In praise of partnership

To the Royal Society of Arts earlier this week for a reception to celebrate the partnership agreement between the UK's public library services and the BBC - a real success story of joint working between two great national institutions with common values and complementary resources.

And the reception had an added bonus for me - with two great job titles and the return of an old friend. We were hosted by George Entwistle who rejoices in the job title of Controller of Knowledge for the BBC; and we were joined by Mick Elliott, recently arrived as Director of Culture at DCMS. Controller of Knowledge! Director of Culture! Tony Durcan, this year's President of the Society of Chief Librarians, remarked that he wasn't "controller" of anything - a throwaway remark but actually spot on. As library and information professionals we don't seek to "control" knowledge or "direct" culture - we empower lives by facilitating access to knowledge and enrich lives by animating cultural opportunities. But we wouldn't dream of calling ourselves anything as pretentious as Knowledge Facilitators or Cultural Animators. Would we?

Oh yes, and the return of an old friend. Twenty years ago when I was a Chief Officer with Solihull MBC I helped to develop a vigorous community arts programme across the Borough - with lots of assistance from West Midlands Arts. I built up an excellent working relationship with the WMA Chief Executive - the same Mick Elliot who turned up at the RSA event this week! After heading up WMA, Mick did a similar job with the Heart of England Tourist Board and in recent years he's been CEO with the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. So he knows his way around the cultural scene, he knows how to get things done, he's worked out there in the regions, and he's not a career civil servant. Mick will make a positive difference at DCMS - and I'm looking forward to working with him once again.