A new national strategy to help England’s hard-pressed libraries is to include a £4m innovation fund for projects that help disadvantaged communities.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has published a five-year strategy for libraries, which it said would help them improve and thrive in the 21st century.

Rob Wilson, the junior minister responsible for libraries, said libraries were “hugely popular” and among the most valuable community assets, but they had to change.

“This strategy provides a blueprint for how libraries can be better utilised, to make them more resilient while still delivering vital public services to the communities that need them,” he said.

It comes amid bleak and troubling times for libraries, often seen as an easy target when local authorities need to save money. Earlier this month protesters gathered in London for the first national demonstration to protect library services.

The strategy calls for more innovative thinking on how libraries are used, better promotion and more partnerships. It says libraries should be about far more than books and should provide access to a range of public services such as employment, health and learning opportunities.

The £4m fund will be administered by Arts Council England and is for “pilot library service projects that provide people with opportunities that they might not have otherwise”. The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (Cilip) said the strategy went “part way” to securing a positive future for libraries.

Cilip’s chief executive, Nick Poole, said: “We face a stark choice. We can either continue with severe cuts and closures or secure a positive future for people, communities and businesses that benefit from England’s network of public libraries.”

A banner outside Carnegie library in London. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images

He called for a “properly funded” national strategy for developing and improving libraries and a more robust approach from the government when local authorities fail to provide “comprehensive and efficient” library services.

Local authorities have a statutory duty under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 “to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service for all persons”.

Many observers believe the government has had cause to intervene but failed do so after six years of repeated local authority library closures. According to research by the House of Commons library service and the BBC, about one in eight council-run libraries has closed or been transferred out of the public sector since 2010.

This week Cilip raised concern over Swindon council’s proposals to close 10 out of 15 libraries unless community groups come forward to run them. It has urged the secretary of state to intervene.

The report has been written by a libraries taskforce chaired by Paul Blantern, the chief executive of Northamptonshire county council.

It acknowledges that “these are challenging times for councils and the library services they run”, but says there is a need for strong local leadership “focused on meeting community needs”.

The report calls for libraries to get better at demonstrating their value, “promoting themselves as an asset not a cost”.

Nearly 60% of the population has a library card, and in 2014-15, more people went to a library than there were visits to a Premier League football game, the cinema and the top 10 tourist attractions. In England, local authorities spent £762m on libraries – just over 27p a person, and under 1% of the total spend.

The strategy promises more nationally coordinated action to “encourage and help the library sector to work together more effectively”.

Libraries need to diversify their funding and generate their own additional income, the report says. The government has promised to help, giving as an example “commuter hubs” set up by the Ministry of Justice in some London libraries which allow civil servants to work remotely.

The report talks about the need to “significantly refresh the image” of libraries and raise awareness of the services they provide.



Blantern said libraries were vital community hubs. “We already have some of the best libraries in the world; if we learn from them and deliver the shared ambitions we set out, then we will have a vibrant, thriving and world-class public library network in England.”