Consultation

When you subscribe to Frontline, you become part of a network of enthusiastic library staff, committed to developing staff skills to offer more to readers. You will also build a direct relationship with staff at Opening the Book and can draw on our wide experience of delivering training in reader-centred work. You will have the opportunity, both online and offline, to meet and discuss all aspects of the course and the way it is implemented in your library service. You can also contribute to new course development and help to shape the future of the public library service.

The Frontline course has been built on continuous communication between Opening the Book and users of the course in libraries. There are three major routes:

Shaped by users

Features of the Frontline course and of the website have changed in response to user feedback. Many users have commented that this responsiveness is unusual in online training where you generally have to stick with the package you first bought, warts and all. Subscribing to Frontline isn’t like that. Because we have our own dedicated team of trainers, programmers and designers, Opening the Book can build in suggestions for improvements right away.

The site has undergone two major upgrades, as a result of which new online tools, new features, new choices and new downloadable print have been added to the course. A further upgrade in January 2009 provides a structure for assessing experienced Supervisors and awarding a Supervisor's Certificate to recognise increased skills and experience.

In between these major annual upgrades, minor changes to the content have constantly been made in response to feedback from Frontline Co-ordinators. In this way Co-ordinators have helped each other as an improvement detected and suggested by one has benefited all users.

A series of working meetings held across England to share standards in assessment and strategic planning for rollouts also fed back useful suggestions for functional changes which were incorporated into upgrades or undertaken immediately, depending on how technically complex they were.

The day-to-day online communication between Opening the Book and Frontline Co-ordinators has helped to us to understand how the course is used and how, as user numbers increase, we can create a flexible site that puts its users first.

All the extensive feedback supported the major rewrite of the course which has created Frontline New Edition. The structure and writing have been tightened so the course is more streamlined and faster to take. The key sections on display have been moved earlier so everyone doing the short course can benefit. The course is more flexible with 4 different options offered for reader-to-reader activities and better support to connect the final project in Modules 6 and 7 into local circumstances. There is more help for Supervisors in making judgments about Trainees' work. And, of course, the whoe look has been redesigned so it is easier to navigate,especially for Trainees who take more than one course and Co-ordinators managing multiple Trainees and Supervisors on different courses.

'It has been great to see how the Frontline course has evolved over the last three years I have spent working with it. Suggestions I have helped to make have been put into practice. This has made using it much easier for my authority.'
Judith Ivory, Frontline Co-ordinator, Essex Library Service

Consultative Group

As recommended by the Society of Chief Librarians, Opening the Book convenes advisory groups drawn from authorities most involved with the use of the course to meet annually and advise us on its use and policy.

• 2008 recommendations
• 2007 recommendations

2008 recommendations

The Consultative Group discussed which elements of the course might be retained once the first three-year rollout of the course in England finishes in September 09. They also discussed future areas for development put forward by Opening the Book and helped to shape the form and content of the new Frontline offers from September 2009.

The Group thought these elements must be retained:

• The way the course facilitates links between staff in an authority
• The way the course facilitates links between authorities
• The excellent technical support from Tris Campbell of Opening the Book

The Group thought the principal benefits of Frontline were:

• The ability to train a wide range of staff in a range of library jobs, including part-timers
• Focus on reader-centred skills
• Training that has impact and changes the culture
• A course that gives staff a sense of ownership of their library
• Useful practical exercises that can be repeated
• A flexible course focused on the needs of its users

The Group suggested these areas for development:

• Build on what trainees have learned
• Skills to support work in RFID libraries
• Develop the focus on merchandising skills
• Embedding skills
• Widening the range of skills

The Group recommended these areas for new material:

• Working with children, young people and families
• Skills development opportunities in RFID libraries – merchandising, communication, stock awareness, floorwalking
• Outreach projects
• Refresher module for staff who took the course a while ago
• Ethos and induction modules
• Validating experienced supervisors
• Strengthening the online communication between users

2008 members:

2007 recommendations

Strategy

• Frontline is being valued where libraries are changing to self-issue and are refurbishing their spaces.
• The main issues in rolling out the course are time management and staff motivation.
• Authorities who have made Frontline a training priority, provided cover where necessary and timetabled staff to do the course have progressed the fastest.
• Imposing a deadline for trainees to finish a module or the whole course is recommended as the key move to speed up the rollout.

Managing the rollout

• All Co-ordinators reported that Trainees had enjoyed doing the course and many have become good advocates for it. Many staff who at first are reluctant have often been the ones who have benefited most by taking the course.
• Frontline staff often make the best Supervisors and when the course reaches the frontline staff then speed, enthusiasm and quality improves.
• The average number of Trainees per Supervisor is recommended at 4 or 5. A Supervisor takes an average of one hour to supervise a Trainee through a module, more in Modules 1 and 2, less in later Modules.
• Some Trainees, Supervisors and Co-ordinators are using the work they do on Frontline in their portfolios towards ACLIP qualifications and for some NVQs
• Where Generic Learning Outcomes (GLOs) are used, the anecdotal evidence from Frontline is admissible and very useful.

Maintaining the quality of learning

• The group agreed in principle to recommend spot checks by Opening the Book in future.
• The group also approved in principle the idea of peer reviews
• Recommendation that regional meetings are held by Opening the Book where Co-ordinators bring specific work from Trainees and Supervisors and can check standards and differing approaches.

Proposals for action to Opening the Book

• Construct a follow-up email that is automatically delivered to Trainees some time after they have completed the course.
• Find ways to collect anecdotal evidence of Trainee satisfaction and the general impact of the course and post this online.
• Devise another borrower interview task for Module 7 would allow the trainee to collect some evidence of change or impact.
• Organise a series of regional meetings for co-ordinators to share specific work in order to maintain the quality of learning and supervision.

2007 members:

Trialled with pilot authorities

Frontline was devised in partnership with the Society of Chief Librarians as part of the Branching Out programme supported by Arts Council England. From the earliest stages the course was developed by the direct experience of staff who used early models of the course in different library situations and with real staff.

The final design, functionality and content were all shaped by practical testing and detailed feedback from 12 English pilot authorities. A further pilot stage devised and tested the cascade structure that supports the rollout of the course across a library service. This helped to shape the online features that support both the quality of learning and supervisors in their peer assessment role.

In the Republic of Ireland the course was piloted again with 2 authorities and also with staff from An Chomhairle Leabharlanna (The Library Council). The pilots tested design and content elements and substantial changes were made to adjust the course to fit Irish library practice.

'We have felt a real part of the development of Frontline: there have been lots of chances to feed in suggestions on changes to support learners and Co-ordinators, and Opening the Book have always listened.' Cynthia Martin, Bristol Libraries