Enterprise & Skills Review Call for Evidence, July 2016 Personal experience? Have you had direct interaction with enterprise or skills advice or support? Yes Tell us briefly about your experience? Public libraries have a well-established role as providers of skills advice and support. With over 500 branches spanning the length and breadth of the country, and encompassing our diverse communities, public libraries are the first point of contact for many people in accessing support for developing skills. Libraries offer access to a range of resources books – and online learning materials to support skills development and promote inclusive growth. – Many libraries also provide dedicated support for employability via jobs clubs, which build confidence as well as targeting structural unemployment. More recently, the public library network has expanded its offer to include support for enterprise skills too. , our national public library strategy, outlines a clear role for public libraries in promoting economic wellbeing and contributing to the development of new enterprise. For decades, libraries have been incubators of ideas and, in the digital age, they have the potential to drive innovation by providing socially and geographically accessible working spaces and digital makerspaces. All public library services in Scotland will introduce 3D printing capability by September 2016, and some services already offer dedicated working spaces. If you have not used such services can you outline why this is the case? N/A Reflections on the system of support What do you see as the strengths and weakness of the current approach? Scotland has a high-quality, multi-agency approach to enterprise and skills development. This ensures that there is abundance and equality of opportunity for our people to develop their skills. However, there is currently no clearly defined pathway to guide users through the skills development journey. This means that people may be unaware of the options that exist and lack awareness about where to go for support. This also results in a lack of clarity regarding the roles of, and relationships between, all of the agencies contributing to the national agenda. A clear framework would enable all of our public services to work more effectively towards a common goal as a cohesive unit. This would in turn ensure best value and greatest efficiency of our public services.
Enterprise & Skills Review Call for Evidence, July 2016 Personal experience? Have you had direct interaction with enterprise or skills advice or support? Yes Tell us briefly about your experience? Public libraries have a well-established role as providers of skills advice and support. With over 500 branches spanning the length and breadth of the country, and encompassing our diverse communities, public libraries are the first point of contact for many people in accessing support for developing skills. Libraries offer access to a range of resources – books and online learning materials – to support skills development and promote inclusive growth. Many libraries also provide dedicated support for employability via jobs clubs, which build confidence as well as targeting structural unemployment. More recently, the public library network has expanded its offer to include support for enterprise skills too. , our national public library strategy, outlines a clear role for public libraries in promoting economic wellbeing and contributing to the development of new enterprise. For decades, libraries have been incubators of ideas and, in the digital age, they have the potential to drive innovation by providing socially and geographically accessible spaces and digital makerspaces. All public library services in Scotland will introduce 3D printing capability by September 2016, and some services already offer dedicated spaces. If you have not used such services can you outline why this is the case? N/A Reflections on the system of support What do you see as the strengths and weakness of the current approach? Scotland has a high-quality, multi-agency approach to enterprise and skills development. This ensures that there is abundance and equality of opportunity for our people to develop their skills. However, there is currently no clearly defined pathway to guide users through the skills development journey. This means that people may be unaware of the options that exist and lack awareness about where to go for support. This also results in a lack of clarity regarding the roles of, and relationships between, all of the agencies contributing to the national agenda. A clear framework would enable all of our public services to work more effectively towards a common goal as a cohesive unit. This would in turn ensure best value and greatest efficiency of our public services. working working