Public libraries in ‘crisis’ due to funding cuts

How are libraries being affected by service cuts?

Transcript

00:00New research has found that public libraries are in quote crisis after over 180 council-run

00:06libraries have either been closed or been handed over to volunteer groups in the UK

00:10since 2016. It's been reported that more deprived communities were four more times

00:15likely to lose a publicly funded library with 2,000 jobs having been lost in that time.

00:21A body which supports libraries across the UK has said that the figures quote laid bare

00:25the scale of the crisis facing public libraries. The spokesperson of the charity body went

00:31on to say quote libraries are hit hardest in the very areas that need them most. In

00:37response to the news, a government spokesperson said it recognised the pressures on library

00:42services and that it was quote committed to giving stability back to local councils. This

00:47news came according to BBC News analysis. Furthermore, freedom of information requests

00:53submitted by BBC News to every library authority in the UK and Arts Council England found that

00:59the country has lost as many as one in 20 libraries since 2016.