Empty library shelves

England’s public library collections are being hollowed out, warns a study by researchers in the University of Sheffield’s School of Information, Journalism and Communication.

Commissioned by The Combined Regions, an organisation which encourages co-operation between libraries of all types, the research gathered data from 36 public library authorities in England. They found that print book collections are shrinking, and materials budgets are falling in real terms.

Demand

There is no lack of demand: borrowing levels remain steady, indeed rose from 3.62 issues per person to 3.73 during the period of the study, but more than 85 per cent of the services surveyed spent less than 86 pence a head on new physical stock.

‘Electronic resources are no better placed.’

Electronic resources are no better placed. Their cost has risen sharply, the choice is very limited and dictated by the intermediaries who provide the platforms used for e-books. Public libraries have become increasingly dependent on small short-term grant funding.

Book selection, once carried out by professional librarians, has been passed over to suppliers, who provide a basic one-size-fits all service. Very few public libraries still have a bibliographic services department.

Volunteers

In branch libraries it is unlikely that readers will ever encounter a professionally qualified librarian, and paid posts have given way to the increasing use of volunteers.

Meanwhile a national initiative run by the British Library for the Arts Council, Library On, has abruptly been shut down, reports the Public Libraries News website. It was supposed to offer a national shopfront for libraries but over more than ten years the project failed to deliver anything useful.