David Fuegi and Rob Davies MDR Partners Transnational Workshop, Martinique, March 2003

LearnEast Partnership The project partners are: Essex (with co-ordinating role) Cambridgeshire Hertfordshire Peterborough Suffolk Peterborough Learning Centre Ltd. MDR Partners (project management)

Source of Finance: European Social Fund (ESF) - Community Initiative 3 million euros Timescale: Total beneficiaries: 400

Overall Objective To increase and demonstrate the potential of public libraries to provide awareness, training and lifelong learning opportunities which impact on the recruitment and retention of specified target groups suffering discrimination and inequality in connection with the labour market.

Sub-Objectives (1) To raise the profile of public libraries as potential partners for other stakeholders in the employment field and to build strong local partnerships. To provide a model for other public libraries wishing to attain similar objectives. To utilise the geographical spread and reach of the library service to contact and enthuse the target audience towards take up of learning opportunities offered by libraries, leading to improved basic and ICT skills levels and higher confidence in their ability to participate in the labour market. To build on existing work and contacts with the target groups and create new contacts by outreach work, i.e. sending trained staff out into the community to deliver awareness and taster sessions and explain the opportunities available.

Sub-Objectives (2) To deliver in the libraries a range of learning activities, focusing mainly on basic skills and ICT skills, tailored towards further learning and improved employability. To record and encourage progress by the learners. To offer, in parallel, information, advice and guidance, referring as necessary to existing IAG partners. To progress learners towards further training or employment by monitored referrals to Job Centres Plus or other education and training providers.

Target Groups (1) lone parents/carers with young children travellers returners to the labour market with skills needs [especially workers over 50] women returners people in low skilled/low paid work with skills needs local communities with basic skills/ICT needs rural and isolated communities

Target Groups (2) unemployed people with skills needs people with physical and sensory disabilities adults with learning disabilities people with mental health problems people from ethnic minorities with skills needs people from deprived/low skills neighbourhoods

The Work (1) In the UK, the Partnership will: train a selected group of new and existing staff in the principles of EQUAL, training and support techniques, and the needs of the target groups; engage with the target groups - initially by ‘outreach’ work, by visiting community centres, meeting places, traveller sites and individual homes to make presentations, talk about learning and employment opportunities, and to demonstrate and offer awareness and ‘taster’ sessions; and

The Work (2) at community meetings, and through planned follow up, learners will be encouraged to visit local libraries, individually or in groups, where they will be assisted in the selection and use of a variety of learning programmes. In the main, the learning programmes will focus on basic skills and ICT and will be selected from existing offerings.

Local Services  Training  Recruitment of Staff and Volunteers  Infrastructure and Networks Prepared  Service Delivery in Learning Centres  Service Delivery by Outreach  Information, Advice and Guidance  Empowerment and Equal Opportunities

What does LearnEast offer customers? ● Trained staff to help and support ● An ‘outreach’ progamme for staff to visit, demonstrate and talk to community groups ● Information, advice and guidance on learning and employment opportunities ● Learneast is completely free to approved users

What does LearnEast offer customers? ● Well equipped computer access points in libraries – many are approved Learning Centres ● Assisted ‘awareness sessions’ ● Access to learning programmes and resources ● Trained staff to help and support

Evaluation plan ● Strong emphasis on evaluation ● Contract let to external evaluation specialist ● Aims to demonstrate impact on partners and beneficiaries ● Uses interviews, questionnaires, focus groups etc ● Will provide inputs to the “toolkit”

Transnational Work: so far ● Bologna workshop ● Presentation at Pulman Policy Conference in Portugal, 13 th March 2003 ● Aiming to create a significant network of public library partners in the second call ● Martinique workshop

Transnational Work: plans ● Presentation in Moscow 8 th April 2003 ● Presentation at IFLA Berlin, August 2003? ● Presentation at Libraries Without Walls conference, Lesvos, September 2003 ● Cambridge workshop 4-5 September 2003 [perhaps with Lithuanian participation] ● Ecotec study [SEIN]

Strategic opportunities for new public library services Social inclusion, employment skills, lifelong learning spectrum – funding (eg EQUAL but only 3 libraries projects) e-Europe Action Plan 2005 – Information Society for All – Internet, ICT European Union research programme FP6 – Cultural heritage, e-learning – PULMAN – OeirasManifesto

SEIN Study Study on Social and economic inclusiveness: the role of cultural and memory organisations. European Commission, DG Information Society, ECOTEC Research and Consulting Ltd

SEIN - Key objectives and methodology Key objectives 1.Identify where cultural and memory organizations already contribute ('Information Society') 2 Specify issues for new research, inc development of content-based services for all sectors of community Methodology Focus on small and local institutions, views of practitioners and users 2 workshops: 31 March, July Case studies Report end 2003

EQUAL transnational consortium contribution to SEIN  LearnEast on workshop panel  Ecotec would welcome as complementary case study  First results of LearnEast evaluation (by August/September)  Comparative study?  Italy, UK, France (including Martinique)  Caribbean countries?  Complete by August…or later  Methodology/who does what ?

EQUAL comparative study Identify relevant national, regional policies Establish baseline for existing public library services Training needs Investment needs Shared evaluation criteria

Results Potential for mainstreaming - toolkit on the Web National and international meetings Monitoring Evaluation Sustainability

What Happens Next? National: Action 3 with regional library museums and archives councils [we hope] Another project in the second EQUAL call [we hope] Joint project [outside EQUAL]?