Decline before 2010 44 fewer borrowers 20001 to

Decline before 2010 44% fewer borrowers 2000/1 to 2010/11 Visits drop and 300 less libraries from 340 million 2005/6 to 315 million 2010/11 1999/00 to 2010/11

146 libraries closed 2010/11 201 closed 2011/12 Source: Cipfa 293 under threat out of surviving 4265 in May 2013 Source: PLN

28% cut to overall council budgets over 2011/15 Source: BBC 2010 Another 10% cut expected 2015/16 Source: LGA 2013 The biggest cuts to peace time council budgets in modern history

Local protests Spontaneous Big petitions Demonstrations All ages and political views Impact on elections?

Local protests

National protests Voices for the Library librarian group but otherwise individual librarians silent for fear of being disciplined CILIP speaks out but chief librarians implementing cuts are also senior members of it UNISON trade union fighting cuts everywhere WI limited impact so far Speak Up for libraries umbrella group

“Hollowing out” Shorter opening hours (third less in Hertfordshire, no protests) Less books Less staff Vicious circle of decline “We’re not closing them”

Volunteers “In some areas if people don’t want to safeguard them it will be very difficult, it would perhaps suggest that they don’t want their libraries as much as we thought. ” Nick Harris, Head of Culture, Southend Council, May 2013

Volunteers 170 Volunteer-run libraries by end of 2012 5% now Some kind of volunteer involvement 12% soon Bradford volunteers one year after taking over their library in “near future” All figures from Arts Council England, 2012

Legal 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act says library provision must be “comprehensive and efficient” No clear definition and No court victories using the Act 3 campaign “victories” 2011/2 3 campaign groups win. 1 council stops closures, 2 others change things slightly and go ahead anyway. All others fail. DCMS refuse to intervene in each and every case. Councils learn to be more cautious, sometimes.

Government Two letters written to local authorities to be aware of legal responsibilities No interventions of any kind £ 6 million over two years for Arts projects (cf. total libraries budget of c. £ 1 billion Providing better data so library services can be compared Report by end of 2013 Ed Vaizey Minister with responsibility for libraries Libraries are “thriving”

Big spending on big libraries Liverpool Birmingham £ 50 m £ 188 m Started Summer 2010 Started January 2010 112 other libraries new or refurbished 2011 to 2013 inc. Hive £ 60 m and Canada Water £ 14 m (started 2009) Manchester £ 170 m Started January 2010

Co-locations Sharing the building with other services or providers in order to save costs or to boost the usage of both. Arts, Citizen’s Advice Bureau, community centres, council services “one stop shops” / customer contact centres, dance, day care centre/flats for those with learning difficulties, florist, health, housing office, leisure centres, Mental health services, museums, older people’s housing, parish councils, pharmacy, police, post office, registration of births, marriages and deaths, retail, theatre, unemployment advice/training, volunteering, schools, tourist information, universities.

everywhere? Costs c. £ 6, 000 for each machine Replaces from one half to one paid person per library Extend services or cut staff? Popularity with users is questionable

“Non-Profit” organisations running libraries on behalf of the council, normally with leisure centres too. The private company Laing has succeeded in winning the contracts in four authorities, GLL two, LSSI none.

Merging library services 151 Authorities “Tri-Borough” 3 councils combine £ 1. 2 million saving 36 jobs cut as services merged

Linking with government “National Offers” 1. Health 2. “Books on Prescription” 3. 2. Reading 4. “Summer Reading Challenge” 5. 3. Information

Linking with government “National Offers” 4. Digital: Government Services will all be online including benefits. All libraries have computers, unlike a sixth of UK households. All unemployed need to frequently register online E-Books are having significant impact on usage. National strategy being formed

Conclusion What we are looking at now is the forced evolution of libraries under conditions of great stress Questions? For details of the owners of images please contact Ian Anstice at ianlibrarian@live. co. uk