Securing contributions for your libraries and archives

The Museums, Libraries and Archives (MLA) Council MLA is the strategic body working with and for the museums, libraries and archives sector, tapping into the potential for collaboration between them.  Leading strategically, the MLA promotes best practice in museums, libraries and archives, to inspire innovative, integrated and sustainable services for all.

Museums, libraries and archives make a major contribution to communities. They foster learning and skills, support community cohesion and local identity and play a role in strengthening local economies. By helping to create a “sense of place” they make a difference to the quality of people’s live and the success of communities.

Public Libraries, Archives and New Development: A standard charge approach and Arts and Museums and New Development: A Standard Charge Approach set out an approach for calculating and securing developer contributions as part of Section 106 agreements and for future application under the forthcoming Community Infrastructure Levy. The financial charge for the developers is based on a national benchmark charge for each person expected in a new housing development. The charges are based upon average cost and space benchmarks for library, archive and museum provision, supported by extensive survey work.

To take into account evidenced regional variations in costs, the libraries and archives standard charges also provide regionally adjusted cost figures.

Both approaches explain that local planning authorities are advised to carry out local and more detailed work to assess and establish local needs. This may lead to different levels of charges being adopted to suit local infrastructure requirements, and is particularly the case for museums where variation in provision between different kinds of local authorities can be significant.

The library and archive standard charges have been extensively piloted in the South East and also adopted by a number of local authorities across England. Progress in Adoption of the Public Libraries Standard Charge describes the progress made in adopting the charge. Local authorities who have already adopted the standard charge include:

• Bracknell Forest
• West Berkshire
• London Borough of Barnet
• Wycombe District.