Library Digital Inclusion Fund Action Research Project

In September 2015, following consultation with the Libraries Taskforce, Tinder Foundation launched the Library Digital Inclusion Fund: a six-month action research project that ran between 1 October 2015 and 31 March 2016. The £100,000 fund was open to libraries that already had WiFi installed in their premises, and was intended to help them engage hard to reach library users who were socially and digitally excluded, and to deliver basic digital skills training through innovative delivery models using WiFi and mobile technology as enablers. Funding was awarded to 16 Library services located around the country and enabled them to run action research pilots that would:
1. Test and learn from a range of library delivery models using WiFi and mobile technology and explore how these can be used to support development of digital skills for local populations, both within and outside the library setting.
2. Identify the cost per head of delivering digital skills training and digital inclusion activities in libraries, with a particular focus on engagement and delivery models which support hard to reach groups.
3. Identify any universal or flexible online methods of tracking development of digital skills which could be used across libraries nationally in order to manage digital inclusion activities and provide evidence of impact to stakeholders.
Cost: We estimate that the average cost per head of delivering digital inclusion activities through the project to be approximately £40. We calculate that project beneficiaries moving from face-to-face and telephone to online channels will generate potential cost savings of more than £800k per annum - more than £492 per person supported - across local and national government services in areas where library services participated in the project.

Context: As the UK’s leading digital inclusion organisation, Tinder Foundation works closely with public libraries to deliver innovative and sustainable digital inclusion projects, with more than 2,900 libraries as part of the national network of UK online centres that Tinder Foundation manages and supports.

Stakeholders involved: Public Libraries
Libraries Taskforce

Key learning points: NEI.

Evaluation: Yes

Information sources: None.

Read the full analysis: https://preview.tinyurl.com/y6bxhtrv