John Hicks

John Hicks is a partner in Kentwood Associates, a consultancy working primarily in the library, cultural and heritage sectors.

Previously John was the Head of the Paid Service for Berkshire County Council from 1995 until the abolition of the Council in 1998. (The two are not connected). Prior to this he was head of Cultural & Heritage Services with Berkshire.

Until July 2009 John was a member of the MLA Board; he is also a former chair of the Advisory Council on Libraries and MLA South East.

Whilst much of John's career has been in libraries, he has also worked in an arts centre and a publishing house and sold ice cream on Bournemouth Pier.

New models for library governance

The paper will review the emergence of different forms of library governance that have begun to emerge. It will look at the issues surrounding charitable trusts (as in Wigan, Luton and Glasgow ) and in outsourcing full service delivery to the private sector (as in Hounslow). Why are a large number of Authorities beginning to look at other options to traditional in-house delivery and what other options are there to consider?