Half a million fewer people visit libraries

Library closures have meant that half a million fewer people visited them last year, figures show.

Around 500,000 fewer people every month visited libraries last year, with 105 branches closing in the 12 months to March.

The study from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (Cipfa) found that the number of branches fell from 3,850 to 3,745.

Visits fell from 250 million to 243 million while total expenditure fell for the seventh year in a row, from £919million in 2015-16 to £853million in 2016-17.

Cipfa blamed the closures on councils which cut spending on public libraries.