Best Practice guides for library staff

This Library Guides resource contain a number of best practice guides for library staff on the following topics:

• Promoting your services - Libraries offer a wide range of services - both mainstream and specialist. This guide looks at the steps you can take to ensure users know what is on offer.
• Communication with users - This guidance looks more specifically at how individuals may wish to communicate with the library team and how library staff can communicate with individuals or groups.
• Accessing space and information - To make effective use of the library, users must be able to access the building, find the resources and start to use them.
• Accessing study tools - Libraries aspire to be more than storehouses for resources. A major role of the library is supporting individuals in their wish to acquire knowledge by providing an atmosphere conducive to work and tools conducive to effective learning.
• Alternative interfaces - This guide offers some possible solutions.
• Alternative formats - This guide offers recommendations for effectively providing alternative formats.
• Policies - This guide looks at the main policy areas and gives good practice suggestions.

Languages mapped ...

Interactive map, drawn from the 2011 Census, showing the proportion of languages spoken in different parts of the UK.

Research into Roma, Gypsy and Traveller artefacts and records held in the UK

"As part of the Roma Routes EU funded project we have researched the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller items that are held in the UK’s museums, libraries and archives. There are over 300,000 Gypsies in the UK and they have lived in this country for over 500 years. This research collates in one place those organisations which hold material relevant to this community."

NB scroll down to the bottom of the webpage to find this resource.

Silver Comedy

Silver Comedy is a social enterprise that uses interactive comedy to enhance the lives of older people by increasing well being, developing new skills and increasing social inclusion. We work primarily with older people in social housing and care homes and in the voluntary sector. We are developing a nationwide network of professional comedians, fully trained in our methods and techniques, to support our work.

2-page leaflet describes their work: Page 1, Page 2.

In sickness and in health

This report includes "the findings of the survey of nearly 3,400 carers and their experiences. It concludes with recommendations from the eight charity partners and a call to action for the four governments of the UK."

Opening up a new world: public libraries connecting housebound people to the networked nation (PDF file)

"This project has examined how the access and support available at the local library could be extended through partnerships and collaborative working to include elderly, housebound people in their own homes."