BRANCHING OUT BOARD MEETING
PLAConferenceGosforthPark
13 October 2004
MINUTES
Present:Patrick Conway (Chair), Jane Hall, Tony Durcan, Sarah Wilkie
In attendance:Rachel Van Riel (Opening the Book)
Apologies:Lynn Osborne, Mark Freeman
1Minutes
The Minutes of the meeting on 21 July 2004 were approved.
2Matters arising
All covered elsewhere on agenda.
3Item 8 Feedback from SCL Executive meeting on 22 September
This item was taken first.
Feedback on the Year One (September 03 – August 04) Summary Report for SCL
was very positive. SCL recognised the importance of the online training course. Rachel reported on a chance meeting with Margaret Bennett, Head of Lifelong Learning and Technologies at DfES who was very interested in the programme. Following on this the Board agreed that response to the current DFES consultation should be co-ordinated:
Action:Jane and Tony to write a formal response from the Branching Out Board and to circulate to Board members by end of October. Patrick and Rachel to discuss and forward this response with a covering letter. Jane to check deadline and amend timetable if needed. Jane/Tony to check with Chris Fardon about MLA response.
SCL Executive approved the approach and content proposed for the reader development manual, which was now not a manual for frontline staff but a more theoretical and strategic book for professionals.
SCL Executive also discussed the need for co-ordination of reader development initiatives, see AOB below.
4Progress report (full report attached)
a) Website
Rachel introduced new work on the website, including a complete update of the Guide to Independent Presses. Numbers of visitors to the Branching Out site continue very high for a staff development site:
Average page views per month: 39,500
Average individual visitors per month: 10,600
Average hits per month:135,700
b) Online training
Learning Logs and Supervisor Logs completed.
Exercises using book covers to teach stock awareness and display techniques successfully programmed.
Supervisor pilots wanted the option to use whole course, delay of one month to do this.
Timetable:
Nov 04-Jan 05Supervisor pilot
Feb 05Feedback, amends and additions
March 05- May 05Supported roll-out to 10 authorities
May 05-June 05Feedback and new help content
July 05Supported roll-out across England
Regional sessions to support authorities planning to roll-out the training from July/September 05 will be organised to run March to June at the same time as the one authority per region roll-out; that authority will be asked to present their experience as part of the day. Heads of service will be alerted to these plans by the regional heads of service sessions see Item 6 below.
c) Individual authority training
All areas now moving forward. SCL action since last meeting had been effective. The Board approved the proposal to use East Midlands days to support their reader website. The Board appreciated the evaluations which had been returned and wished to build a more substantial collective evaluation of the impact of this training.
Action: Patrick to write to SCL regional convenors thanking them for their help in organising the sessions and requesting that each region carry out a regional evaluation of the training. Using a template for this will be discussed at the December Board meeting but there was also support for regions setting their own priorities for evaluation.
d) Literature Development Officer training
Since the decision at the last meeting that the National Association for Literature Development (NALD) did not need the Branching Out days, NALD had come back with a request for a day in March 05. The Board approved this.
e) Reader development manual
Rachel reported that work on this was delayed as completing the online training course had taken all the available time. The Board agreed that a new title was needed as this was no longer a manual. It was suggested that the book might be launched at the same time as the Frontline course next spring.
f) Regional SCL meetings
Year One meetings taken under Item 6 below.
The Board noted that there was budget for another round of meetings in Year Two. It was agreed these would be useful updates if they were towards the end of the year. It was expected they would take the form of a 15 minute report as a business item on the regional SCL agendas not a full seminar.
5Financial report
The Board received updated budgets. Patrick reported that it was likely we would know about the amount of the Year Three grant in February 05.
Simon will be asked to give a full financial report at the next meeting.
6SCL regional heads of service sessions
All these sessions are now booked, except the East where the original date was cancelled and a new date is still under discussion.
7Structured roll-out of Frontline course
The Board discussed the selection of the first authorities – 1 per region with 2 in London. It was decided to ask each SCL regional committee to nominate an authority (2 in London.)
The Board discussed how to maximise the launch of the course to gain attention for libraries’ approach to e-learning and workforce development.
Action:Rachelto draft criteria for selection (How will they use the course? How will they disseminate to others?) and send to Patrick. Patrick to write to convenors in the second week of Novemberwith the suggested criteria to invite the regional committee to nominate one authority for the pilot (two in London.)
8Feedback from SCL meeting 22 September
Taken as Item 3 above.
9Reader development manual
Discussed during Rachel’s report.
10Year Three budget discussions
Patrick reported that Gary McKeone estimated the Board would know the amount from Arts Council Managed Funds in February 2005.
11Any other business
a)Co-ordination
Tony Durcan reported from the SCL meeting on 22 September a request to co-ordinate SCL’s involvement in different reader development initiatives. The Board agreed with this in principle. Sarah Wilkie explained the complexity of MLA and Framework and pointed out that neither Branching Out nor Their Reading Futures is part of the Books, Reading and Learning work package. Rachel mentioned that every aspect of the Branching Out programme – activities, budgets, Board minutes, reports – is publicly available on the Branching Out website so it is clear exactly what Branching Out is doing until 2006.
Tony specifically suggested that meetings of Branching Out and Their Reading Futures could be co-ordinated to take place on the same day and SCL could then run a bridging meeting with key members involved between the two meetings. The Board was happy for this to happen with its next meeting on December 8 and delayed fixing other dates until this approach had been agreed by other parties.
Action:Tony to pursue the possibility of meetings on the same day with Their Reading Futures.
b)Londonrepresentation on Board
Action:It was agreed that Patrick would invite David Jones (Camden) to join the Board.
c)MLA tender
Sarah Wilkie left the meeting for this item. Opening the Book is tendering to deliver The People’s Network: online reading group service and requested that the Branching Out Board consider acting as the management group in the event of Opening the Book being successful. Opening the Book recognised that Branching Out and SCL might wish to partner any successful tenderer and did not ask for any exclusive consideration. The Board was sympathetic and would ask the SCL President if this was possible.
Action:Patrick to ask Catherine Blanshard, SCL President, and let Rachel know the outcome.
12Date of next meeting
Wednesday 8 December 2004 at 2pm at Arts CouncilEngland in London.
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Branching Out Board Minutes 13 October 2004