A new tool for cooperation between Åboland libraries

After a decade of successful cooperation, called ‘Blanka’, libraries in Åboland - or Tu- runmaa in Finnish, a sub-region of South- west Finland - wanted to document and analyze ten years of development and give in-depth thought to their continued coope- ration. Designing an operational strategy felt like the right way to take advantage of experience and to formulate together a joint operating idea with long-term and well-pondered goals.

What is Blanka?

Blanka is a library network, which has
been established by eight municipalities
in Finland’s southwest archipelago,
Åboland, to allow the municipalities to
raise their service level together. Blanka
is also the name of the joint database,
which they are constructing and developing.
The database provides a considerably
larger and more diverse selection
of material and quicker borrowing
services to residents in the region than
what the individual municipal libraries
can offer. The municipalities are bilingual,
with Swedish as the language of
the majority. In total, the Blanka network
consists of 12 libraries, including
their branches, and an institutional
library, a book boat, eight borrowing
locations and book-return locations in
schools, service centres, health centres
and on ferries.

Cooperation began back in 1994. The
first shared goal was to find a library
system, which would meet the needs of
the archipelago. It was especially important
that it be completely bilingual,
and, naturally, computer-based. We
worked intensively for several years
drafting standard manuals, rules for
standardization and cataloguing and
registering the masses of material. We
also cooperated to obtain hardware
and software for the libraries. Since
then, the Blanka network has developed
considerably and the cooperation
between libraries has solidified.
Previously, the libraries were connected
via modems to the collective database
in Pargas (Parainen), the largest municipality
and the only town in the region,
and the database was updated
once a week. The Blanka libraries have
recently combined their patron registers
and catalogues to one collective
database – an online system which
enables everyone to work in real time
and which will soon enable patrons to
renew and reserve material via the Internet.

Cooperation with many dimensions

Cooperation within Blanka is constantly
developing. New ideas are always
being tested and incorporated into the
work when they are found to fulfil a
need. Every year, there is a Blanka seminar
centred on a specific theme and
different types of supplemental education
are regularly arranged for all of
the staff. Classes are often arranged during
the day and free get-togethers in
the evening. The free get-together has
always been an important part of the
Blanka work!

At the very first seminar in 1995, the
idea of specializing in acquisitions came
up: Each library should have one or
more areas of responsibility, which
they monitor very closely and, as resources
permit, prioritise in acquisitions.
Naturally, this means savings in
material costs, but the primary and
original idea is that residents of Åboland
will get the material they are
looking for through their own local
library. The material that is not on the
shelves of the local library is primarily
provided via interlibrary loan from
another Blanka library.

In 2004, Blanka introduced a joint logistics
project, which has been very
successful. Once every week, a private
entrepreneur drives around with the
interlibrary loans that the Blanka libraries
have ordered from one another.
The libraries would like to see the
cooperation in logistics expanded to
include other libraries located along
the route. In a purely geographical
sense, the Blanka area is special – we
are talking about an archipelago where
many of the libraries or borrowing
locations are only accessible by car ferries
and boats and where there are
often great distances between libraries.
The result is that it becomes like a puzzle
to organize logistics and the Blanka
libraries have been very successful in
this.

Five of the Blanka libraries are ‘oneman’
libraries and for them, in particular,
the networking has more dimensions
than what might initially come to
mind. Cooperation means, of course,
that one can more effectively take advantage
of the meagre personnel resources
and divide the work, for example,
into registration, media selection
and specialization. Resources can
be saved at the same time, as the media
collection is used more effectively.

Apart from this ‘measurable’ value of
cooperation, there is another aspect –
access to colleagues! All meetings,
courses and gatherings are met with
appreciation, enthusiasm and warmth
– this provides an opportunity to meet
and discuss new ideas and goals. Practical
problems get solved and colleagues
receive support – and criticism
– from one another. The Blanka network
is much more than net-based
services.

Joint operating strategy

In 2004, the Blanka libraries decided to
draft a library strategy to allow them to
better meet the challenges created by
the information society. Cooperation
between the libraries is, as such, nothing
new, but we wanted to have a
tool to be able to analyze, utilize and
develop the existing library resources
and prepare for future needs. The bases
of the strategy are the Finnish Library
Act, the Ministry of Education’s Library
Strategy 2010 and Library Policy 2001-2004.

The work itself began in autumn of
2004 with a meeting for planning the
work process, in which Blanka’s steering
group and project worker Mikaela
Johansson participated. Initially, focus
was centred on formulating a common
operating idea and on which goals
should be set. After the first part was
carried out, the individual libraries had
the task of making up their own local
library strategies with the shared strategy
as a basis. In the local strategies,
the libraries have had the possibility to
go into further detail concerning the
local needs and goals to set up for the
individual library. During the process
of working out a strategy, everyone
took part in and read through the
other libraries’ strategies, statistics and,
of course, the reports and strategies set
forth by the Ministry of Education.
Through email contact and telephone,
as well as regular meetings, a common
operating idea and common goals were
finally agreed upon. The whole strategy
was approved and in its final form in
November 2005.

The operating idea for the Blanka
libraries is as follows:
“With its base in the archipelago, its
openness to the world and accumulated
competence, Blanka wants to
support development in the region and
work for an attractive and viable Åboland.
Through cooperation, we want to
promote the development of the individual
Blanka libraries and create a
Blanka, which is perceived as a collective
library institution, with the collections
in active use. Within Blanka, the
user is the focal point. With kind treatment,
flexible service and a diverse
selection, Blanka wants to provide service
to everyone.”

In order to be able to realize the operating
idea, six main goals have been
set, with underlying sub-goals:

• The first goal is for “Blanka to be a
well-known concept in Åboland.” We
want to accomplish this primarily
through marketing of the service we
offer and through being an active
participant within the local culture.
• Goal number two is “a standard
service policy and appropriate ser-
vice.” During the work on the stra-
tegy, the importance of being able to
provide the same good service to all
groups in the region, regardless of
their place of domicile, was repeated-
ly pointed out in discussions. The
libraries in Blanka also want to be
seen as one institution, and we are
working hard to achieve this. This is
visible, for example, in the fact that a
collective borrower register has
recently been introduced, that logis-
tics are being developed so that a
library patron can return material,
regardless of which Blanka library he
or she borrowed it from, and that
book-return locations are being or-
ganized between the libraries.

• Goal three is “the continuous de-
velopment of electronic services.”
Everyone is aware that the informa-
tion society is developing at a diz-
zying rate and the Blanka libraries
want to, and must, keep up with the
development in this area. The Inter-
net library Blanka now includes all
but one of the libraries in the group
while at the same time, the website
and library program Abilita Bibli-
otek/Gemini are continuously being
developed. We also have the goal of
participating in the national elec-
tronic reference service.

• The fourth primary goal is “close
contact with other local, regional and
national organizations and institutions.”
For the Blanka libraries, co-
operation with the schools has
always been the highest priority and
will continue to be so. We also want to
be active and cooperate with other
bodies within the region, but also to
be visible in the library world on a
provincial and national level.

• Goal number five is “simple and effective
administration.”Since the
steering group for Blanka has a representative
from each library (+ network
coordinator), and the chairmanship
rotates every year among the libraries,
one could say that democracy rules within the community.
During the work on the strategy,
several work groups were added
to clarify special issues that affect
continued cooperation, and other
Blanka employees, who are not in the
steering group, participate in these
groups. There is no doubt that including
the entire staff in cooperation
is positive for the team spirit
within Blanka.

• The sixth and final primary goal is
“staff that is responsible for fulfilling
Blanka’s shared operating idea and
goals.” An individual person cannot
and does not know everything and
for this reason it is important to
engage the full strength of the staff,
to use and develop the special knowledge
the staff possesses to benefit
everyone in Blanka. The plans also include
a exchange of personnel between
libraries, with the possibility
to see what it is like to work at
another library in the group – all to
strengthen the community and un
derstanding for one another.

When the work on the strategy was
finished, a seminar was organized for
everyone in Blanka and everyone was
able to make suggestions about the
formulation and content. After the
seminar,the Blanka participants and
some invited guests gathered for a celebration
with dinner: A nice conclusion
to a long and time-consuming work
process! The work on the strategy
continues, since not all of the goals
have been reached yet and new goals
are always being added.

The entire operating strategy for the
Blanka libraries in Åboland can be
found at www.blanka.fi

Mikaela Johansson

mikaelajohansson13@hotmail.com

Translation: Turun Täyskäännös