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Books Connect Creating Partnerships for Libraries, Museums, Archives and the Arts |
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Books Connect Projects |
Books Connect 1 in 2001-2002 was an
exciting initiative which has resulted in a range of reading inspired
creative partnerships between public libraries, artists and museums.
Developed in the East Midlands region as an action research project,
Books Connect has piloted innovative models of cultural partnership. Books Connect
will now enter a second phase in 2003-2004 with
archive services as partners, and with increased funding.
Books Connect 2 is a joint initiative between the national library development agency The Reading Agency, the nine East Midlands public library authorities which include Leicester City, Leicestershire, Rutland, Nottingham City, Nottinghamshire, Lincolshire, Derbyshire, Derby City and Northamptonshire, East Midlands Museums Service, East Midlands Regional Archive Service, and EMMLAC - the Regional Agency supporting museums, libraries and Archives in the East Midlands. The project is supported by
Books Connect explores the potential for joint working between the sectors using books and reading as a springboard. During Phase 1, regional partnership models with national application have been developed. See the Projects pages for a description of what happened in each authority. Projects for Books Connect 2 will be developed over the summer and details will be posted in October 2003. There are four key stages to the project. Books Connect 2 was launched in May 2003 with an icebreaker meeting bringing together arts organizations, artists, librarians, archivists, and museum staff to explore common ground. This was followed in July by a practical workshop to develop ideas for reading inspired partnerships, which explored themes of inclusion, community, cohesion and cultural diversity. The workshop also considered the creation of new evaluation tools appropriate to the cross-sectoral work which will evidence learning outcomes from the projects. The lasting impact of Books Connect is assured by the final stage of the project. Books Connect 1 involved careful evaluation of the initiative by LISU, Loughborough University via a tailor made evaluation toolkit and the dissemination of the project models developed via a detailed database and a national conference. Other practical tools resulting from Books Connect 1 include a Creating Partnerships online toolkit, designed to support creative collaboration between libraries, museums and the arts. Books Connect 2 will be evaluated by the University of Leicester Department of Museum Studies using the LIRP tools from the Learning Impact Research Project, developed as part of Resource's Inspiring Learning Framework. The Evaluation will explore the impact of individual projects on participants. Contacts Debbie Hicks Nicky Morgan |
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