1.

• REBECCA BROADLEY

• ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN, LATYMER UPPER SCHOOL

An investigation into Yorkshire public library outreach projects aimed at homeless people

2. A justification

• Social inclusion one of public libraries key roles?

• Why homeless people?

• What can libraries offer to homeless people?

3.

• "Customers are not all equal in their life experiences and chances; so we should not treat all of our customers equally, but in a way that meets their individual needs"

• Pateman, 2005: 1

4. A justification

• Social inclusion one of public libraries key roles?

• Why homeless people?

• What can libraries offer to homeless people?

5. The aim

• To create a set of recommendations for outreach aimed at homeless people

• By discovering what outreach is already happening

• By finding the barriers, problems, solutions and tips

6. Methodology (I)

• Thematic analysis of four case studies of previous relevant projects

• Aim to discover common themes (tips, advice, problems, barriers, etc.)

• Several limitations

7. Case studies used

• Friends at Christmas, Sally Middleton, 2003

• Your choice books, Wendy Molyneux, 2004

• The play and learning project, Tameside, 2006

• Outside story, Fiona Heffernan, 2009

8. Methodology (II)

• Six face-to-face semi-structured interviews

• • Librarians

• • South and West Yorkshire

• • Role includes inclusion/outreach

• Transcribed and analysed thematically

9. Results (I)

• When planning the outreach:

• • Make objectives both abstract and measurable

• • Consider specific needs

• • Consult, in a variety of ways

• During the outreach:

• • Join partnerships

• • Organised implementation strategy for large scale projects

• • Gain trust and offer incentives

• • Potential problems:

• • • negative staff attitudes; negative self-perceptions; funding; ID requirements

• • Solutions?:

• • • Staff training; development of trust; development of sustainability; removal of ID requirements

10. Results (I)

• When evaluating the outreach:

• • Combine quantitative and qualitative measurements

• • Consider stakeholder targets, etc.

• • Do so formally

• • Consider improvements and adaptions

11. Results (II)

• Share ideas and success

• Trial large projects

• Potential barriers:

• • Low participation

• • Limited resources

• • The risk of losing stock

• • The heterogeneity of homelessness

• Solutions?:

• • Use partnership

• • Remove or reduce the ID barriers

12. Conclusions and recommendations

• Develop partnerships

• Remove ID requirements

• Share ideas, reports and good practice

• Develop sustainable outreach through low cost projects

• • Book deposits

• • Mobile library stops

13. Conclusions and recommendations

• Train staff

• Build up trust through dependability and regularity

• Adapt to particular needs through:

• • Trialing, evaluating, refining

• Combine evaluative techniques

14. References

• Crisis. (2002). Critical Condition : Homeless People's Access to GPs [Online]. London: Crisis. http://www.crisis.org.uk/data/files/publications/GP_policybrief%5B1%5D.pdf [Accessed 28 June 2010].

• Crisis and the New Policy Institute. (2003). How Many and How Much: Single Homelessness and the Question Of Numbers and Cost [Online]. London: Crisis. http://www.crisis.org.uk/data/files/policy_research/howmanyhowmuch_full.pdf [Accessed 13 May 2010].

• Heffernan, F. (2009). "Outside Story: welcoming the homeless". Public Library Journal , 24 (3), 6-7.

15. References

• Middleton, S. (2003). "Friends at Christmas?". Public Library Journal , 18 (1), 5-6.

• Molyneux, W. (2004). "Your choice books". Library and Information Research News , 28 (90), 15-23.

• Outside Story project. (2009). Outside Story [Online]. London: Outside Story project. http://www.outsidestory.org.uk [Accessed 07 July 2010].

• St Mungo's. (2005). SOS: Sick of Suffering Briefing [Online]. London: St Mungo's. http://www.mungos.org/campaigns/sos_-_sick_suffering [Accessed 02 July 2010].

16. References

• Pateman, J. (2005). Tackling Exclusion in Libraries: Keynote Address at the Vancouver Public Library Staff Conference, May 12 2005 [Online]. http://www.librarianactivist.org/socexclusion.pdf [Accessed 03 May 2010].

• Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council. (2006). Getting Closer to Homeless Families Through the Play And Learning Project: Case Study [Online]. Tameside: Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council. http://www.tameside.gov.uk/beacon/community/casestudies/homeless [Accessed 21 June 2010].