The SAILS Project: A Working Guide to Cross Sectoral Co‐operation, Supporting Lifelong Learning and Staff Development

Citation

Moore, P. (2001), "The SAILS Project: A Working Guide to Cross Sectoral Co‐operation, Supporting Lifelong Learning and Staff Development", New Library World, Vol. 102 No. 6, pp. 233-236. https://doi.org/10.1108/nlw.2001.102.6.233.2

This report on the SAILS project (Staff Development for Access to Information and Learning in Sunderland) aims to provide practical guidance concerning three interlinked aspects of library management. These are the role of libraries in supporting lifelong learning, co‐operation between providers of library services, and implications for staff development and training. The successful scheme in question gives adult learners access to 29 libraries in an area where unemployment is high and participation in post‐compulsory education is low.

Beginning with an executive summary giving easy access to key findings, the report makes limited recommendations which spring from hands‐on experience of managing the scheme, investigation of the needs of lifelong learners, and an analysis of library staff development needs. Many of the acronyms in use throughout the report may be unfamiliar to readers outside the UK, but most are expanded and explained in a glossary placed before the body of the report.

The introduction gives the recent history of the initiative and details key objectives and outcomes of the project. Research methodology is outlined, and the multiple data gathering techniques are described, with questionnaires and interview schedules available in appendices. For the most part, librarians provided the required data, but adult learners and their tutors also participated. Although the report later states that that “non‐traditional learners” were targeted, it neither says how many responded nor how they were selected.

Chapter 3 provides an overview of the differing roles of universities, colleges of further education and local authorities in supporting lifelong learning before presenting the findings of the SAILS research into the needs of adult learners. Interestingly, the results of the learners’ questionnaire are not included, although their lack of information literacy and awareness of library services is reported. There are no surprises in the identified barriers to library use and returning to learning.

The framework for the co‐operative efforts being researched is described in Chapter 4 of the report, where benefits as well as questions arising are outlined. That all initiatives involving co‐operation between libraries have unique features is acknowledged, but Hall and Curry have identified ten features likely to contribute to success in working across sectors. These have much in common with those underlying change management in other settings, including vision, commitment, shared strategic direction, flexible management, sound communication networks and recognition of differences between sub‐groups involved in the initiative.

Not surprisingly, staff development and training issues are said to be the crucial means by which libraries can improve support for lifelong learners and reap the benefits of successful co‐operation. Chapter 5 makes several recommendations based on the research findings, and a literature review of this field, before leading into a brief final chapter that draws conclusions across the three threads of managing co‐operative ventures, supporting lifelong learners and improving the availability and quality of training and development for library staff.

This report is useful in terms of charting pressures that draw librarianship and education closer together, but many core issues are outside its scope.