Libraries in England generate at least £3.4bn in value a year through services supporting children’s literacy, digital inclusion and health, a study has found.
Researchers at the University of East Anglia discovered that the services that a typical branch provides in a year are worth £1m, and that libraries’ value could equate to six times their running costs.
The report, published on Friday, should be a “gamechanger” for how libraries are viewed by “local and national” decision-makers, said Isobel Hunter, chief executive of Libraries Connected, the charity that commissioned the report. “The evidence is clear: investing in libraries brings huge returns for local communities and the public purse.”
Alongside financial analysis, researchers also conducted visits to libraries in the east of England and interviews with library users and librarians. They found that libraries offer “holistic provision” and are “incredibly flexible and responsive to community need,” said John Gordon, who led the research project.
Services highlighted in the report included drop-in sessions for Ukrainian refugees and programmes to help post-Covid literacy recovery among children. The research underscores “the value in the infrastructure of public libraries to help address some of the challenges society is facing at the moment,” said Jill Terrell, chair of the working group for Libraries Connected East.
As part of the project, the team developed an interactive tool for estimating the monetary value of library activities, which library staff will be able to use to provide services “as effectively as possible”, said Gordon. The model ascribes financial value to library services based on their commercial rates, the savings created for taxpayers and the projected monetary impact on library users. For example, literacy programmes were valued at £279 per participant.
Many library services identified in the evaluation, such as support for people who have chronic health conditions, “reduce the use of NHS and social care services,” reads the report. Study participants found it “challenging to talk about why libraries are important in a clear way”, said Gordon, because “in many ways” libraries are “doing almost everything”.
The research also found that an average of two people an hour visit a single library branch to alleviate social isolation. This was assessed through behavioural clues such as long periods of time reading the newspaper with little page-turning, browsing the shelves but not borrowing or reading, and talking with staff on matters unrelated to library services. Initiatives such as Knit and Natter are “impactful activities that drive down loneliness and build community,” said Terrell.
The Covid-19 pandemic emphasised “the strength and power of libraries,” added Terrell. Librarians made calls to users at risk of social isolation and home library services were provided. The challenge for libraries is keeping them “at the cutting edge of what the community needs,” said Terrell, and as more people continue to work from home, this could include offering “work close to home” spaces.
A range of digital inclusion services were highlighted in the report, including coding classes for children, CV printing, email access and scanning documents. “The increasing number of digital-only services, particularly for e-government, excludes people who cannot access them as a result of disability or health issues, access to digital infrastructure, low literacy, or unfamiliarity with online systems,” reads the report.
Health and wellbeing services mentioned include the replacement of hearing aid batteries and ferrules on walking sticks, yoga classes, and Read My Mind, a mental health initiative designed for men. Book borrowing and in-library usage remains a “mainstay of the value of libraries,” stated the report.
The project was funded by library services in the east of England and received a £30,000 contribution from Arts Council England (ACE). The latest figures from the charity indicate that there are 2,581 public libraries across England.
Luke Burton, director for libraries atACE said he hopes the UEA report can “help make the case to potential partners and funders locally, regionally, and nationally to support libraries in improving the lives of people in the communities they serve.”
The history of England’s public libraries
The first “public” library founded in England was in Norwich in 1608. It was run by the Norwich Municipal Assembly and served as overnight lodgings for clergy travelling to preach at the city’s cathedral. Others followed, and similar libraries opened in Ipswich in 1612 and Bristol in 1613, supported by philanthropists.
After this, subscription libraries, where users could access books for a hefty fee, opened across the country. Free public libraries as we now know them began with the Public Libraries Act of 1850, as part of a move to educate the expanding working class.
In the year 1887 alone, 77 new libraries were established. By 1914, 62% of the population of England lived within a library authority area. Later, the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act required local authorities in England and Wales to “provide a comprehensive and efficient library service”, which solidified a commitment that libraries should not only keep an adequate stock of books, but also “pictures, gramophone records, films and other materials”.
In 1994, UNESCO adopted the Public Library Manifesto which pledged that public libraries should not only improve literacy but provide access to “all sorts of community information” and ensure the development of computer literacy skills.
• This article was amended on Friday 7 July. An earlier version misspelt Luke Burton’s name.
