Readers making use of the service fell by 30.7% overall since 2005, although poorer readers’ usage has not shown any decline

The proportion of adults visiting public libraries in England has fallen by almost a third over the last decade, according to a new government report, although usage in the country’s most deprived areas has remained stable.

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport has measured the public’s usage of libraries in England since 2005. In the 12 months to March 2016, it reported that just 33.4% of adults had used a public library, compared with 48.2% of adults in 2005/2006, when the survey began. This marks a drop of 30.7% over the decade, and is the first time the government department has highlighted a “significant decrease” in the proportion of adults who used public libraries. In comparison, the proportion of adults visiting heritage sites, museums and galleries increased over the decade.

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The report reveals that although declines have been seen across all demographic groups over the last decade, the largest declines are for the “urban prosperity” group, down from 57.3% to 37.8%, and the “wealthy achievers” group, down from 50.9% to 33.5%.

By contrast, adult library users in the “hard-pressed” group fell by just seven percentage points over the same period, from 40.9% to 33.5%.

Considering England geographically, a similar pattern is seen. Adults in the least deprived areas of England saw their library usage decline the most over the decade, from 46.3% to 31.4%, while according to the report, library usage in the five most deprived areas of the country “remained reasonably stable”.

“Proportionate use of libraries in the most deprived areas of England is strong, demonstrating the role these unique public services play in improving life chances through literacy, learning and access to knowledge for those communities with the most to gain,” said Mark Taylor, spokesperson for the Chartered Institute of Library Professionals.

“By law, our libraries are there for everyone in the local area that wants to use them and these figures strengthen the case for rapid modernisation of library services across the country – by extending opening hours, improving digital services and the availability of ebooks, and investing in books, buildings and good design.”

The DCMS report also revealed a decrease in the proportion of working adults using public library services over the last two years, from 33.4% in 2013/2014 to 31% in 2015/2016. The proportion of non-working adults has remained stable, with 37.1% using a library in the last year. The report also showed that more adults from the black and minority ethnic group (45.6%) have used a public library service in the last year than adults from the white ethnic group (31.6%).

As libraries close all around the UK – according to the monitoring website Public Libraries News 72 libraries and five mobile libraries have come under threat since April – libraries campaigner Desmond Clarke said that the new minister for libraries, Rob Wilson, needs to ask what is being done to reverse the decline, because “for those responsible for the service, to continue to ignore the crisis is unacceptable”.

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He added: “It is irresponsible of the Library Taskforce not to have properly researched the reasons for such a ‘significant’ decline in library usage and not to have put in place an effective plan to attract back adult users. The crisis facing public libraries should be at the very top of their agenda. The new minister needs to tell them to get their act together.”