For the library it is essential to stay in close touch
with the local community and keep abreast of developments

For most people a summerhouse means pleasure, in Sölvesborg the word summer- house is associated with the pleasure of learning.

Red as Bordeaux wine, octagonal, with
large windows facing the old-fashioned
garden, the annex added to the library
was soon baptised The Summerhouse.
Thanks to this extension, inaugurated
in September 2003, the public library
became Sölvesborg’s centre for further
education, a next-door university.

In only a few weeks, more than a
hundred students were registered, most
of them students at university level, but
also those attending courses from other
adult-learning institutions. Now, three
years later the Library Learning Centre
is an established and a successful ‘business’,
with 170 students presently registered.

Sölvesborg is a small municipality with
16,000 inhabitants. Unemployment
numbers are above the national norm
and the average level of educational
attainment is low. Local trade and business
consist of small business with few
opportunities for the investment of
time and money in competence development.
Politicians and officials
from the municipality, the regional
university and the local society of trade
and industry decided to do something
about the situation and after discussions
a cooperative named Campus
Sölvesborg was formed. During the
nineties the library had already established
good relations with the local
society of trade and industry and when
further education was focused on, the
library was invited to participate. The
aim of Campus Sölvesborg was “to improve
the average level of educational
attainment among adults in the municipality
of Sölvesborg and to enhance
competence among local trade and industry,
in order to attract new business
and new citizens.” The quote comes
from the European Union Objective 2
application that Campus Sölvesborg
made once we had decided to create a
learning centre.

The new centre

The public library (1,200 square metres)
was extended by 200 square metres.
The extension was designed by
city architect Jan Lagerås who also
designed the main building in 1983. It
was equipped with 25 new computers,
a videoconference system, an electronic
key- and alarm system and a separate
network allowing a secure system separate
from the existing administrative
network. We wanted to use systems
that could be easily administered and
updated by the library staff and which
would depend as little as possible on
support from the specialist at the ITunit.
Library staff was involved in the
entire process: They helped to unpack
machines, install programs and were
trained by the IT-technicians in various
routines such as registering students
and administering the key- and alarm
systems. With a total of one library
director, three librarians and six library
assistants (with three branch libraries
and two small school libraries) it was
vital to design the technical systems to
run as smoothly as possible. The total
cost for the building, hardware and
software was approximately 400,000
euros.

The Learning Centre is integrated with
the library and the entire building is
used for educational purposes. When
the public library is open the students
have access to the open library, the
study rooms as well as the annexe. The
library has a wireless network and the
students can work with the library material
in groups or individually using
laptop computers.

The library reception desk also works
as Learning Centre reception desk.
Here students can sign in, receive
guidance regarding the curriculum,
assistance with technical problems,
place interlibrary loan requests, find
material for their papers, pay for copies
etc.

When the library is closed the students
have access to the study rooms and
annexe using their own electronic key.
In this way the Centre is open from 7
a.m. to 11 p.m. every day.

Education

The Learning Centre is mainly dedicated
to individual education, but we
also have lectures for regular groups
and groups studying in an integrated
learning environment. The Learning
Centre offers support for all kinds of
education for everyone over 18.
Courses are provided mainly by the
Net University (www.netuniversity.se),
Nätbildarna (www.natbildarna.nu), the
Blekinge Institute of Technology and
the Kristianstad University. Last year
we had students enrolled at 13 different
universities.
The support provided by the Learning
Centre should facilitate and encourage
groups that normally hesitate to consider
higher education enrolment.

Marketing

In order to raise awareness of the project
and to inform the community of
the possibilities it offers, the Learning
Centre has worked with a marketing
strategy that attempts to brand the
Sölvesborg Learning Centre.

The Learning Centre has, apart from
normal marketing through pamphlets,
sales letters, advertisements and newspaper
articles, arranged various events.
We have offered free public lectures
(traditional and via videoconference)
on a varying range of subjects, from
Alzheimer, Digital Management to Tai
chi and Antiquities. We have arranged
small education fairs where education
providers have had the opportunity to
demonstrate their courses; visitors have
been able to try out a variety of courses
such as massage, digital image handling,
sound engineering etc. We have
showed videoconferences and different
educational platforms as well as aids
for disabled students.

One very important factor has been
that the same staff manages the
Learning Centre and the library.
Surveys show that public libraries are
visited by more than 65% of the Swedish
population and that all kinds of
social groups use the library. The staff
has been trained to market the
Learning Centre in their everyday
contact with patrons. This ‘informal’
marketing has lead to remarkable results
especially with the groups that are
unfamiliar with higher education.
Every new enrolled student will in turn
inform other prospective students.

Staff

All librarians have participated in different
distance courses using all kinds of
platforms. Costs have been balanced by
the fact that ordinary staff at the library
have been involved throughout for
the duration of the EU project and
now are able to carry on without the
need for new recruitment. The library
staff put it this way: “We find it positive
and strategically beneficial for us that
the library is focused on and closely
connected with further education and
competence development. The demand
for us and our skills as information
specialists has increased and the connection
between the library and the
Learning Centre is a natural development
of our profession.(...) It is challenging
and exciting and it gives us a
lot of credit as well as invaluable new
work experience.”

Strategic choices

The Library Learning Centre project
has placed demands on everyone involved,
but the calculated strategic
choice to become a player in the field
of adult education has turned out to be
a winner. The library has now become
an essential part of the forum for strategic
education planning and truly
strengthened its role as educational
resource.

In other libraries there may be other
paths to follow, but for the library it is
essential to stay in close touch with the
local community and keep abreast of
developments there. What are the strategic
goals for local government? In
what ways can the library be a part of
developments? How do we change our
goals in order to participate? How do
we market our competence to politicians?
Funds for different projects can
be found outside of the library budget
if we show that we can and want to
develop new areas. In this process the
main factor is the library staff. If we get
the chance it is vital that we demonstrate
results. Communication skills,
information and ICT competence have
to be built and maintained over time.
The strategy has to be made clear to all
involved. For us in Sölvesborg it is now
obvious that adult education is not a
‘new’ or ‘additional’ assignment. It is a
fundamental element of basic library
service.

Folke Frömmert
Library Director
Sölvesborg Public Library

folke.frommert@solvesborg.se