THE 
    HOUSE OF COMMONS CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT COMMITTEE ENQUIRY INTO PUBLIC LIBRARIES
   
  During 
    February and March 2000, the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee carried 
    out an enquiry into the state of Britain�s public library services and several 
    of London�s library user groups provided written evidence to that enquiry. 
    The written submission from LLL gave the Committee the views of library users 
    throughout London and is reproduced below. Subsequently, LLL was invited to 
    the House of Commons to provide oral evidence to the Committee.
   
  Insert LLL paper
   
  On 
    24th May 2000, the CMS Committee published the report on its enquiry 
    (Culture, Media and Sport Committee Sixth Report - Public Libraries, available 
    from The Stationery Office @ �19.50). This contained, in addition to the LLL 
    evidence, written evidence from:
   
  Blackheath 
    Village Library Users Group��������
  Camden 
    Public Libraries Users Group� 
  Friends 
    of Islington Libraries���������������������������� 
  Friends 
    of Lambeth Libraries���������������������������
   
  Included 
    in the Committee�s Conclusions and Recommendations were:
   
  
    - An expectation that �the new library standards on which the Government 
      is now consulting will assist in driving up standards of public library 
      provision�.
 
  
    - A consideration of the competition for funding and space between 
      books and IT equipment which stated that �We are convinced that the book 
      will survive for the foreseeable future. It will be supplemented, not superseded. 
      The challenge for the library sector is to ensure that the development of 
      information technology in libraries broadens library services and does not 
      take place at the expense of the book�. It was further stated that �the 
      book stock is rightly seen as central to the quality of a library service�.
 
  
    - An acknowledgement that library location issues are not as simple 
      as many local authorities believe i.e. �We recommend that any standard for 
      the location of libraries should be linked to modes of transport and in 
      particular to measures of the quality of public transport provision�.
 
  
    - A recommendation that �the [library] standards as finally issued should require authorities to assess 
      the community value of individual libraries, a value which goes beyond internal 
      definitions of user satisfaction, even if this community value is not readily 
      susceptible to statistical analysis�.
 
  
    - A statement that �it should be the responsibility of local authorities 
      to protect funding levels for libraries and ensure that they reflect properly 
      the wider value of library services and their role in society�.
 
  
    - A recommendation that �the Department of Culture, Media and Sport 
      as a matter of urgency should allocate funding of libraries to a specific 
      National Lottery fund�.
   
  The 
    Government Response to the Committee�s report was issued on 26th 
    July 2000 and broadly accepted the recommendations of the Committee. It remains 
    to be seen if the understanding and sympathetic Report and Response result 
    in positive action.