Grants round two

Round two offered a further £500,000 for public libraries in England to improve their online presence and discoverability.

Submissions are now closed

Information for round two grantees

Overview

Our second-round grants programme closed at the beginning of November 2023. We had up to £500,000 available and applicants could apply for projects under the following headings:

Library apps 
Online registration 
Virtual tours 
Upgrades or improvements to Library Management Systems (LMS)

Grants were available for between £10,000 and £30,000, with activity required to take place between November 2023 and March 2024. We recognised the delivery time was short and had hoped to attract projects that were already somewhat scoped out.

We received 25 applications and following a robust decision-making process awarded funding to 21 projects.

Awards breakdown

Of the 21 awards, six were for library apps, eleven virtual tours and four LMS upgrades.

Geographically, the split was:

Eight awards in the North
Two awards in the Midlands
Five awards in London
Three awards in the South East
Three awards in the South West

Included in the London awards was a consortium application on behalf of London Libraries.

Below you can explore the projects in detail as described by each applicant.

Awarded projects

Blackpool

Grant awarded: £27,400 · Region: North

We are upgrading our current LMS to a modern, mobile, cloud hosted system. Our current system does not fulfil our needs or secure our future. We have selected a new provider to work with that will enable us to meet the challenges of a modern library service and deliver a higher level of service to our communities.

An upgrade would provide a fully mobile solution that staff can use at events and flexibly in the workplace to more easily able to assist our customers. We need improved catalogue access that ties seamlessly with our online resources and self-service provision.

Bolton Library and Museum Services

Grant awarded: £12,135 · Region: North

Our aim is to create a digital inclusive welcome to the newly-refurbished Bolton Central Library. The project will include a virtual 3D tour of the space and will include information in British Sign Language and Makaton and also the option to listen to an audio described tour. The tour will feature online access to the library catalogue, current what’s on information and weblinks to existing pages featuring other aspects of our library’s services - i.e. e-books and e-audiobooks, digital help, home library services, schools library service, local history, business support and children’s reading challenges.

Bristol Libraries

Grant awarded: £15,340 · Region: South West

Visiting a library can be an unknown and daunting prospect for some, including those for whom the library environment is not part of their social cultural world or for autistic or other neurodivergent people.

Our project aims to overcome this barrier by creating virtual tours of our libraries along with short films showing how to join the library, use our catalogue, access online resources and how to use our self-service kiosks to take out and return books. These films will be hosted online, providing user-friendly, visual and auditory experiences, allowing users to explore the library’s facilities, resources, and services remotely.

Cambridgeshire Libraries

Grant awarded: £15,287 · Region: South East

Expanding on the change in our printing solution to provide better access to remote printing and printing from personal devices. The fund would allow us to purchase an upgrade that would bring full integration and better access to all users of the library. It would increase our visibility allowing for printing from home, in the library or off your own device (smart phones included) easily via Cloud infrastructure. Increasing access and revenue from printing. This will allow the library to target the new phenomenon of working from home customers by offering better access to printing.

City of London

Grant awarded: £25,800 · Region: London

To improve discoverability of London’s public libraries and to increase the number of Londoners who use libraries (in person and online), London Libraries want to build a new reading app inspired by the couch to 5k app, which will encourage lapsed readers to get back into the habit. Users will be able to set and track goals for time spent reading over a week, with positive reinforcement rewards for encouraging daily reading. The app will direct people to their local library resources and local library services will be able to set reading challenges for their own library users.

Cumberland Libraries and Westmorland and Furness Libraries

Grant awarded: £17,291 · Region: North

Improving the online presence and discoverability of libraries in Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness (previously Cumbria Libraries) and enhancing the digital integration of services to increase membership numbers, increase digital application and resource usage and improve the customer journey. We will support the wider digital transformation of the library sector and improve our digital offer with the introduction of a library mobile app. We will also increase the inclusivity and accessibility of our libraries, resources, and activities through the introduction of virtual library tours.

Halton Libraries

Grant awarded: £13,000 · Region: North

Discover Halton Libraries Through Digital is a project that aims to increase and enhance the discoverability and usage of Halton Libraries online resources, library catalogue and e-content through integration of Aspen Discovery Tool into our Library Management System (Koha). The project will increase the ease of customer engagement and discoverability by streamlining the user journey between the library catalogue, website, and its wide range of online resources and materials. Users will benefit from an improved interface designed to enable greater access to a wider range of resources.

Hammersmith and Fulham Libraries and Archives

Grant awarded: £10,115 · Region: London

A community co-produced virtual tour project that would add subtitled virtual tours and audio tours to our online platforms. The tours would see existing library users navigate getting to libraries from local transport stops, getting around the library spaces and locating resources within the library.

As well as making it easier for new customers to access libraries, the tours will also give an honest account of accessibility through the eyes of our users, identifying where improvements can be made and identifying a framework with which we can hold ourselves accountable to achieve change.

Hillingdon Libraries

Grant awarded: £10,200 · Region: London

Our aim is the creation of a bespoke room booking website for Hillingdon Libraries bookable spaces.

The platform will promote these spaces, allowing hirers to find and explore them online, check availability, enquire and submit bookings. It will also streamline current processes and enable staff to manage bookings, customer information and payments more efficiently as well as analysing spaces performance.

Kent County Council

Grant awarded: £24,800 · Region: South East

The project will create an online platform for Kent Libraries, offering virtual tours of our public library spaces and room booking facilities. We aim to showcase our spaces and facilities online, building awareness of our physical service points. This will support accessibility of our service by raising the knowledge and familiarity of our libraries ahead of visiting, for those who might otherwise lack the confidence to do so.

Another benefit of offering virtual tours of our facilities is that they will provide a platform to raise awareness across communities of rooms within our buildings that are available to hire for groups, individuals and organisations.

Kirklees

Grant awarded: £16,079 · Region: North

We will be acquiring a flatbed scanner and LMS add-on, allowing us to maintain access to one of our best-used local history collections by making it available online. Additionally, having access to these facilities will, eventually, allow us to digitise and make available online all local studies collections held by Kirklees Libraries.

Libraries Unlimited

Grant awarded: £24,500 · Region: South West

We plan to commission virtual tours of our libraries to improve accessibility for everyone to all our spaces. A virtual tour is an easy and convenient way to see our spaces - particularly what kind of disabled access is available prior to visiting. This will make it simple for everyone in the community to plan their visit accordingly. The tours will go on our new website, giving everyone greater opportunity to understand what libraries have to offer, and what to expect when they visit, to drive more footfall. It will also better promote our offer and encourage greater use of the libraries across a broader variety of users.

LiveWire Warrington CIC

Grant awarded: £10,379 · Region: North

This initial pilot project will use equipment to create and post a 360-degree, virtual reality comprehensive and accessible tour of Warrington Central Library, the first rate-supported public library in the United Kingdom. By uploading to the website and social media platforms, such as Facebook and YouTube, it will give the VR viewer an immersive and engaging experience of the library and library services, making new and existing library users feel they are physically present in the library (note for non-VR viewers, the library tour will still be a virtual and accessible experience, albeit in 2D).

Manchester Libraries

Grant awarded: £20,250 · Region: North

We will be creating and promoting 3D walkthrough virtual tours of all Manchester Libraries’ 22 venues. This will provide an immersive experience, enabling users to explore the libraries’ broad and diverse sections, historical nuances and architecture, all from the comfort of their screens and before making a visit. The project will enhance online discoverability by making it easier for existing and new customers to find, access and engage with libraries. In addition to increasing the number of online and physical visits to Manchester Libraries, the virtual tours will create more accessibility for neurodivergent people, particularly people with autism.

Merton Libraries

Grant awarded: £24,500 · Region: London

We will create an engaging online film to showcase Merton Libraries’ services, resources, and community impact. The film will serve as a powerful promotional tool to embed within its new website and to reach a wider audience through digital exposure online through social media channels, YouTube and direct marketing. The film will transform what people think about Merton Libraries and libraries in general, presenting a place for coming together in their community which is fresh, vibrant, inclusive and modern. The video will also feature a sign language interpreter and impact statements from existing library users.

Northamptonshire Libraries and Information Service

Grant awarded: £16,000 · Region: Midlands

Northamptonshire Libraries play a vital role in supporting digital inclusion and are keen to exploit digital innovation to achieve this. We originally implemented self service kiosks across our libraries several years ago before self service was a common place as it is today. The next innovation in this area is enabling library borrowers to issue and return their library items from their smart devices. By offering this solution it will help us to enable library borrowers to feel more confident with their own devices but also encourage other library users to borrow library items for those who feel less comfortable when using the library via traditional methods. The project will also help Northamptonshire Libraries meet the council’s pledge to be more green and sustainable in terms of hardware sustainability and the cost of replacing our traditional self service kiosks.

Nottinghamshire

Grant awarded: £30,000 · Region: Midlands

This project aims to develop virtual tours of larger Inspire library buildings that will enable better online access to the range of services and enable those visiting to locate resources, staff and spaces within the library. The project will provide software and build skills within the Inspire team to produce virtual tours and enable those created to be updated. The aim is to ensure full accessibility for all, and remove barriers for users with visual impairment, hearing loss and limited mobility. The tours will also support the aim to be a family friendly and autistic friendly library service.

Redbridge Libraries

Grant awarded: £29,952 · Region: London

To improve discoverability and use of our digital resources and events, we will implement the Discover Webapp, developed in partnership with Inlead ApS.

We offer an extensive range of ebooks/eaudiobooks, digital newspapers and magazines, alongside vast collections of reference materials. However, these are hosted on multiple platforms and awareness/usage is low. User experience is complicated; accounting for less than 15% of our overall usage. Attendance at events is also low as customers say they don’t know about them. The Discover Webapp will help customers find out about our events and uncover the full range of digital materials available to them.

Somerset

Grant awarded: £19,116 · Region: South West

Somerset Libraries will commission the creation of 33 virtual tours (32 libraries / 1 mobile library) to be hosted via Google Maps and linked to our web pages. The new tours will mean we can link to new/updated tours for all library spaces, so we can appeal to vulnerable people such as those living with autism, dementia or a physical disability. We will also create new engaging interactive content using this technology. We have created virtual tours ourselves in the past which proved very popular, but they are out of date and no longer available as Google has changed its policy.

South Tyneside

Grant awarded: £15,000 · Region: North

We would like to commission a film which showcases our flagship library The Word for people who have not yet visited.

The film will explain that Libraries are free to visit, books are free to borrow and who to ask for help, as well as showing the features of the building. This will also give us a chance to show people parts of the building which aren’t always accessible, such as the roof garden.

Suffolk Libraries IPS

Grant awarded: £29,200 · Region: South East

Suffolk Libraries will create a series of virtual video tours which will support the public to engage with our libraries across the county. The videos will be a mix of a tour of the spaces, how to get there, as well as introducing the offer at each location. Through work with clinical partners, Suffolk Libraries understands the barriers many people face in engaging with their local library - specifically anxiety about what to expect. Suffolk Libraries will use these videos to support customers to try something new, build confidence and visit their local library.

Timeline

4 October 2023 — Applications open
1 November 2023 — Applications close
15 November 2023 — Funding decisions confirmed
17 November 2023 — First payments released
18 March 2024 — Project delivery period ends
29 March 2024 — Project monitoring due