UK: Public Library Budgets Fall By £25 Million in One Year

From The Guardian:

A brutal year for the UK’s public libraries has been topped off with the revelation that the sector took a £25m [approx. $31 million/USD] hit to its budgets in the year to March, as calculated in official figures released on Wednesday. The number of public libraries still open reached a 10-year low, while visitor numbers slid by 15 million. Book budgets were also severely hit, taking an 8.4% fall over the period. Critics claimed the cuts endanger the long-term survival of the sector.
The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) released the figures as part of its annual survey of library authorities in the UK.

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More From the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA):

• Number of libraries fell by 1.7% year on year, from 3,917 (2014/15) to 3,850 (2015/16).

• Total visits dropped 5.5%, from 265 million (2014/5) to 250 million (2015/16).

• Total expenditure for Great Britain library services fell by £25m, from £944m (2014/15) to £919m (2015/16).

• FTE paid library staff fell by 5.3% between 2014/15 and 2015/16, from 18,028 to 17,064. Volunteer numbers rose by 7.5% during the period, from 41,402 to 44,501.

This year’s findings echo a five-year trend of decline. Libraries across Great Britain have seen a 14% reduction in total net expenditure, from £979m in 2011/12 to £842m in 2015/16. Meanwhile, there has also been 16.2% fewer visitors in five years, from 299 million in 2011/12 to 250 million in 2015/16.
The top five most visited libraries across England, Scotland and Wales over the last year were:

1. Library of Birmingham, Birmingham: 1,602,070 visits.
2. Central Library, Manchester: 1,480,941 visits.
3. Wembley, Brent: 1,381,032 visits.
4. Norfolk & Norwich Millennium, Norfolk: 1,25,291 visits.
5. Woolwich, Greenwich: 1,135,774 visits.

In terms of book or other loans, the top five libraries over the last year were:

1. Norfolk & Norwich Millennium, Norfolk: 984,445.
2. The Hive Worcester, Worcestershire: 827,061.
3. Llanelli, Carmarthenshire: 555,712.
4. Cambridge Central, Cambridgeshire: 501,594.
5. Oxford Central, Oxfordshire: 462,536.

Reaction: As Spending on Public Libraries Falls CILIP Calls for Urgent Investment
Reaction: Society of Chief Librarians Response to CIPFA Statistics

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