Alan Howarth MP & Andrew Dinsmore MP
(Photograph courtesy of British Library)

On 6 March 2001, Alan Howarth MP (then Minister for the Arts), visited the British Library Newspaper Library at Colindale. The Minister was updated on progress on the NEWSPLAN 2000 Project.

Speaking at the Newspaper Library at Colindale, Minister for the Arts, Alan Howarth MP, said: "The project is really impressive. I hope that partnership funding can be secured so it can move on to the next stage of ensuring that these historic newspapers are microfilmed and their contents be made accessible to more readers than ever before".

THE NEWSPLAN PROGRAMME

NEWSPLAN is a co-operative programme covering all the regions of the United Kingdom and Ireland to preserve local newspapers by microfilming them to international archival standards.

First established in the South West region of England in 1985, NEWSPLAN has expanded to cover all of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Representatives of the regions, the British Library, and other interested bodies meet together as the NEWSPLAN Panel. The Panel agrees policy and considers issues and opportunities at the national level.

APPLICATION TO HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND

In 1998, the LINC NEWSPLAN Panel, working with the British Library, identified over 3,500 unique and individual newspaper titles that were under threat. A successful application was made to the Heritage Lottery Fund by the LINC NEWSPLAN Panel in April 1998 for funds to support a UK-wide programme to microfilm local newspaper files at risk to archival standards, and to provide microfilm readers to allow access to the text of the newspapers.

The NEWSPLAN 2000 Project was formed to run the microfilming programme, aiming to preserve 1,500 of these titles as a first step toward an eventual complete preservation of all 3,500 titles. The first stage of this programme ran from 2001 to 2005. In September 2001, following a successful Foundation Year, the NEWSPLAN Project was formally approved by the HLF. [ View Press Release ]

HOW THE NEWSPLAN 2000 PROJECT WORKS

NEWSPLAN works on a devolved structure, with seven regional groups in England and single groups in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Within each area, a committee of librarians, archivists, newspaper publishers and users meet regularly to advance the study and preservation of newspaper collections. The chairmen of the groups meet twice a year on a national basis.

The NEWSPLAN 2000 Project reflected this modern approach to dealing with complex issues by working with all the regional groups within a national framework. Each NEWSPLAN committee established a list of the most fragile titles in its area for preservation and allocated microfilm readers and reader-printers to libraries. The regional committees also decided where microfilm was placed within their own area if there was no obvious location for it.

In this way, the NEWSPLAN 2000 Project was based on a devolved structure working from a central office, under the overall direction agreed by a Board of Trustees. By this means, it enabled local influences and pressures to be recognised and dealt with by local, accountable groups

AIMS OF THE NEWSPLAN 2000 PROJECT

The main aims of the NEWSPLAN 2000 Project were:

> To preserve local rare or fragile newspaper titles held in libraries and archives, universities and publishers' offices.

> To create 30,000 archival microfilms to preservation standards.

> To provide one copy of each film to the appropriate local library, without cost.

> To distribute microfilm readers and reader printers for users in libraries throughout the UK, without cost.

> To store the master negative microfilm created by the Project to archival standards.

> To catalogue each newspaper title to national and international standards.

The NEWSPLAN 2000 Project, British Library Newspaper Library, Colindale Avenue, LONDON, NW9 5HE | Tel: 020 7412 7371