1. Event 06 March – morning flipcharts: “in my context…”
 Activities not only based within a centre
building but also throughout venues in the
community
 Already have some links in Warwickshire.
New cluster arrangements should
strengthen partnership work
 Assist in sharing good & best practice
 Better data sharing so that families receive
a more holistic service
 Bring together the evidence of new
Booktrust programmes. Support/enhance
Children’s Centres and libraries working
together
 Co-location of children’s centre stuff &
services within libraries
 Co-location provides opportunity especially
as children’s centres refocus
 Community hub
 Could I start to run children’s centres by driving into place a new charity?
 Deliver elements of children’s offer in different settings
 Developing best practice
 Do we need to look at libraries and think what provision we have for this client group?
 Downloadable information packs for new parents (check list for people to see & things to do
etc.)
 Draw upon the specific skills between library staff & children’s centre workers – greater focus on
speech & language
 Engaging the university with opportunities for volunteering in children’s services (Northampton)
 Filling the children centre gap! Universal provision
 Focus on early intervention
 Further co-location of libraries with children’s centres
 Great venue to provide a safe & welcoming environment for service delivery – hosting activities
etc
 Improving information sharing & joined up working
 Income generation
 Increase links with children’s centres & libraries
 Information regarding children’s centres in the red book with basic registration form enclosed as
from 2014
 Integrated pathways of Bookstart with Early Years providers – joined up.
 Invite children’s centre staff into local libraries to promote or deliver certain services
 Joined up working with libraries and other professionals
 Joint working & sharing of resources
 Kent – review of library services - Integrated service – libraries & registration – birth
registrations taking place in libraries – pilot project linking parents & children’s centres at
registration

2.  Language development
 Libraries represent neutral non-threatening spaces. Great venues for children’s centres to host
rhymetimes & speech & language sessions
 Linking Bookstart activities – gifting, “Bookstart Bear Club”, certificate presentations…
 More contact between children’s centres and libraries over delivering Bookstart & in particular
reaching those hard to reach families
 More increased partnership working with information officers
 More joint working – seamless
 More shared buildings with a range of services
 Opportunities for 6 locations
 Opportunities for closer partnership working – joint delivery of some services?
 Opportunities for libraries to invite groups of parents from children’s centres to see library
services and be sign-posted to other useful service providers
 Opportunities for shared learning –joint training etc
 Opportunity driven by needs as both services experience budget pressures to work more
effectively & closely
 Our ability to deliver a range of services for parents – connectedness
 Oxfordshire Libraries – opportunities for visits by children’s centre to library activities such as
rhymetime session
 Parent information points in libraries. Set date/time to promote
 Parenting programmes in libraries – links with schools
 Permission to make contact cards at libraries, JCP offices etc
 Potential for co-location of children’s centre & library through new community hub
development
 Potential to join up with health services in adjacent facilities to library & children’s centre
 Prenatal sessions in libraries & community – sessions – baby in the womb sessions –
singing/talking
 Promoting parenting & advice material available in libraries
 Registration being joined up
 Sessions run in co-locations ie. libraries, civic halls, churches
 Share library spaces
 Shared skills knowledge & experiences to enable joined up working
 Sharing of resources
 Sharing resources
 Should we be looking at more joined up approaches for these two services?
 SLA between Children’s centres & libraries in Cambridgeshire
 Speech and language pathways with rhymetimes
 Structured introductory visits to libraries
 To obtain the skills & knowledge about children’s centre services to influence local approach to
commissioning & delivery
 We are currently restructuring the children’s centres. They have recently come back into the
council
 We are in a position to know bid & commision to be a new provider of the children’s centre
‘offer’. It won’t be a pale imitation – it will have a new emphasis
 Working with libraries to share venues
 Working with the whole community & rural locations