1. Arts Alive in North Cambridgeshire Libraries Lynda Martin James Nicol Nathan Jones

2. Summary  Arts Council award of £99,850 towards the delivery of high quality arts experiences selected by the community in 8 libraries across north Cambridgeshire (areas of low arts engagement)  This builds on the successful Library Development Initiative partnership project delivered in Fenland  Partners are AdEC (Arts Development East Cambridgeshire ) and CS3 (Cultural Consortium for Cambridgeshire and Suffolk)

3. LDI summary  Four Fenland Libraries  Library Friends Groups commissioned arts activities from CS3 with the support of AdEC  Diverse range of high quality activities in libraries (many a sell-out) – including theatre performance, comedy, creative writing, Manga workshops, photography  Building community (and arts organisation) recognition of libraries as flexible spaces for community use  Recognition that Libraries are trusted spaces for arts activity  Raising the level of aspiration and expectation in areas of the county often overlooked for arts events

8. Activity  Chatteris, Littleport, March, Ramsey, Sawtry, Whittlesey, Wisbech and Yaxley libraries  Timescale – completion by mid June 2016  Two rounds of commissioned arts activity of £3,800 for each library (i.e. £7,600 in total for each library)  Strong links to local communities for decision making and skills development  Building strong links between libraries and arts organisations  Budgets for marketing, project management, evaluation and equipment

9. Process  Steering Group in place to guide the project  Each library has a community decision making group  This group will be supported by Library staff and AdEC to design an arts brief linked to their locally defined outcomes  The brief will be openly circulated with bids for activity managed through the CS3 consortium  Bids will be collated into a costed menu  Community groups will choose the activities for their library Round 1 - Spring 2015  Income from ticket sales or sponsorship will be expected to build future sustainability  Process repeated for Round 2 of activity building on experience – for Autumn 2015

10. Links to other activity  Any activity will complement and link with “Creative People and Places” plans  Links with District and Town Council plans (such as festivals and local history)  Links with existing library activity such as “Summer Reading Challenge”, “Reading Aventures”, “ImagiNation”, book festivals, music tasters, reading groups and EngAGE events  Links with other arts activity such as the Young Fenland Cultural Consortium  Links with partners in the buildings such as Sawtry Village College, Children’s Centres, and a multitude of other users  Marketing via print, news releases, Shape Your Place and social media

11. Evaluation  Numbers of new people engaged with arts activity and feedback from events  Comparison with Arts Insight data and Active People Survey data  Success and sustainability of local commissioning model  Integration of new arts activity in libraries  Impact of the activities on library use (new customers, new opportunities and partnerships)  Design of library and Community Hub spaces for arts activity  Feedback from community groups, AdEC, CS3 and library staff

12. Learning so far  The time it takes for community consultation and decision making  Managing ambitions upwards (rare opportunity to “give” funds)  Finding the right mix of people if there isn’t a Library Friends Group or partners group  Supporting and managing concerns over expectations from community groups  Need to create even more flexible library spaces  Value of leaving the commissioning process to Arts experts  The community energy that this releases for more activities  Library staff “letting go” but supporting where necessary