Yorkshire libraries toll makes for grim reading

Since last year, 33 libraries have been lost across the region, according to figures published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (Cipfa) today.

It is feared more will follow as councils continue to struggle with huge cuts to their budgets, which the Chancellor last week revealed would be slashed by a further two per cent in 2014-15.

Shadow culture minister and Barnsley Central MP Dan Jarvis said libraries across the region and beyond were under “extreme threat” and it was highly likely more would close.

“The reality is that the money that comes to councils has been significantly and, I would say, unfairly reduced over a number of years and we know from the Autumn Statement it will continue to be reduced,” he said.

“Local authorities have been forced to make some incredibly difficult decisions but I think it’s important that where they are able to preserve library services, they should do that.

“Libraries are unique public spaces and, in terms of the money councils spend on them, it’s money well spent.”

The number of libraries and mobile libraries in Yorkshire has fallen from 400 to 377 – a drop of 5.8 per cent – this year, the figures from Cipfa’s survey show .

Only the East Midlands and the North West lost a higher proportion – 5.9 per cent and 9.6 per cent, respectively.

Although library closures in Yorkshire were among the worst in the country, spending cuts were below average at 4.6 per cent compared with an average reduction of 5.2 per cent.

Biddy Fisher, a former president of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, said the true scale of library cuts and closures was likely to be even bleaker than the Cipfa statistics suggest.

“Councils are currently making plans for their 2013-14 budget and I think this is when we’ll see really significant closures. That’s extremely sad,” she said.

Earlier this year, the Yorkshire Post revealed the chronic underfunding of libraries in the region, where some councils spent 40 per cent less than the national average on their services. All but three of Yorkshire and the Humber’s local authorities spent less than the national average of £17,106 per 1,000 people in 2010-11.

This year’s figures are not yet available – but councils have increasingly been looking to slash costs further by offloading services to volunteers.

The rate at which paid library staff are being lost across the UK has nearly doubled since last year, the Cipfa survey found. The number of full-time equivalent workers was down by eight per cent this year compared with a 4.3 per cent reduction the previous year.

Meanwhile the number of volunteers manning libraries has risen by 8.9 per cent. They have already replaced professional librarians at a number of libraries across the region, including some in Leeds, Bradford and Doncaster.

In Wakefield, community organisations have expressed an interest in running eight libraries at risk of closure. Three where no volunteers were willing to step in closed last month and another is to close at the end of January.

Ms Fisher, whose local library in Denby Dale is among seven that Kirklees Council is considering handing over to volunteers, said libraries without a qualified, paid member of staff were merely a “book exchange”.

She said it was disappointing that councils in Yorkshire had not come up with any imaginative solutions to their budget pressures.