Three library and information centres across Scotland have been awarded a share of £38,000 from SLIC’s Innovation and Development Fund.
NHS Ayrshire & Arran Health Board Library, the National Library of Scotland and the University of Strathclyde have all received funding for projects which focus on creative service delivery and development.
Administered and financed by SLIC, the Innovation and Development Fund is aimed at those who do not benefit from other annual funding programmes, such as Further Education, Higher Education and specialist libraries and information centres.
The projects – each of which links to SLIC’s strategic aims of advocacy, standards, innovation, partnership, funding and research – received £8,000 above SLIC’s original pledge of £30,000 for the Fund.
NHS Ayrshire and Arran Health Board Library received £3,600 for their project ‘Virtual Bitesize Conversations: a Webinar Series. The project will develop a series of “TED talk” style webinars, featuring special guest speakers. It will then be expanded to support the national Value Based Health & Care vision for Scotland.
Meanwhile the National Library of Scotland received £14,000 for a co-curation project exploring the lives, career and experiences of black and ethnic minority sportspeople in Scotland. The ‘Andrew Watson’s Legacies’ project will be based at the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow.
The University of Strathclyde’s project focuses on developing a climate change and sustainable development measurement framework for all libraries in Scotland. Their ‘Libraries for a Sustainable Future’ project received £20,451.
Pamela Tulloch, chief executive of SLIC, said: “We’re committed to ensuring that funding opportunities for library services are maximised so we’re pleased we could stretch our budget this year to support three exciting projects through the Innovation and Development Fund.
“It’s clear that our members are passionate about continuing to develop a compelling vision for the library sector in Scotland and we’ll continue to encourage them to innovate and take risks to explore new ideas and reach their full potential.
“These projects will not only improve local services but will act as best practice examples, setting out improved routes of delivery and development and enabling libraries to take forward strong working practices which can be amplified throughout the whole sector.”
