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At a meeting on 30 January 2001, a paper was presented to the LASER Board giving as one option the winding up of LASER activities from the end of September 2001.
Since the formation of "New Regions" by the Government in 2000, LASER has become something of an anomaly.
It is not co-terminus with Government Regions, and in fact now spans, either completely or partially, three Regions, London, South East and Eastern. It is worth noting that LASER, the largest by far of the ‘Old’ Regional Library Services, is far more affected by current changes. Other Regions are either co-terminus, or have required very little change to become so.
Prior to the present Government defining the “New Regions”, LASER consulted extensively with its members regarding LASER’s future.
A number of options were considered including splitting into three mini Regions, merging with other Regions, etc. However all options were disregarded on the basis of not being financially viable or requiring the consent of other Regions which was unlikely to be forthcoming. Since this consultation and subsequently the creation of new bodies set up under the new government agenda, such as the London Library Development Agency (LLDA) and the East of England Libraries and Information Services Development Agency (ELISA), LASER’s “raison d’ętre” has been eroded.
In the view of the Chairman, the Director and members of the Board, it was felt that the best interests of members and the library community at
large were best served by national resource sharing opportunities, and that the core services of LASER could be offered by other routes, and other organisations.
Consequently, the Board accepted the difficult and far-sighted decision that LASER should be wound up with a view to closure of all activities by end September 2001.
LASER has been a unique organisation, highly successful and ground breaking. LASER has significant resources and these will be used within
the charitable aims and objectives as specified in the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Company.
The Chair of the Board, Professor Bullock, said,
“LASER can be proud of the national reputation it currently enjoys for efficiency of service delivery, advocacy for the Public Library sector, and
engagement in forefront research relevant to the future needs of the sector.
It is rather sad, therefore, that after more than 70 years of service to, and leadership in, the sector, LASER is now to close.
Nevertheless, the Board agreed that, taking into account the current and likely future situation of the Public Library sector, closure would be in the best long-term interests of LASER members.
The Board is confident that the future environment in which the Public Library sector has to operate will provide most of the services currently
offered by LASER.”
The Director of LASER, Frances Hendrix, said,
“It is much better to steer ones own future than see a highly successful organisation wither on the vine over the next few years.
Regionalisation and co-terminosity, along with developments in ICT and cross-sectoral partnerships have significantly changed the LIS landscape.
A number of options were considered by the Board, and this decision was agreed to be the best for all concerned.
LASER has a huge amount to be proud of, and has been instrumental over many years in leading the field in a great number of initiatives.”
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