TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessing the Impacts of Changing Public Service Provision on Geographical Accessibility
T2 - an examination of public library provision in Pembrokeshire, South Wales
AU - Higgs, Gary
AU - Jones, Samuel
AU - Langford, Mitch
AU - Heley, Jesse
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods – a collaborative venture between the Universities of Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff, South Wales and Swansea (ESRC Grant number: ES/L009099/1).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, © The Author(s) 2017.
PY - 2018/5/1
Y1 - 2018/5/1
N2 - Public libraries make an important contribution to the wellbeing of local people often acting as community hubs by reducing the isolation felt by vulnerable members of society through promoting social interaction and supporting the wider needs of local communities. However, access to libraries is threatened in Wales, as elsewhere in the UK, by uncertainty stemming from changes in local government service delivery models, austerity-driven cuts in public spending, changing demands on the service from the public and the potential impacts of new developments in digital services and technologies. Drawing on network-based analysis of changes to library services in a predominantly rural authority in South-West Wales, the aim of this paper is to demonstrate how Geographical Information Systems can be used to monitor the impacts of alternative models of provision currently being considered by library authorities. By examining the spatial impacts of changes in services following a period of re-configuration in this library authority, we point the way to methods that enable levels of provision that meet community needs to be sought during times of budgetary pressures and proposed changes to the delivery of public services.
AB - Public libraries make an important contribution to the wellbeing of local people often acting as community hubs by reducing the isolation felt by vulnerable members of society through promoting social interaction and supporting the wider needs of local communities. However, access to libraries is threatened in Wales, as elsewhere in the UK, by uncertainty stemming from changes in local government service delivery models, austerity-driven cuts in public spending, changing demands on the service from the public and the potential impacts of new developments in digital services and technologies. Drawing on network-based analysis of changes to library services in a predominantly rural authority in South-West Wales, the aim of this paper is to demonstrate how Geographical Information Systems can be used to monitor the impacts of alternative models of provision currently being considered by library authorities. By examining the spatial impacts of changes in services following a period of re-configuration in this library authority, we point the way to methods that enable levels of provision that meet community needs to be sought during times of budgetary pressures and proposed changes to the delivery of public services.
KW - Geographical Information Systems
KW - Public service provision
KW - accessibility models
KW - library service delivery
KW - spatial inequalities
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/2160/45282
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85045398624&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/2399654417715457
DO - 10.1177/2399654417715457
M3 - Article
SN - 0263-774X
VL - 36
SP - 548
EP - 568
JO - Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy
JF - Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy
IS - 3
ER -