Reading & Libraries
Children's Author Event: We Are All Inventors with Kate Pankhurst - Mansfield Library
Unleash your imagination and learn all about inventing!
Published 8th December 2025
Inspire: Culture, Learning and Libraries, who deliver libraries on behalf of Nottinghamshire County Council, is one of 20 library services in England to join the new Libraries Development Framework, having been judged to have ‘strongly met’ the requirements.
The Libraries Development Framework sets standards which services need to evidence and supports library services in meeting the needs of their communities and fosters national consistency. Being accepted on to the framework demonstrates and evidences a library service’s commitment to ongoing development, innovation, and best practice.
As part of the application, Inspire needed to provide information and evidence for how Nottinghamshire Libraries meet community and local needs (people); local priorities and local impact (place); their vision, leadership and use of resources (purpose) and their library values and workforce development (policy and practice).
Inspire Libraries has many creative strands of delivery that engage with specific community groups. Through its activity delivered as an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, Inspire has developed an exciting cultural programme to introduce early years children to new experiences, support their learning and language skills and to create memorable and fun experiences in the library. The programme has three strands including Little Creatives focussing on visual arts, Adventures in Music, and Story Explorers.
The library service has prioritised health through its wellbeing activities, developing accessible community events such as Songs & Scones concerts and Dementia Friendly film screenings.
Inspire’s partnership with ABL Health effectively demonstrates how joint working enables libraries to meet local health priorities. Together, they promote and provide wellbeing initiatives across Nottinghamshire. Health Hubs have been set up in three libraries to provide health and wellbeing information and workshops. ABL also supports cultural health projects in libraries such as the Twiddlers project, where participants created sensory hand warmers for people with Dementia. Hundreds of Twiddlers were made and distributed by Dementia Action for Nottingham & Nottinghamshire to care settings, hospitals & memory cafes. The partnership between Inspire and ABL has also delivered the Big Draw: Back to Life initiative, a dance & drawing project around moving for positive mental health.
Workforce development is a priority for Inspire. The library service offers apprenticeships in Library and Information, Leadership and Management, and Communications and Marketing. Its annual staff conference is mapped against strategic needs and is an opportunity for staff to hear from external speakers and to take part in interactive workshops run by colleagues. There is also a leadership development programme for library managers.
“We are delighted and proud to have been one of the first library services to go through the accreditation framework and to be assessed as strongly met. This gives us a five-star rating, and evidences our ambition to provide a modern, relevant and customer focused library service that is routed in communities across Nottinghamshire. This is very much down to our great library teams and their drive and passion for culture and learning, our volunteers, board members and the ongoing support of the County Council.”
"Congratulations to the first library services joining the Libraries Development Framework. This milestone reflects the sector's commitment to innovation and continuous improvement, ensuring libraries meet the changing needs of their communities. The Framework provides a clear, nationally recognised definition of a high-quality library service, and it’s fantastic to see these libraries leading the way."
The library service will be on the framework for five years. For further information please see Libraries in the Framework | Arts Council England
