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Report to:
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Lead
Member for Transport and Environment
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Date of
meeting:
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22
November 2021
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By:
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Director of
Communities, Economy and Transport
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Title:
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Redundant
assets of the Library and Information Service
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Purpose:
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To seek
approval to dispose of museum stock previously used by the Schools
Library and Museum Service.
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
The Lead Member is
recommended to:
(1)
note that the
proposed phased approach to disposal seeks to ensure that as many
items as possible are donated to museums, galleries, and schools to
maximise their use for educational purposes;
(2)
note that following
an assessment by the County Archivist, artwork of cultural or
historical significance to East Sussex will be relocated to The
Keep and available to residents to view; and
(3)
approve the
disposal of stock from the Schools Library and Museum Service
collection.
1.2.
We now offer the more affordable and
popular of our charged services to all schools (which include
advisory visits, stock selection and the East Sussex Book Award),
as well as a free library membership specifically for teachers. In
addition, we target schools in areas of need with dedicated free
literacy and reading support through outreach activities. This is
part of our offer for Children and Young People and allows teachers
and children to benefit from the expertise of our
librarians.
1.3.
SLAMs began in the early 1960’s,
with most museum items collected during the 1960s and 1970s. A
number of items were gifted to the service, and this information is
recorded in ledgers. The stock is currently held at Unit D,
Ropemaker Park, Hailsham. The LSCS set out that we would offer our
museum stock to The Keep as well as local museums and collections,
to maximise the number of items that are retained for local access
and minimise those that are destroyed.
1.4.
As shown in Appendix A there are more
than 1,200 items in the collection and these include 875 singular
items, 8 diorama and 74 containers holding various discs, artworks,
fabrics, and equipment. The items, models, and artefacts all
vary in condition due to their nature of use and the ledgers show
that 698 were donated. The collection includes fossils as
well as taxidermy, educational models, dioramas, tools, jewellery,
and textiles.
1.5.
The Council does not have the expertise
or appropriate facilities to look after these collections in a
manner that enables the public to view them. This paper sets
out a disposal proposal which prioritises their future
care.
2 Supporting Information
2.
2.2.
The framework for
the proposed disposal is a phased approach to enable items of
interest to be held in the public domain in future. Local
museums and galleries will be offered first refusal, there will be
a number of subsequent steps before any items are recycled or
destroyed. The proposed disposal phases are:
·
Phase
1 offer local museums,
galleries, and schools as well as the High Weald Education Centre
the opportunity to take items which add to their collections as a
free donation.
·
Phase
2 list
the items on the Museum Associations “Find an Object”
site (for free).
·
Phase 3 contact known
donors to offer first refusal of a free return.
·
Phase
4 sale through an
auction house with any income generated being directly reinvested
in the Library and Information Service. Where appropriate
items will be sold in specialist sales.
·
Phase 5 offer items free to local relevant
organisations such as amateur dramatics, historical societies, and
charities.
·
Phase 6 items that remain are recycled or destroyed.
2.3.
This disposal process provides
organisations in the public domain with the opportunity to add to
their collections while applying the principles of the Corporate
Disposal Policy and making best use of the County Council’s
assets.
3 Conclusion and Reasons for
Recommendations
3.
3.1.
SLAMS ceased in 2018 following a review
of the service during the development of the Libraries Strategic
Commissioning Strategy, however a range of new services were
introduced as part of our Children and Young People offer including
a library membership specifically for teachers and targeted
librarian outreach to areas of need. Following the closure of
SLAMS there are over 1,200 items held at Ropemaker Park without the
facilities to maintain the collection in the long term or provide
access to the public. Artwork of local significance will be
moved to The Keep and a proposed phased disposal approach has been
developed. The phased approach prioritises the donation to
museums, galleries, and schools to maximise use for educational
purposes.
3.2.
The Lead Member for Transport and
Environment is therefore recommended to agree to the proposals to
dispose of the redundant SLAMS stock held at Ropemaker
Park.
Director of Communities, Economy
and Transport
Contact Officer: Alice
Henderson
Tel. No. 07876 878374
Email: alice.henderson@eastsussex.gov.uk
LOCAL
MEMBERS
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BACKGROUND
DOCUMENTS
None