July 2025 network meet-up: Digital inclusion libraries - Digital skills for staff

In July, we brought digital inclusion staff from libraries within our network together to talk about digital skills for staff.

We kicked off with a fantastic talk from Russell Workman of Digital Communities Wales about the Welsh Libraries Digital Skills Audit.  Having shared many great tips and insights from this work, Russell delved deeper into the topic, answering questions from the audience about specific aspects of the audit and how it was managed.

We then moved into break out rooms to talk more about participants’ experiences of digital skills approaches, challenges and solutions.  We gained a wealth of insights!

Here’s what we heard:

Approaches within libraries to staff digital skills development

• Varied Training Approaches: Staff training varies, with some services requiring specific modules like Learn My Way. Data Protection and Cyber Security training are consistent and annual.
• Digital Champions (DCs): Some libraries use DCs selected by supervisors, who collaborate and share best practices.
• Online Learning Platforms: Many use online platforms and resources for staff and DCs, including council-provided, library-specific, Good Things' resources, and Learn My Way.
• Wider Frameworks: Kent CC's DC network is part of a broader council framework.
• Flexible Learning: Approaches include one-off 'learning hours', 'Learning in Work week', online learning on demand, and staff self-identifying needs.
• Weekly Questions: Sending 'Weekly Questions' to a Digital team via newsletter.
• Community Libraries: Focus on upskilling volunteers, sometimes with digital buddies.
• Shadowing Sessions: Staff shadow sessions to observe technology use.
• Limited Existing Development: One group noted a lack of existing staff skill development.

Barriers/challenges to staff skills development

• Knowing Staff Knowledge Gaps: Difficulty identifying staff's existing knowledge and what they need to learn.
• Time Constraints: A major issue due to high footfall and the volume of public assistance required. Capacity is the biggest challenge, making it hard to release staff for training.
• Confidence Levels: Staff struggle to assess their confidence in supporting digital tasks and fear unknown situations.
• Cuts to Library Services: Budget cuts can negatively impact staff motivation.
• Resistance to Digital Inclusion as Core: Digital inclusion is not always seen as a core library service, with responsibility often limited to a small team.
• Breadth of Digital: The vastness of digital makes it hard to determine essential training, leading to concerns about underutilised expensive equipment.
• Speed of Technological Change: Rapid tech changes hinder the development of effective policies and training programs.
• Lack of Time (Individual): Staff lack time for individual learning of new 'hard' skills like AI.
• Difficulty Gathering Teams: Almost impossible to gather a full team for a single training session.
• Extensive Part-Time Staff: Exacerbates time and gathering challenges.
• Traditional Library Staff Profile: May lack existing digital interest or skillset.
• Staff Reluctance: Some staff prefer to defer to more digitally skilled colleagues.
• Limited Engagement with E-learning: Effectiveness is limited if staff lack time or simply click through.

How libraries are overcoming these challenges

• Resources and Events: Utilise various resources and hold learning/collaborative events, ensuring all libraries are included, especially in dispersed geographical areas.
• Building Confidence in Resources: Create team confidence in available resources for ongoing skill development and immediate answers.
• Newham's Application Spreadsheet: Newham libraries developed a spreadsheet of specific applications/processes for assisted digital support, boosting staff confidence and promoting self-serving skills.
• Online Resources: Use online resources like training videos and SharePoint for resources and signposting.
• Hiring with Digital Interest: Consider candidates with at least an interest in Digital Skills for new staff.
• Volunteers/Third-Party Delivery: Utilise volunteers or third parties for in-house training.
• Flexible Online Training: Offer flexible online training options for staff.
• Mandatory Training Inclusion: Include digital training in mandatory training matrices to raise its profile.
• Regular, Repeated Training: Implement regular, repeated training to keep skills fresh.
• Effort to Gain Staff Buy-in: Acknowledge the need for effort to gain staff buy-in due to capacity and time pushback.
• Higher Priority for Digital Skills: Generally agree that digital skills for staff need higher priority.