Future of public libraries

Harriet Samuel; John Woodhouse; Yago Zayed

Legislation and statutory guidance

England and Wales

The main legislation governing public libraries in England and Wales is the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964.

Under section 7(1) of the 1964 act, each local authority must “provide a comprehensive and efficient library service”. In fulfilling this duty, local authorities must consider the desirability of:

…securing, by the keeping of adequate stocks, by arrangements with other library authorities, and by any other appropriate means, that facilities are available for the borrowing of, or reference to, books and other printed matter, and pictures, gramophone records, films and other materials, sufficient in number, range and quality to meet the general requirements and any special requirements both of adults and children; and
…encouraging both adults and children to make full use of the library service, and of providing advice as to its use and of making available such bibliographical and other information as may be required by persons using it; and
…securing, in relation to any matter concerning the functions both of the library authority as such and any other authority whose functions are exercisable within the library area, that there is full co-operation between the persons engaged in carrying out those functions.

“Comprehensive and efficient” are not defined. It is the responsibility of each local authority to determine how to deliver public library services in the context of local need.

Section 1 (1) of the 1964 act imposes a duty on the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to:

superintend, and promote the improvement of, the public library service provided by local authorities in England and Wales, and to secure the proper discharge by local authorities of the functions in relation to libraries conferred on them as library authorities by or under this act.

Ordering local inquiries

Under section 10 (1) of the act, the secretary of state can order a local inquiry where he receives complaints that a library authority is not fulfilling its duties under the act. Interventions by the secretary of state will be considered on a case-by-case basis. In determining whether to order an inquiry, the secretary of state considers factors such as:

if there is any serious doubt or uncertainty that the council is (or may cease to be) complying with its legal obligation to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service
if the council appears to be acting in a careless or unreasonable way
if the decision is (or may be outside) the proper bounds of the council’s discretion, such as a capricious decision to stop serving a particularly vulnerable group in the local community
if the council appears to have failed to consult affected individuals or to carry out significant research into the effects of its proposals
if the council has failed to explain, analyse or properly justify its proposals
if the local proposals are likely to lead to a breach of national library policy
the advantages of decision making by expert and democratically accountable local representatives
if there is any other good reason why a local inquiry should be ordered

The power to order a local inquiry has been used once, in April 2009, when the secretary of state ordered an inquiry into the library services provided by Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. The inquiry’s report (PDF) was published in September 2009, which found that Wirral Council’s decision to close 11 of the area’s 24 public libraries was in breach of its statutory duty to provide a “comprehensive and efficient” service. A number of recommendations were made in the report, including that Wirral Council produce a strategic development plan for its library service within six months of the report’s publication. The council subsequently revoked its decision to close the 11 branches.

Annual report

Section 17 of the 1964 act requires the secretary of state to publish an annual report on the exercise of her functions under the act. The most recent report was published in September 2024.

Guidance

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has published guidance (updated 21 February 2025) on libraries as a statutory service.

Scotland

In Scotland, local authorities have a statutory duty, under section 163(2) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to “secure the provision of adequate library facilities for all persons resident in their area”. For further information see:

Northern Ireland

The public library service is administered by the Northern Ireland Library Authority, known as Libraries NI. The functions of Libraries NI are set out in the Libraries Act (Northern Ireland) 2008. For further information, see the Northern Ireland Executive website.

Funding

Arts Council England

Arts Council England invests government and National Lottery money to support the arts and culture in England. It is the development agency for libraries. The library section of the council’s website explains its role:

As agreed with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the Arts Council’s role is to develop and advocate for libraries. Although we don’t have any statutory responsibilities for libraries, we use our experience to support and encourage their development.

England’s public libraries are at the heart of our communities where people of all ages can create, learn, relax, build friendships, and escape to new worlds. The library network is accessible to all, through its buildings, community engagement, and digital technologies, driven by its highly skilled and knowledgeable workforce of staff and volunteers. Our libraries are constantly innovating and diversifying, enabling them to meet local, regional, and national priorities through engaging with communities and contributing to the wider goals of national and local government.

Our national role means that we are well-placed to stimulate debate and offer support to the development of public libraries through funding, advocacy, and collaboration. Our libraries team are champions in the sector at all levels across all areas in England.

A range of information on the council’s role is available from its website.

The council also funds Libraries Connected – the membership body for public library services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Recent government funding announcements

In February 2025, as part of the Arts Everywhere package, the government announced a fourth round of the Libraries Improvement Fund (LIF) for 2025/26. The package offers a total fund of £5.5 million, from which libraries run by local authorities in England can apply for funding of between £50,000 and £500,000. The funding can be used for a range of projects “to upgrade buildings and technology so they are better placed to respond to the changing ways people are using them”. As with previous rounds, the funding will be distributed by Arts Council England.

Independent review of English public libraries

In September 2022, the government commissioned an independent review into public libraries in England to inform future work on a government public libraries strategy.

The report, published in July 2023, noted the following themes of challenges facing public libraries which emerged from the review:

A lack of recognition across government, locally and nationally, of the work that libraries do. This is not a new problem. As far back as 2003, the then DCMS Libraries Strategy called for ‘greater recognition … of the role of the public library service as a delivery agent across a range of local government services and objectives.’ William Sieghart made the same observation, saying ‘not enough decision makers at national or local level appear sufficiently aware of the remarkable and vital value that a good library service can offer modern communities of every size and character.’ In 2016, the Ambition report still deemed it necessary to urge decision-makers to ‘think libraries first’.
A lack of awareness among the general public of what the modern-day library offers, not helped by the persistent but outdated perception of libraries as somewhat strait-laced institutions where you will be told to ‘shush’ and there won’t be anything of interest to you.
A lack of comprehensive data on our libraries. We do not have an accurate national picture of how libraries are performing across the country. Nor are libraries able to prove, to an acceptable standard, just how much they contribute to key agendas from literacy to skills to health and wellbeing.
A better sense as to what the government wants to see from our libraries.

The report’s recommendations

The report detailed eight recommendations:

“A national data hub to better evidence the role libraries play in our society”, including:
- “The creation of a comprehensive data dashboard, at a national level, to evidence the impact of libraries on their communities” and;
- “DCMS to work with the Evaluation Taskforce to ensure libraries are included in the government’s wider work to provide better evaluation support.”
“Undertake a scoping exercise for a consistent national branding campaign to raise awareness of our libraries”.
“The closer involvement of the British Library”.
“An expanded library membership” – the report suggests this could be attained through providing all children with library membership, and introducing a universal library card or membership scheme.
“Strengthening the volunteer network”.
“The creation of a Libraries Minister and a more joined-up approach within government”.
“The establishment of a Libraries Laureate”.
“A change to the timing of Libraries Week to better involve politicians nationally and locally”.

Government response to the report

In January 2024, the government responded to the report, stating a commitment to implement a number of recommendations put forward by the review, including numbers 1 (a national data hub to better evidence the role libraries play in our society), 2 (undertake a scoping exercise for a consistent national branding campaign to raise awareness of our libraries), 3 (the closer involvement of the British Library), 4 (an expanded library membership), and 6 (the creation of a Libraries Minister and a more joined-up approach within government).

Formation of a government strategy

On 10 February 2025, when asked if it intended to publish a strategy for English public libraries, the government said:

The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism, Sir Chris Bryant MP, who has the policy remit for public libraries in England, has engaged with library sector organisations and leaders. They discussed the challenges in the sector and reflected on priority policy areas. He is considering their views and DCMS continues to promote the role of libraries across a range of government priorities.

Parliamentary material

All Hansard material on the topic of public libraries

Recent parliamentary questions on the topic of public libraries

Public libraries statistics

Library Funding

Public libraries are funded by local authorities. LG inform published data on total local authority net current expenditure in England on LibraryServices (Line 150) in a dashboard.

Local authority net current expenditure covers total spending financed through central government grants, council tax, business rates, and so on, less additional income from sales, fees, charges, and other sources.

The dashboard can be changed to show spending up to the last 15 financial years with the latest data being for 2023/24 and to search for funding in each local authority where data is available. The data is given in cash terms only.

The chart below shows cash and real price net current expenditure on library services in England over the past 10 financial years with the latest data being for 2023/24.

Graph showing the cash and real price net current expenditure on library services in England over the past 10 financial years with the latest data being for 2023/24

Sources:

In 2023/24, net current expenditure on library services was £694.2 million which was a 30% decrease in real terms for the figure in 2014/15 (£990million).

Library usage statistics

DCMS’s 2023/24 participation survey provides data on library usage. In 2023/24, (30%) of adults engaged with libraries at least once in the last 12 months, a 4 percentage point increase from 2022/23 (26%).

Further information on library usage in terms of activities and the demographics of library users is available in the libraries section (section 3) of the participation survey above.

Further data on library usage can also be found in Libraries Connected facts and figures page including further data on funding and closures.

Another source of data on public library usage is the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). CIPFA send out a survey form to public libraries to complete and their latest figures for 2023/24 were published in February 2025. They reported a response rate to the survey for the 2022/23 financial year of 48%.

Among the key findings:

Physical visits increased by 13.5%, from 2,114 per 1,000 people in 2022/23 to 2,400 per 1,000 people in 2023/24.
Web visits rose by 36.9%, from 1,760.1 per 1,000 people in 2022/23 to 2,410.5 per 1,000 people in 2023/24.

The Commons Library’s Public Libraries briefing paper provides data from CIPFA from 2004/05 to 2019/20 as well as highlighting the limitations of the CIPFA data.

Library closures and service reduction

BBC analysis in September 2024, looked at the net loss of public libraries from 2016 to 2023 reporting that a 125 libraries have physically closed in England since 2016, while a further 100 have been handed over to various types of community organisation. In the same period around 75 new libraries, or existing (but largely small) libraries were adopted as part of the council’s statutory provision since 2016. This led to a calculation of a net loss in this period of a 150 libraries.

The BBC through Freedom of Information requests also found 950 or a third of libraries have reduced their service hours since 2016.

The BBC produced a accompanying spreadsheet looking at net library losses by local authority (LA) and the number of libraries in each LA that have reduced their service hours.

CIPFA in its latest data also reported that while volunteer numbers grew by 7%, the number of paid library employees declined by nearly 1.7%, falling from 213 per million people in 2022/23 to 210 per million people in 2023/24.