Fulfilling their Potential

We want to hear from young people. We want to hear about what they think of their local libraries. We want to hear about what they want to find in their local libraries. And most of all we want to hear from young people who don’t often get asked these sorts of questions, and open up the fabulous world of books, reading and libraries to them.

It’s a tough challenge to pull off but with the committed support of our partners we are getting there. Over the last two years hundreds of young people have told us what they think of their local libraries and how they can be improved.

Fulfilling the Potential is part of the government’s national strategy Framework for the Future, which sets out their vision for modern public libraries.

If you are running a project for young people in your library then please tell us about it by filling out the online project form in Resources.

Involving young people

We have been actively involving young people in our projects. Seven hundred young people gave us their opinions on the project that has successfully opened as HeadSpace. Another group, Nlarge, was commissioned to take photographs, Libraries through the Lens, that are now available to libraries throughout the country.

We have run several Fulfilling their Potential projects.

FtP NoW
FtP Yorkshire and Humberside
Partners for Change

We are also developing a new website for young people as part of our Fulfilling their Potential work.

We are very excited about all of our Fulfilling their Potential projects.

Tools for libraries

We have produced several tools which can be downloaded from Resources.

The Improvement Framework allows libraries to assess their current level of services for young people and set priorities for improving things.

There are also learning packages, ideas and case studies on ways to involve young people on our TRF website. Look out for a module called Involving and consulting young people in Reader Development Skills 1 and the Fulfilling their Potential link on the front page.

National policy

Fulfilling their Potential has been developed within Framework for the Future, the government's vision for a modernised public library service. If you are aware of the various national policy agendas that seek to make things better for young people then you’ll also want to know that Fulfilling their Potential is fully aligned with and supports Every Child Matters and Youth Matters.

Together with the Society of Chief Librarians (SCL) and the Association of Senior Children’s and Education Librarians (ASCEL) we responded to the government’s call for comments on Youth Matters. We also consulted with young people in the north west and south east of England on Youth Matters and all of these reports can be downloaded from Resources.

Partnerships

At the heart of Fulfilling their Potential is our partnerships. We work closely with library services across England to try out new and creative approaches to involve young people in libraries. We also have a range of positive partnerships which include the National Youth Agency, Association of Senior Children’s and Education Librarians (ASCEL), Museums Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), Society of Chief Librarians (SCL) and the Regional Youth Work Units in the north west and Yorkshire and Humberside.