introduces the findings from an arts-led community consultation exercise

Paper 4 - We would like the same - nothing more, nothing less

Speakers: John Godber and Pete Osborne, who are both blind, explain the gap between their expectations and what they get from public libraries.

Professional Visits

If you opt for the professional visits, you have two choices.  One tour will be going to Bournemouth Libraries, taking in the award-winning Central library and a community library.

The second tour will be visiting Gosport Discovery Centre in Hampshire.

Workshop and seminar option

After previous conferences, you said you wanted more time for detailed and small group discussion of issues.  In response to this feedback, we are experimenting with workshop sessions as an alternative to professional visits.  If you sign up for this option, you can attend each of the following workshop/seminar sessions.  The outcomes from these sesssions should be a checklist of good ideas and good practice, things to avoid and pointer for action.

Workshop 1 - Public Libraries at the heart of the community engagement agenda - How it works, challenges and successes, transferability to other authorities, and what it means for library management.

Workshop Leaders: Cath Anley & Gill Bromley

Workshop 2 - Management partnerships in Southampton - What they are and how effective are they?  What can we learn of general application? 

Workshop Leader: David Baldwin

Workshop and seminar option

Workshop 3 - Getting customers involved using the arts the Bolton experience as seen on DVD - But how will it really work, and what challenges did it present.  What can we learn from using the Arts as a mechanism for community engagement.

Workshop Leader: Helen Thomas, Book Communications

Workshop 4 - Reaching the next generation - Building on the outcomes from this morning's presentations and table discussions, how do we translate the ideas and aspirations into a coherent service that appeals to young people and has relevance to the corporate agendas for children and young people.

Workshop Leader: Ciara Eastell, Senior Adviser, The Reading Agency

Session 8 - Governance and management

Paper 1 - Creating a market of alternative providers and new ways of working for public library services.

The Government's public service reform agenda places commissioning, choice and new ways of working at its core. How relevant is that agenda to the public library services? How can these drivers of reform help solve some of the problems facing the service now and in the future?

Speakers: Mark Upton, Head of Markets and Contestability, Local Government Performance & Practice Department for Communities & Local Government and Ben Taylor, Consultant, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Speaker: Arnie Wickens, Director, CSV Consulting

Drawing on recent research, Arnie will show where volunteers are adding value to local library services, but will argue that the benefit from using volunteers in service management and governance as well as service delivery, has not yet been fully realised.

Session 9 - The Conservative party perspective

Speaker: Mark Field MP, Shadow Minister for Culture

Session 10 - So how do we respond?

Paper 1 - The marketing challenge: lessons from the Love Libraries experiment

Speaker: Miranda McKearney, Director of The Reading Agency will reflect on the media, marketing and communications aspects of the Love Libraries campaign.

Paper 2 - The future of public libraries in the knowledge economy

Speaker: Mark Hepworth, Director, Local Futures and Visiting Professor in Economic Geography, Birkbeck College, London University

Drawing on research about the economic and social impact of libraries in the knowledge economy, this paper will provide some clear messages and challenges about the impact of our services and how we should use them to position ourselves going forwards.

Session 11 - Question Time meets Any Answers with John Hicks, Chair of MLA South East and a Panel of Librarians and Others!

Drawing on the conference papers and discussion, how do we put the public back into the public library, and whose job is it anyway?  This lively session in Question Time/Any Questions format will challenge a Panel of speakers to set out the role of CILIP, the MLA, SCL, ourselves and others in developing practical actions that will make a difference to the public, with the Chairman, John Hicks, wearing his best Dimbleby and Paxman tie, requiring them to answer questions posed from the floor.

Panel members include Martin Molloy, President of CILIP and Chair of the Minister's Advisory Council on Libraries, Rob Froud, President of the Society of Chief Librarians, John Dolan, Hed of Library Policy, MLA, Bob McKee, Chief Executive of CILIP, Sandy Mahal, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council and others

Closing remarks and thanks

Trevor Knight, Chair of PLG