On 13 September 2011 the Arts Council published Culture, knowledge and understanding: great museums and libraries for everyone - a framework for future cooperation. This publication sets out how we will place museums and libraries at the heart of our work and our vision for the future.
You can download the full publication in the right sidebar.
Executive summary
Arts Council England is the lead body charged with developing the arts in England. In October 2011, we added museums and libraries to our responsibilities. As with the arts, this will see us championing, developing and investing in museums and libraries so that people's lives can be shaped and enriched by artistic and cultural experiences and knowledge.
A 10-year strategic framework
In November 2010 the Arts Council published Achieving great art for everyone, a strategic framework for our work over the next 10 years that will encourage shared purpose and partnerships across the arts. This companion document is our first attempt to integrate museums and libraries into this framework. It is designed to provide certainty as to the programmes the Arts Council will run from 2011-15 while soliciting further debate about the directions we should take in the longer term.
Long-term goals
At the heart of the framework are five 10-year goals, the substance of which have been adapted to reflect the needs and priorities for museums and libraries and sit alongside our existing goals for the arts:
- Goal 1: Excellence is thriving and celebrated in museums and libraries
- Goal 2: More people experience and are inspired by museums and libraries
- Goal 3: Museums and libraries are sustainable, resilient and innovative
- Goal 4: The leadership and workforce in museums and libraries are diverse and highly skilled
- Goal 5: Every child and young person has the opportunity to experience the richness of museums and libraries
This section sets out why the Arts Council believes each goal is an important area of work and what we will do to deliver it.
Our role and plans 2011-15
This section describes how the Arts Council sees its role in museums and libraries in the short-term, and the ways in which we will champion, develop and invest in these sectors. It provides details of the programmes the Arts Council will run from 2011-15 including the Future Libraries programme, Renaissance in the Regions, the standards and cultural property functions that will transfer and the projects that the MLA had put in place in celebration of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Working together for change
In the long-term, we expect that Arts Council England will not have separate strategies for museums, libraries and the arts. We will use the same framework to drive all of our programmes and inform all of our funding decisions. We will evaluate our success using common goals for museums, libraries and the arts, and will establish a robust evidence base that can inform our policy-making and demonstrate public value in what we fund.
In the short-term, however, we believe that we must first reflect on the diversity of our extended remit to understand fully the specific challenges and opportunities facing museums and libraries.
We welcome your responses to this document, which we hope represents a shared starting point for our future work together. You can get in touch by
emailing: museums.libraries@artcouncil.org.uk.
A review of research and literature on museums and libraries
This review is a supporting document to Culture, knowledge and understanding: great museums and libraries for everyone. As with that document, this review is a starting point for further exploration, capturing our initial understanding of the research and literature for museums and libraries, ahead of October 2011 when we assumed these responsibilities.
Browse A review of research and literature on museums and libraries.
