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 that councils are spending on public libraries in England fell by almost half in real terms between 2009-10 and 2022-23.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport 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 are 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 that public libraries could tackle these challenges and encourage more engagement from the public, including:
raising awareness of the range of services that 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 that 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.
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