1994-1997 Strategic approaches in OxfordshireBy 1994 a number of authorities were beginning to embed reader development in their mainstream structures – committing to annual programmes of reader promotions, setting up staff groupings charged with taking reader development forward, allocating promotional responsibilities in job descriptions.
Oxfordshire went further. Head of service, Tom Forrest, working closely with Opening the Book, addressed the management challenge of organisational restructuring and financial cutbacks by developing a definition and an action plan for Reader Services.
The focus was on how people use books, videos, CDs etc not on the products themselves. This led to developing a new approach to stock selection with small teams buying county-wide for specific kinds of uses. Oxfordshire was the first authority to use reader development as a spearhead to drive wider organisational and cultural change in the library service. The experience here was crucial in shaping the ambitions of Branching Out. |