Culture sector’s key role in lifelong learning Thursday, September 2, 2010 - 15:59

Museums, libraries and archives play a crucial part in opening up learning opportunities for adults, but there are still many more ways that they can continue to contribute to healthier and happier communities. The two papers published by NIACE and the MLA, outline their contribution and examine ways of enhancing it.

How museums, libraries and archives contribute to lifelong learning - a supplementary paper to the independent Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong Learning - outlines how museums, libraries and archives have widened participation in recent years and how they have brought people together and bridged gaps between generations.

The publication, however, recognises that more can be done to get even more people learning in local communities and examines key recommendations of the Inquiry's final report - Learning Through Life - like opening up existing spaces and resources in new ways and working closer together with other partners.

The second publication - Co-locating colleges and public libraries - was commissioned by the MLA to expand on the concept of public libraries working together with FE colleges. By examining four existing partnerships, the publication identifies that co-location allows for local learning strategies to broaden their remit. The publication also calls for the recognition that cultural institutions, as well as voluntary organizations, are often best suited to reach specific groups for whom the barriers to learning are the highest.

Natasha Innocent, MLA Senior Policy Adviser, Learning & Skills, said:

"The MLA and NIACE are committed to supporting lifelong learning. Working together on two key papers they have voiced the need for more local learning opportunities to support an ageing demographic and collaborative learning models, such as joint colleges and public libraries that can help to make the most of all available resources and support formal, informal and self-organised learning opportunities."

"The MLA and NIACE welcome the contribution these papers bring to Learning through Life - the report of the Independent Inquiry into the Future of Lifelong Learning - and hope these publications will continue to support the development of new partnerships to provide greater learning opportunities for more people."

Alan Tuckett, Chief Executive of NIACE, said:

"The importance of a culture sector to lifelong learning can't be underestimated and in the last years, prompted by dynamic support from the MLA, we've seen a flowering of informal learning opportunities for adults in museums, libraries and even archives."

"These papers which were produced as part of the work of the independent Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong Learning, which NIACE sponsored, set a broad but achievable agenda which will be more challenging to achieve with the closure of the MLA. Nevertheless, building on the success of the Learning Revolution, NIACE will work hard to keep active connections between museums, libraries and archives and the more formally organised adult education sector."