Funding boost: Fishguard Library

NEW facilities to help people into work and establish businesses will be set up at Fishguard Library thanks to a £40,000 funding boost in the latest round of Welsh Government grant funding.

The project will create a dedicated area in the library to enable people to develop their digital and financial skills, and receive advice and support in accessing online services such as Universal Jobmatch and Universal Credit. Through partnership working with Jobcentre Plus and other agencies, the library will be able to provide local access to high quality professional information in a modern specially designed facility.

The funding is part of a £2.7 million package for museums, archives and libraries across Wales.

Cardiff has said that the funding will also be used to help widen access and ensure more people enjoy the rich and diverse collections available.

The main focus of the funding will be to support museums, archives and libraries to deliver the recommendations made in Baroness Andrew’s report on culture and poverty, in which she made a compelling case for joint-working across the sector to ensure culture is accessible to all.

The library at Fishguard is one of seven projects throughout Wales to share £1m from the Welsh Government’s Community Learning Library Capital Development Programme, which aims to establish libraries as community hubs, where customers can access a range of council services as well as the traditional library amenities.

The remaining £1.7m will be used to help widen access and encourage the use of Wales’s rich and diverse collections on offer at museums, archives and libraries across the country, including £235,000 for programmes to increase users, particularly those living in Communities First areas.

Funding of £255,000 will be used to establish a national Digital Library Service, allowing customers to access a free all-Wales e-books and e-zines service, as well as free audio books and free reference sources.

The Deputy Minister said: “I am delighted to announce almost £2.7m for our museums, archives and libraries. Tackling poverty is at the heart of our community policy in Wales, which is why I am committed to ensuring this funding will be used to widen access to culture in some of our most deprived areas.

The funding will also support the further roll-out of Every Child a Library Member, deliver an enhanced Sharing Treasures Programme, where local museums work in partnership with larger museums, and matched funding for the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust to continue their work to preserve important cultural items.

Many of the programmes being funded will support the 2016 Year of Adventure initiative, launched by the Deputy Minister last week to promote Wales as the capital of adventure tourism, with activities, events and attractions across Wales taking part.