Starting a new adventure

I have been incredibly busy over the past year, after having spent leisurely four years doing a PhD and taking a whole year to write up my Thesis.  over the past year I have written three reports and four online handbooks, and have had another paper published (Grounded theory and ethnography combined: a methodology to study children’s interactions on children’s mobile libraries). It is more interesting than it sounds.

After being at the Centre for Research Communications in Nottingham University, I worked at LISU for a year (Loughborough University - yes, can't keep away from there). I have been involved with a project that sends messages over people's televisions (SMaRT Messenger), I have examined "Patient Pathways" with the help of a computer simulation modeller and done a fundamental review of a regional library service. More of those at some other time. Apart from the regional library service they seemed largely irrelevant to this blog, they were about information and older vulnerable people. Not my usual subject, but interesting to dip into.

Now, I have a new job - Research Fellow at Evidence Base, in Birmingham City University (BCU). I don't have a picture of the the University yet, but here is a map. I like maps.



Hopefully, now I can use my expertise with children and libraries to track down relevant research.

Words on Wheels

Today I visited Paul Phillips and WOW (Words on Wheels). Paul is a development librarian at Birmingham City and WOW is his mobile library. The whole show is just him, no library manager, no library assistant, just him going around the schools and playgroups of Birmingham, telling stories, reading stories and encouraging parents to read with their children. He also cleans and maintains the vehicle and obviously drives it as well. The idea of a non-issuing mobile library vehicle was conceived around 20 years ago, and the resulting vehicle went into service about three years later, so it is around 17 years old. the livery is hand painted, designed by a previous Birmingham Artist in residence, and painted by an artist that worked in the coach builders, sadly now closed. Paul himself takes care of maintaining the artwork.

It originally did not have a special title, Paul chose the title Words on Wheels to convey what it was about without mentioning the word "Library". The vehicle was based in the Mobile library depot but the librarian in charge of it was officed in Birmingham central library, at some distance from the vehicle. As she was not qualified to drive the van, each time is was due to go out somewhere she had to organise and agency driver. This did not help the reliability of the service because agency drivers did not look after the vehicle and were not always available to fulfil a booking. It was funded through Urban Aid funding, and had gathered such a poor reputation that when funding had ran out the service was shelved. The vehicle stayed in the council depot for a year or so, until Paul got the post of development librarian and managed to achieve a years funding. It has been going ever since.

The success of the project is due to Paul's efforts, winning various Mobile Library prizes, nationally and internationally, linking with disadvantaged groups, networking and achieving an income for Birmingham city. Schools, pre-school facilities, nurseries, book him in advance and although he is busy each day, does not return to the same venue for many months, perhaps a year. Paul considers that Children's mobile libraries are a tool for delivering literacy, and he is convinced that he does that, but feels he does not have the evidence to prove it, although he has had letters of praise from the children that have experienced his visits. His criterion for measuring success is being asked back.

Is ten a good enough number?

Well, after going through all the local authority websites listed on Direct.Gov I found 10 proper specialised Children's mobile libraries (Actually, I think that it is 11 because Leicester has two vehicles), 13 School library service vehicles, and a handful of other shared/dual purpose vehicles. There are some that have come and gone, some that were only meant to be for a short season, just summer holiday storytelling. I had a brief conversation with a school librarian last week, who informed me that when she worked at Staveley in Derbyshire, she has spent some time during the summer holidays on the mobile library. This is something I must follow up. She only did it a few times because she said she suffered from travel sickness and felt very queasy travelling around in the van.

So, the question is, is ten enough or is it just the right number to do a really good investigation? Of course, there may be others that I have not yet unearthed and I will carry on my mission of seeking out children's mobile libraries not only in Britain, but across the universe. The ones that I have found are in Bexley, Birmingham and Blackburn, Edinburgh, Leicester (x2) and Manchester, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Southampton, Stockport and Swansea. There are more School library service mobiles, but I am not sure have relevant they are, or what effect they have on children because they only visit schools, and then at most termly, or merely twice a year. The number of books they allow the classes to borrow varies from just one or two per child, to lots (well, that is not a very specific sum I know, I have the figure 500 in my head, not per child, of course, but per school, or per class, and I can't quite remember what the exact allocation is). They certainly operate to a different model, but that could be something to compare, if 10 is not enough.