Jerry Hurst Consultancy

Supporting work with readers and learners of all ages, interests and abilities

Consultancy and practical support for Public Library Services, Schools, School Library Services, Education Services, Museums, Galleries, Archives, Youth Services and other agencies.

During 2009, 100% of clients rated training or consultancy as 'excellent' or 'very good'

During 2009, almost 85% of participants rated training as 'excellent' or 'very good'

If you need further information, or would like to discuss your training or consultancy requirements, please e mail jerry@jerryhurst.co.uk or telephone +44(0)20 8364 6166.

'Hands-on' or strategic consultancy work
Jerry is available on an independent consultancy basis to advise on and support strategic planning and to deliver practical reading and learning programmes.

Jerry is a trainer for Participate and for HeadSpace, the national programmes from The Reading Agency to develop engaging library spaces run in partnership between libraries and young volunteers, for The Reading Agency's Chatterbooks children's reading groups programme, for Enjoying Reading, the Reading Agency resource in support of school / public library partnership and for Summer Reading Challenge.

Jerry is also a consultant / trainer for Their Reading Futures, The Reading Agency's library workforce development initiative and he is a Learning Consultant for Young Cultural Creators, the innovative reader and writer development programme funded by Museums, Libraries and Archives London. Jerry has also been a trainer for FPM Training, on the Leading Libraries leadership programme for Public Library managers.

Throughout 2007-2009, Jerry worked with Merseyside Libraries (Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, St. Helens, Sefton, Warrington and Wirral) on the highly effective Merseyside Libraries Making a Difference programme for the North West Improvement Network. Here he created and delivered an extensive package of consultancy and training in support of staff development and strategic planning and evaluation. Jerry is happy to adapt this programme to other Library Services and to Archives, Museums, Galleries, Community Development, Leisure, Arts and Sports.

In the 1990s he was Head of Young People's Library Services in the London Borough of Southwark, where he developed library-based Homework Help Clubs and Reading Groups for children, teenagers and families. Prior to this, Jerry was Head of Young People's Library Services in the London Borough of Waltham Forest.

Jerry has been a key member of senior management teams in the planning of services, the development of a new library (Peckham, in Southwark), the co-ordination and delivery of funding bids and the development of marketing, promotion and customer care strategies.

He has worked as a Youth Librarian and as a Branch Librarian in Hackney and in Enfield, as a storyteller and as an occasional reviewer of children's books for publications including The Guardian. He has also appeared on BBC TV and radio and has been a judge for the Branford Boase Award.

Consultancy options include, for example:

Merseyside Libraries Making a Difference
Throughout 2007 -2009, Jerry has delivered a very effective programme of consultancy and training for Merseyside Libraries (Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, St. Helens, Sefton, Warrington and Wirral). Working closely with the programme steering group and with frontline staff, Jerry created and delivered an extensive package of consultancy and training in support of whole-staff development and strategic planning and evaluation. He provided a practical toolkit and delivered twelve training days designed to engage a critical mass of staff at all levels in:

* reflecting on how we do things: including who does what… planning, delivery and evaluation is not the exclusive domain of managers

* using evidence of success… in every library, locally, across the authority, across the region…

This approach is very flexible and is adaptable to other Library Services and to Archives, Museums, Galleries, Community Development, Leisure, Arts and Sports.

What staff said:
At the end of training sessions, 30% of participants evaluated the training as 'excellent'' and 59% evaluated it as 'very good'.

Before training, only 16% of participants felt they were either 'clear' or 'very clear' about this area of our work. After training, 86% of participants felt they were either 'clear' or 'very clear'. This is a 70% improvement.

Before training, only 10% of participants felt they were either equipped or very equipped to deliver / develop this area of our work. After training, 71% of participants felt they were either equipped or very equipped. This is a 61% improvement.

What the client said (Peter Marchant, Head of Libraries, Knowsley Council, on behalf of the steering group):
'To what extent did the consultancy meet our requirements? Excellent. All the authorities involved were starting from different stages, but as a consultant, Jerry was able to pull together our ideas, develop a coherent project plan to produce the toolkit, then deliver training.

The toolkit that Jerry devised was developed during the course of the training sessions and informed by feedback from delegates, before the final handover at the end of the project. It evolved from the first draft received before Christmas, and was also given a Merseyside identity through the inclusion of photographs and examples provided by the library services taking part. Of particular help is the way that it has been designed to meet the needs of staff at all levels by its “dipping in here?” approach.

As intended, we now have a significant core of staff at all levels who are aware of, and motivated by, the difference that library services make – and who will be able to start capturing the evidence to demonstrate this.

In addition, Jerry has helped us maintain the momentum and strengthen cross-Merseyside links as we embed this work. Lead staff from each authority have developed, under his guidance, an individual action plan for their library service based on what they have learned. These teams will take part in a celebration / ‘snagging’ day in several months’ time, to discuss progress against their action plans, troubleshoot and share experiences.

Jerry has taken us further on a journey of recognising the value of the community engagement work that library services do everyday. The feedback from the library staff across Merseyside involved in the current Learning Outcomes project has been outstandingly good, and recognises Jerry’s ability and talent.

Members of our Training and Development section within Knowsley Council, and staff associated with the wider North West Improvement Network funding body have been impressed with the coherence and professionalism of the programme devised by Jerry, and also at the unanimously high praise deriving from participants’ feedback.

To what extent did the training meet our requirements? Excellent. From earlier work with Knowsley, around the subject of staff interactions with children & young people, I knew from the comments of front-line staff involved that Jerry was a first-rate trainer, delivering exceptional, motivational training.

The training was extremely well received, with very high levels of positive feedback...

The evaluation forms also indicated a real commitment to carry this work forward in the workplace. One actually refers to 'the passion of library staff' – something perhaps not generally recognised, least of all by librarians themselves.

I would be happy to be contacted further on this subject, if required.'
Peter Marchant, Head of Libraries, Knowsley Council.

'To what extent did the consultancy meet our requirements? - 10/10'

'How useful was the consultancy in helping us to achieve our intended service outcomes? - 10/10'

Liz Bowe, Library Operations Manager and Mike Lister, Area Library Manager Carlisle & Eden, Cumbria Libraries.

(Creating a successful library for teenagers: a role for everyone - a package of strategy development, practical implementation and staff training & support).

'Jerry worked well to the brief in creating a quality marketing plan, containing excellent ideas, which we will be implementing. He familiarised himself with the Stoke-on-Trent structure, concerns and priorities very quickly, involved staff at all levels and threw himself into the task with energy and enthusiasm. Jerry quickly gained an excellent working knowledge of City and Library Service priorities, enabling him to produce a quality marketing plan. He became a familiar face at all our libraries and was keen that all staff should contribute to the plan and have ownership of it.'
Anne Mackey, Customer and Support Services Manager, Libraries and Archives, Stoke-on-Trent City Council.