Libraries: Closures

Lord Gardiner of Kimble Excerpts

Monday 11th February 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bakewell]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to limit the ongoing closure of public libraries across the country.

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, every authority in England is required by statute to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service. In 2011-12, authorities invested £820 million in their libraries. The closure of a library does not necessarily signify a breach of an authority’s duty to provide a comprehensive and efficient service. Library services are adapting to changing needs. The Government have appointed a specialist libraries adviser to work with local authorities and Arts Council England.

[Baroness Bakewell]

I thank the Minister for that Answer. Good news is always welcome, however meagre, but the bad news is coming in torrents. Three hundred and twenty-six libraries are under threat, have closed or have left council control since April last year. Newcastle is planning to close 10 out of 18 libraries and Liverpool 10 out of 19. Given the disproportionately heavy cuts to local authority funding in the north of England, when will the Secretary of State use her considerable reserve powers to stop this cultural catastrophe?

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, I am very well aware that the noble Baroness is a formidable supporter of public library provision. Indeed, on Saturday I visited two libraries for National Libraries Day, in Eye in Suffolk and Diss in Norfolk, and I am very much aware of the points of view and their importance to communities. To come to the Question, clearly it is important that the local authorities reflect on the local need. That is precisely why there is a specialist libraries adviser, as I particularly mentioned, whose job it is to work with the local authorities where there is a question of libraries being at risk. Clearly, a number of rationalisations have gone on but I take the points that the noble Baroness has made very seriously indeed.

[Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer]

My Lords, what advice would my noble friend give to a community group such as that in Friern Barnet, who wanted to keep their library open and were willing to staff and fund it but found that their local council, Barnet, took them to court to get them out? Happily, the situation is now resolved and the library has stayed open but is that not against the spirit of the statute, where the community is willing and able to take the library on?

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, there are some very strong examples of community-managed libraries, and I very much support the work that they are undertaking. Indeed, guidance for local authorities on community-managed libraries has only just been published by the Arts Council and the Local Government Association. Professionally qualified librarians are also key to the public library service, and the librarians I met in Diss and Eye were an example of dedicated commitment.

[Lord Elystan-Morgan]

My Lords, the Minister said, I am sure quite accurately, that the closure of a public library does not of necessity mean a breach of the statutory obligations on that particular local authority. Bearing in mind the scale shown by the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, of the closure of public libraries, however, at what point is there a clear breach of everything that statute intended in that connection?

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

As the noble Lord has referred to, this is about a comprehensive and efficient system. I shall expand quickly and briefly on the fact that we have heard about closures but there are in fact some incredibly good success stories of openings and relocations. One of the key challenges for public library provision is where we locate them so that they can be an even greater part of the modernised situations—for instance, new libraries alongside cafes and adult learning classes. These are areas where we can have new openings in urban and rural areas and expansions in certain areas. There will be cases where they will be rationalisation but there is a responsibility to ensure that it is a comprehensive network.

[The Lord Bishop of Worcester]

My Lords, the Minister has just mentioned success stories. I wonder if he is aware of an exciting development in Worcester of a joint university/city library, which Her Majesty the Queen opened last year. Does he agree that this unprecedented partnership provides a model—a win-win approach if ever there was one—for other places to follow? I wonder, if he has not done so, whether he would like to visit it.

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

I am very keen on rural rides. The Hive in Worcester, as the right reverend Prelate has mentioned, is a new library and history centre, and the first ever joint public and academic library in the country. I could go through the very long list of success stories. I know that there are communities worried about their public library provision but there are good stories to be told in Hackney, Lewisham, Newton Abbot, Clapham, Oldham, Northumberland—I could go on.

[Lord Collins of Highbury]

My Lords, a comprehensive library service is about more than simply the supply of books. It is about encouraging the joy of reading; it is about education. I fear that some of the noises that we have heard from local government simply about alternative provision do not meet the standard, let alone the number, of libraries that my noble friend Lady Bakewell has referred to. What is the Minister’s view about the standards for a library service that meets that need for encouraging reading?

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, the Government and the department have continued to fund the Reading Agency and the Book Trust, two very important charities in that sector; indeed, the Book Trust is involved with book-giving for children. One of the key points that I identified on my visit to these libraries is that we are going through a technological revolution in terms of libraries. The number of e-books that are loaned has risen in two years from 100,000 to nearly 600,000. We are going to have to deal with those new technologies and how we encourage young people and the community to be involved. Among the key pilot schemes are the 22 schemes for automatically joining primary schoolchildren—I am told that in Norfolk they will be joined at birth—and the children will encourage their parents to come to the libraries as well.