Leeds Open Doors
Leeds Library & Information Service, Leeds Museums & Galleries, Leeds Learning Partnership
Listening in Leeds Library
©MLA Yorkshire
The aim of this project has been to create learning / resource packs for literacy and ESOL students to be used during joint sessions in the Central library and the City Art Gallery.
The packs include exercises and information for using the library and the gallery and are mapped to the adult literacy and the ESOL core curricula.
Two tutors were employed to compile the packs with the help of staff in the Central library and the Gallery. Through the project a number of staff in libraries and galleries have also undertaken the City and Guilds 9295 training.
The packs have been piloted with 12 Skills for Life groups who have attended half day sessions in the library and gallery and provided useful feedback on the resources. After these consultations, some amendments have been made and the completed packs will be launched during Adult Learners week.
Some of the groups who attended the consultations have arranged regular library visits and two new readers groups are planned. The packs will form a useful permanent resource for Skills for Life and ESOL learners and for staff within the libraries and museums/galleries to use as a promotional and learning resource for visiting groups and individuals.
Comment by an ESOL learner involved in the pilot:
“I hope to see once again these places and other galleries in Leeds as well”.
Comment by a literacy learner involved in the pilot:
“I didn’t know you could get all of these things in here – I thought it was just about books”.
Comments by tutors involved in the pilot:
“It’s made the students more motivated – it’s not just about sitting in class. It’s given them the feeling they’re allowed to go out and experience this culture”.
“I’m going back to college to talk to my colleagues about how we can do more of this”.
Leeds Open Doors was the case study project in a recent GEM research report into the role of museums and libraries in literacy and ESOL learning, written by Justine Reilly. Click here to download a copy Leeds Open Doors project - GEM research evaluation report [298.1kb]
Next case study: Museum Pathways