Plans to halve the funding for Bristol’s libraries have been dropped ahead of a major review into their future. The city council had proposed slashing £2.4million from the service’s current £4.7million annual budget as one option of saving money to balance the authority’s books in 2025/26.
It had appeared that there would still need to be £1.1million of cuts, which would inevitably mean the closure of some of the 27 branches. But the council has used reserves to plug the gap for the coming financial year from April and instead will set up a taskforce to come up with a grand plan for the future of the city’s libraries.
It seems likely, however, that some branches will still be shut in future following the review because large parts of the existing service often have only part-time hours and are plagued by regular unscheduled closures because of staff sickness. Bristol City Council leader Cllr Tony Dyer (Green, Southville) said: “The simple reality is nobody in this city is satisfied with the library service as it is at the moment.
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“In many cases we have the physical buildings but they’re often closed and often when people are most likely to want to use them. Even when the hours say they’re going to be open, if a member of staff is ill, the library is closed.
“There is a need to review the entire library service to look at what it is we’re seeking to provide, what counts as a good library service and one that is also comprehensive. It’s not particularly valid to say you have a good library service because you’ve got a lot of library buildings which aren’t open most of the time, so we need to look at what that service will look like.”
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He said a cross-party working group would be set up to review the service and that, because a way had been found to avoid the proposed savings in 2025/26, it could do its work without the pressure of having to factor in imminent branch closures.
But Cllr Dyer said the taskforce would have to come up with a realistic plan for libraries to be financially sustainable in future. “It needs to look longer term into what the library service should look like, whether our libraries should just be libraries or whether there is the option for them to be used as a combination of things – community use, other types of uses, look at what other cities have done in terms of partnership models and also to look at the fact that we are a growing city,” he said.
“There may be opportunities to bring on new libraries in areas like Temple Quarter where in the next 10 to 20 years we’re going to see a significant increase in population.” Public health and communities committee chairman Cllr Stephen Williams (Lib Dem, Westbury-on-Trym & Henleaze) said: “This working group will be able to conduct a root-and-branch review of the library service.
“I’m pleased that we will now have the time and space to do this meaningfully, without the immediate pressure of a budgetary cut. However, one of our objectives will be to craft a service that is financially sustainable.
“We will also be looking at ways of improving the service offering by having libraries open at the times of day most useful for their communities. Additionally, we will see what other activities could take place in the network of library buildings, and whether library outlets could be opened in other venues.
“I look forward to working with the various library ‘friends-of’ groups and others who want to see a revamped service that meets the needs of Bristol.” He said that he had made it clear from the start of internal discussions that he opposed the £2.4million cuts.
Cllr Williams said: “I am pleased to see that, in the final budget proposal, all cuts to our libraries have been removed. “That this could be agreed with Green Party administration colleagues, too, is testament to how the committee system can work for Bristol when councillors approach collaborative working in good faith.”
The draft budget will be discussed by the strategy and resources committee on February 3 ahead of a vote at full council on February 25.