Introduction
In December 2016, the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) commissioned Blake Stevenson to evaluate the health-related projects funded through the Public Library Improvement Fund. PLIF is a Scottish Government fund administered by SLIC, and funds a range of projects which support health and wellbeing.
This report outlines the findings of the evaluation.
Context
Over 100 years after Andrew Carnegie began developing a public library network across the English-speaking world, Scotland’s public libraries, comprising a network of over 500 public libraries and 66 mobile libraries, play an important role in communities across Scotland.
The breadth of services and range of resources that are available from public libraries allow individuals to access opportunities for learning, support and education in a variety of ways both physically and online.
The library sector has continually developed to respond to changing needs, and the development of Scotland’s first national strategy for public libraries in 2015 was an important milestone for the sector.
