House of Lords questions UK government on library closures

The UK government has had to defend widespread closure of libraries in England during a debate in the House of Lords, reports the Bookseller. Founder of the Big Issue magazine Lord John Bird initiated the debate, calling for emergency relief funding to ‘stop local authorities “philistining” our local libraries’ and arguing that closing libraries and laying off librarians created problems elsewhere in society that would require more funding. Many lords also questioned the legality of the current wide-scale closures of libraries by local authorities, given that a comprehensive library service is a statutory requirement. The government was also criticised for failing to intervene in any closures since Labour was in government in 2010. Speaking for the government, Lord Ashton confirmed it was investigating library closures in four areas—Harrow, Southampton, Lambeth and Lancashire—and said the Libraries Taskforce’s Ambition document would not ‘sit gathering dust’ and would be released ‘shortly’, with an action plan to follow.

Category: Library news International