Libraries and Communities

Each year, we ask all colleagues to get involved in our Colleague Engagement Survey. We want to know what’s going well, what could be better, and how we can better support you at work. Your responses help shape how each service area moves forward.

With the next survey coming up in September 2025, we’re sharing a short series of conversations with our Senior Leaders. Each one is a chance to hear how they listened to your feedback and what they’ve done since last year’s survey.

Each service area has its own priorities, challenges and successes. These interviews highlight what’s changed, what’s still to come, and how your voice has made a difference.

We spoke to Alana Ward, Head of Libraries and Communities to hear the commitments they have made in 2025.

Alana, what are the Libraries and Communities teams celebrating in 2025? 

The survey told us that our colleagues know what they are expected to do to achieve in their job. We have promised to keep teams well informed, so that we can continue to deliver great service to our customers.

We are also providing regular team briefings to highlight our progress toward achieving our service objectives. They also emphasise the positive impact we have on people’s lives and offer us the opportunity to identify new initiatives or priority areas.

It is important we make senior managers more visible, so they provide strategic insight and promote involvement at all levels.

What did the survey results say could be improved?

Some colleagues told us that they do not feel appreciated for the work that they do so we have committed to developing ways to recognise and share the good work of individuals and teams.

We are hosting quarterly "Area of Focus" sessions and bi-annual Service Development and Operations events to celebrate standout contributions, share best practices, and recognise teams that have provided excellent customer service, met or exceeded their objectives. Additionally, we will hold an annual Libraries and Communities whole-team event to foster service-wide engagement, understanding, and cohesion.

It sounds as though you have been doing a lot since the results came out. What have you decided to start doing?

You told us we need to enable you to put your views and ideas forward, so have been working to create a culture in which opinions are sought, respected and, where possible, acted upon.

We will be holding regular "Meet the Senior Managers" sessions that are open to all service areas and team members. These sessions create opportunities to discuss roles, share feedback, and mean colleagues can offer ideas to improve Libraries and Communities and gives us a forum to update on progress and how the ideas agreed are implemented.