Libraries 'must be more like Costa'
Public libraries in the UK are facing an “absolute disaster” and should try to emulate coffee shops, the author of an independent report into the service has said.
William Sieghart, who headed a panel to produce an independent report on the role of the public library service in England, warned of large-scale closures if features such as free wi-fi were not improved.
The Independent Library Report, expected to be published later, was jointly commissioned by the Culture Department and the Department for Communities and Local Government and aimed to lay out the future for libraries.
But Mr Sieghart told The Independent: “We’re at a critical moment for the libraries and if we’re not careful we could lose so many. I and a lot of people think it would be an absolute disaster.”
He told the paper the fact a third of libraries did not have wi-fi was “astonishing”.
“So they’re slated for closure while everyone’s in the Costa opposite, where there’s a loo, hot drinks and internet access,” he added.
And he said libraries were still a key part of the communities they served, citing that 35% of people in England used them regularly, rising to 50% “among the poorest”.
He said: “Not enough decision-makers at national or local level appear sufficiently aware of the remarkable and vital value that a good library service can offer modern communities.”
His report, commissioned in February this year, is expected to recommend a library task-force, a national digital network and more E-lending, according to the paper.
Other members of the panel included Stephen Page, chief executive of publisher Faber & Faber; former chairman of Channel 4 Television Luke Johnson; British Library chief executive Roly Keating; and Caroline Michel, chief executive of literary agency Peters Fraser & Dunlop.
