Lord Collins of Highbury
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they intend to take to improve access to libraries in the light of research by the National Literacy Trust published on 1 December about low levels of book ownership by children.
Baroness Rawlings
My Lords, library authorities deliver many successful programmes to encourage reading. More than 780,000 children took part in the Summer Reading Challenge this year. The Arts Council’s libraries development initiative, announced before the National Literary Trust’s research was published, will explore the challenge for libraries to make certain that their books and reading remain engaging, relevant and exciting.
Lord Collins of Highbury
I thank the Minister for that response. As I know only too well from my own upbringing, libraries are the only source of books for many children. Does the Minister believe that a significant number of library closures in an authority—as we have seen up and down the country, in both rural and urban areas—would breach the definition of,
“a comprehensive and efficient library service”,
in the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964?
Baroness Rawlings
My Lords, I imagine that the noble Lord, Lord Collins, loves libraries and books as much as I do, as I understand that he was an assistant librarian in the 1970s. We are all naturally concerned if any library closes, but they are a matter for local authorities. As robust data about the library sector are only published annually, we do not know the exact figures. The DCMS supplements those data by monitoring proposals about changes to library services across England through information gathered from our correspondence and from media coverage and relevant bodies such as the Arts Council England. But we share the noble Lord’s concern.
Baroness Gardner of Parkes
My Lords, the Question refers to low levels of book ownership. Many children treasure their books and keep them always, but lots of families now recycle books and give them to charity shops. Would it not be very good to encourage them to do that, so that more people could buy those books at the very low cost that charity shops are willing to charge? Children would then enjoy reading more and have the sense of ownership that adds to the experience and is the one thing missing in a library.
Baroness Rawlings
My Lords, my noble friend has a very good point. Recycling books, especially the low-cost books that one can now get on Amazon, is a great help to public libraries. However, people do not go to public libraries just for books. Libraries offer a way of life, encouraging reading in every way and providing solace for some people who may not have it at home.
Lord Borrie
My Lords, the Minister mentioned that public libraries are a matter for local authorities—yes, indeed. However, as my noble friend who initiated this Question said, the public libraries Act requires local authorities to provide an effective and efficient service. Magistrates in the West Country have recently ruled that the cuts in certain counties there are illegal because of the Act to which I have just referred. Does the Minister accept that decision, or does she think that there should be an appeal against it to try to justify these most unfortunate cuts?
Baroness Rawlings
The noble Lord, Lord Borrie, brings up the cuts once again. Libraries are the domain of the local authority. If the Secretary of State sees that there is undue reason for closing a public library, he can intervene. There is a form of testing that he looks at—it is not a fit-and-proper test, but he has the opportunity to investigate.
Lord Alton of Liverpool
My Lords, as we come to commemorate next year the important Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen, would it not be a suitable initiative for the Government, perhaps in partnership with private sponsors, also to commemorate next year’s bicentenary of Charles Dickens and this year’s 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible by making presentations of those books to children in our secondary schools? That would be a way not only of marking the Jubilee year but of increasing the holding of books by children in our country today.
Baroness Rawlings
The noble Lord, Lord Alton, raises a very interesting question. It would be an extremely good idea, come the Jubilee, to have partnerships like that. The Government announced just this week that the possibility of extra philanthropic funding for schemes such as partnerships for the Jubilee is being looked into. Speaking of the Jubilee, I commend Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall for all the work that she does in this area to encourage young children to read.
Lord Tope
My Lords, building on the excellent work done by the Reading Agency through its Summer Reading Challenge, to which the Minister referred in her opening comments, will she tell us what work her department is doing with the Department for Education to encourage schools and local libraries to work in a joined-up way to tackle literacy issues?
Baroness Rawlings
My Lords, my noble friend Lord Tope asks a question that follows on very nicely from the first Question, answered by my noble friend Lord Hill. The Government are doing a great deal with the Summer Reading Challenge. Some 97 per cent of UK library authorities participate in the challenge, which encourages four to 11 year-olds to read six books over the long summer holiday. There are many similar projects; time is running out now, but I can write to my noble friend with the details.