Introduction

 

The Library Service has a significant role in the community, providing access to reading, training, digital skills, trusted information, and cultural experiences to people at every stage of their lives.

 

This plan is about improving and promoting  the opportunities that the Library Service can offer and placing it at the heart of the community.

 

Having a Library is a promise to residents that they can access materials from an early age that support developing their reading skills and literacy right through to adulthood

 

The library service aims to be relevant to people from birth to retirement. Libraries are places people in Essex should feel excited, happy, and safe to go to whether to read, use a computer, find information or to avoid isolation. We want the service to be valued and well used.

 

We provide support to families so that they can use and enjoy the library service at key stages in their lives: babies and toddlers coming to our Rhymetimes, school children joining the Summer Reading Challenge, students studying in libraries, older residents who may need help with modern digital technology, or those attending one of the many activities in libraries.

 

Through our mobile and home library offer and community outreach programmes we also improve access for people at risk of being socially isolated, residents with long term conditions or disabilities, communities which are hard to reach, and people who might find it difficult to visit a library .

 

All residents should know about and feel able to use our comprehensive online library service to reserve items and access our dynamic and exciting e-books, journals, and other resources, and take part in our new online groups and activities.

 

Our staff and volunteers should feel valued and supported and we will continue to invest in staff development so that they are equipped to deliver the best possible service to our residents. 

 

 

"I have been using this library for a few years now. Very helpful and friendly staff. They always keep the premises neat and tidy. My kids love to go there every week." - Pitsea Library customer

 

"The staff are wonderful, so friendly and helpful and we would be lost without our local library." - Library customer