Central Library could move into the old Debenhams building in Broadmead, Bristol City Council leaders have suggested. But bosses say that relocating the historic library on College Green to somewhere else in the city centre is “just an idea” at this stage as part of a raft of cuts as the local authority faces the “brutal” task of finding £45.7million of savings over the next five years to balance its books.
The library service’s budget is proposed to be slashed by about a third – £1.4million from last year’s funding of £4.6million. City Hall chiefs told a council meeting that even without the financial black hole facing the organisation – between £37.5million and £87.6million from 2023/24 to 2027/28 – escalating energy costs mean they don’t have the money to keep all 27 Bristol libraries open.
However, deputy mayor Cllr Craig Cheney said that, like in 2018 when library closures were proposed and later scrapped amid huge public opposition and an unexpected rise in income from business rates, they would abandon the idea again if they “suddenly found we had another £30million”. Opposition councillors warned the cuts would be “deeply damaging” and could “hollow out a lot of communities”.
