Outrage at £30m budget cuts and 127 closures in just the last year
CASH for public libraries has been slashed by £30million as 127 branches were shut in the last 12 months, shocking figures reveal.
Campaigners said the findings signalled “a wake-up” call to ministers that treasured services were under threat.
The Daily Express has launched a Save Our Libraries crusade to ensure services stay open for the benefit of future generations.
Meanwhile, JK Rowling has joined more than 31,000 people who have signed a petition calling on the Government to ring-fence funding.
The Harry Potter author said: “We need more signatures to protect government funding for libraries.”
Public finance body Cipfa’s annual survey found the squeeze on council finances has led to spending cuts for the eighth year running.
Funding fell by £30million in 2017May’s ’18, with a loss of 712 full-time staff. A total of 51,394 volunteers are now putting in 1,780,843 hours a year to help to keep services alive.
Shadow libraries minister Kevin Brennan said: “Despite Theresa claim that austerity is over, library funding and staff levels continue to fall and libraries are closing across the country.
“Libraries are at the heart of our communities and are engines of social mobility.”
Nick Poole, of the Chartered Institute of Librarians and Information Professionals, said: “This is a clear wake-up call to Government about the severe impact of budget cuts on our much-loved libraries.
“We are calling on the Government to get behind us and invest in libraries through the spending review as a cost-effective way to make our communities and high streets better places, get children reading, help people develop new skills and find work, improve health and well-being and combat loneliness and isolation.”
Cipfa’s Rob Whiteman described libraries as “the canary in the coal mine” for cuts to services across local government. He said: “There really needs to be some honest conversations about the direction of travel of our councils and what their role is, as the funding gap will continue to exacerbate these issues.” Frances Belbin, who launched the petition to protect Britain’s libraries, is seeking 100,000 signatures to force a debate in Parliament on the crisis.
She said: “Local libraries are a vital resource for the promotion of reading, literature and culture.
“They are a necessity for the digitally excluded who need to go online to access benefits, health, education and employment resources.
“The Government must ring-fence funding to ensure councils can fulfil their statutory duty to keep libraries available to the general public.”
The Ministry of Communities and Local Government said: “The Government is committed to supporting a sustainable long-term future for public libraries.”