Our names are Lauren & Laura and we work for the Ask Us Reference and Enquiry Service, part of Gloucestershire Libraries.
We wanted to take this opportunity to tell you about the service we offer, as it may be of interest to you and local residents.
One of our roles within the Library service is to help customers find the information that they require, with a particular focus on assisting those who do not have access to the internet or do not wish to use technology. We can look up a telephone number, postal address or find local community information such as social groups and societies in the enquirers local area, and provide them with the answer via their preferred means either phone, email, letter and we also receive referrals through all of our branch libraries.
We are able to locate online forms and print and post them out which is a very valuable service to our customers, particularly when a lot of information can still only be found online. We are also in contact with Adult Education, Gloucestershire Employment and Skills Hub, Gloucestershire Trading Standards and many others and are able to provide information and signposting regarding these services.
We aim to provide a free, fast, information service, our aim is to respond to an enquiry within three to five working days but frequently we can provide the information a customer needs immediately or same-day. From quick questions to in-depth research, customers can ask any question and we can either answer the enquiry, help them get started with research or refer them to the most relevant agency or person to help with the query.
The Ask Us service is available to anyone who lives works or studies in Gloucestershire or lives in a county adjacent to Gloucestershire.
Our top 10 enquiries include but are not limited to:
1) Consumer advice from Which? Gloucestershire Libraries subscribes to Which? and we can provide consumer information from this
2) Phone Numbers & Addresses for any business/authority in the UK and abroad, we also help provide contact details from BT
3) Local information including groups, societies, education, local business details, information about Volunteering in Gloucestershire
4) Library Services Information including information about library groups and events, Innovation Labs, Opening Times etc.
5) Company reports and targeted mailing lists for your marketing needs via our database Fame ideal for start-up businesses wanting to investigate the local market and spread the word about their business
6) Government Information & Legislation including contact details for MP’s and parliamentary groups, specific Government Acts and policies, forms for Government services
7) Business Information: how to start a business, signposting to Gloucestershire Growth Hub and Start and Grow Enterprise
8) Local and Family History help with tracing a relative, assistance with family tree searches, local history questions
9) Virtual Reference Library including assistance with using the VRL resources
10) The Arts including local and national museums and events, artists
We have attached our leaflet for your information.
If you have any questions or would like to find out more regarding this service, please do not hesitate to get in touch via the contact details below. Please feel free to share this email/our leaflet with any individual or organisation you think would benefit from knowing about us!
We would appreciate if you could kindly display our leaflet if this is at all possible.
If you would like a physical copy of our leaflet just let us know and we would be happy to send you a copy in the post.
Best wishes,
Lauren Higgins
Laura Johns
Ask Us: Business and Reference Information Service Officers
Libraries and Information
Gloucestershire County Council
+ Ask Us, Gloucester Library, Brunswick Road, Gloucester, GL1 1HT
( 01452 426 991
Ask Us Web: www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/libraries/ask
Libraries Web: www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/libraries
Library Catalogue: https://gloucestershire.spydus.co.uk