Minister of State (): Libraries matter to people.
They provide inspiration, education, entertainment and a safe
haven for many thousands every week. In addition to their core
function of providing books to lend or consult, they provide
digital services, audio recordings, and information that can be
vital to building a local business as well as bringing people
together across communities.
Despite the value and benefit of public libraries for users, the
library sector has faced several long-term challenges and the
context for library engagement and delivery has changed
significantly. Recent challenges include the impact of government
driven austerity leading to cuts to local authority budgets; the
COVID-19 pandemic which drastically affected people's engagement
with and use of libraries; and the increasingly digital world. We
cannot shy away from those challenges; the amount councils are
spending on public libraries in England fell by almost half in
real terms between 2009/10 and 2022/23.
DCMS has a statutory responsibility to superintend and to promote
the improvement of local government's provision of public library
services in England. The Culture Secretary is responsible for
ensuring that library authorities deliver a “comprehensive and
efficient” library service for their communities. DCMS works
closely with sector stakeholders to achieve this, as well as to
advocate for public libraries across government.
As part of that work, the government is publishing
DCMS-commissioned research by Ipsos on barriers to library usage
by the general public. The research explored the barriers to and
enablers of library usage through a number of focus groups and
sets out potential policy interventions that could be deployed by
local or national government to promote library usage. A copy of
the research will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
This research has identified a number of ways public libraries
could tackle these challenges and encourage more engagement from
the public including:
- raising awareness of the range of services public libraries
offer, particularly digital services;
- addressing practical barriers to engagement with public
services such as opening hours and parking facilities;
- clarification of the types of spaces available for all
demographics and;
- harnessing the appeal of public libraries as spaces that
enable and encourage community cohesion.
We are sharing the findings to ensure library services across
England can actively consider how they might act on the results.
DCMS is commissioning further research to test the findings and
insights from phase 1 at scale to inform policy design and
implementation. I will also be meeting with library sector
organisations and leaders to discuss the challenges in the
sector, reflect on priority policy areas and consider how best we
can support the sector.
