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The delayed Library Service Modernisation Review now has a "target" publication of the end of November, over a year after it was originally commissioned. A spokesperson for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, said: "[Culture minister] Margaret Hodge has cracked the whip and intends to publish before Christmas, and as soon before Christmas as possible."
According to a letter sent out by Hodge this week, the minister is now writing to "a range of thinkers, commentators and leaders in library services, as well as individuals working in retail, digital media, education, publishing and local government" asking them to write short think pieces on "how we might make libraries fit for the 21st century." These contributions will then be incorporated into the Review, which is now to be issued as a "consultation paper".
The DCMS spokesperson said that Hodge had decided to reshape the Review "a little more in her own image" after returning to her role last month after a year's leave of absence, during which the Review was led by Barbara Follett MP. "The idea is to make the document itself a bit more alive to its proposed readership which is not just the library world but also a wider audience, with the election coming up and libraries becoming part of mainstream debate," he added.
But library campaigner Desmond Clarke criticised Hodge's latest move, saying: "It does suggest that the Review project board has failed to develop an exciting vision for public libraries in the 21st Century which can be supported widely by the profession, government and local politicians, and understood by the public. To provide strategic leadership, you must first have a clear vision for the service. Without it, you allow the leadership void to continue, and the service to decline."