Libraries and Information East Midlands - Inspire

Inspire is a national access and referral scheme. It brings together participating libraries from higher education, further education, health, special, public and national library services to raise awareness of resources and enable access for learners.

In August 2010, library services registered with Inspire across the UK involved over 4,000 individual libraries. These include public library services, higher education libraries, further education libraries, health libraries and special libraries.

Each of the participating library services agrees to meet the Inspire kitemark criteria which can be seen below.

The aims and objectives of Inspire are to:

develop an online, cross-regional library collections and access map for use by learners at www.findit.org.uk
build on existing networks of successful access partnerships to create a single national pathway to resources irrespective of geography
ensure that learners can have access to the best learning materials irrespective of their learner status or the location of the materials
provide opportunities and access to learning for socially excluded individuals and groups
provide a guide for learners to libraries with collections and materials relevant to their needs
support and develop the library and information workforce by raising awareness of access agreements and collections in their own and other sectors
set the pace for fulfilling key aspects of the 'Framework for the Future 2013' vision:
- Any member of a public library can also access materials held in Higher Education and Further Education libraries
- Anyone seeking opportunities for learning and training can be guided to a course through a public library

Key partners in the development of Inspire are SCONUL (the Society of College, National and University Libraries), SCL (the Society of Chief Librarians for public library authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland) and the British Library.

The full evaluation report of Inspire is available as a PDF document "Opening Ours" (below)

More information about Inspire can be found at http://inspire-libraries.org.uk/

Inspire in the East Midlands

Inspire in the East Midlands leaflet

Inspire in the East Midlands is an agreement between library and information services across our region. A full list of participating organisations is attached below.

If your library service would like to join Inspire, please contact the for more information or complete the registration form.

A Regional Steering Group supports the delivery of Inspire in the East Midlands. Follow the link to find out more about the Steering Group's work.

To help highlight awareness of the Inspire scheme in the East Midlands, two colouful roll-out banners have been produced for display in libraries and other suitable public venues. Under the heading: "With an Inspire in the East Midlands findit! card you can begin a journey of learning and discovery” are images of some of the richly varied resources to be found in East Midlands libraries.

Inspire banners