Shutterstock / Mdisk©According to the latest data from a recent BBC analysis, public libraries in the UK are in crisis as over 180 have closed or become volunteer-run since 2016.
Freedom of information requests were sent by the BBC to every library authority in the UK and the Arts Council England. Data found that around 950 libraries across the UK had reduced their hours over the past eight years, while 2,000 jobs have been lost due to council funding cuts.
The poorest communities were around four times more likely to lose a library than those better off, mapped to the government’s Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) – a system which ranks areas according to income, living conditions and other poverty measures.
Some councils are even taking libraries off other council board’s hands in order to save them. In April, Newport Town Council took control of the Newport Library in Shropshire from Telford and Wrekin Borough Council, in a deal to save it from spending cuts.
Former children’s laureate Michael Rosen spoke to BBC Breakfast on Tuesday morning. He said that the public libraries crisis in the UK has shocked him: “I feel a mixture of horror and sadness.
“It’s a soft target, isn’t it? If you close libraries, nobody dies – that’s what they think. But what’s happening is it’s society who suffers and people who suffer.”
According to a study by The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), library visits increased by 71% between 2021-22 and 2022-23. However, its chief executive Rob Whiteman said funding still couldn’t keep up with “rising demand for services”.
Many council-run libraries are known to offer more than just books on loan. Some provide ‘stay-and-play sessions’ for children, literacy clubs and access to computers, free Wi-Fi and printer access. They also indirectly operate as warm spaces for people struggling with fuel poverty in the winter.
The loss of public libraries has been devastating for so many communities already, yet the issue continues to spread. Research reports that dozens more closures are expected over the course of next year.
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Hannah McLaren I've worked at DC Thomson for six years! I began as an intern at My Weekly and The Scots Magazine, which was extended by a few months to help out at The People's Friend. I then covered maternity as Celebrity Editor for My Weekly, before I became Multimedia Journalist at The Scots Magazine. Currently I'm writing digital content across each title.
