« A new policy for public libraries -Step 2 | Main | The end of the lending library in London »
January 23, 2007
Libraries in London
Great anxiety around the country about how little of the libraries budget is being spent on books. 2 years ago when the figure for England was around 9%, parliament said it should be twice as much.
Figures just released reveal that in Central London the portion of total (gross) funds being spent on books in each borough in 2005/6 was:
Camden 4.3%
Greenwich 7.3%
Hackney 4.3%
Hammersmith and Fulham 6.2%
Islington 4.5%
Kensington and Chelsea 3.6%
Lambeth 3.8%
Lewisham 5.4%
Southwark 5.2%
Tower Hamlets 6.0%
Wandsworth 6.7%
Westminster 6.3%
and as a result of this book lending in each of those boroughs in that year
Camden declined by 10.2%
Greenwich declined by 2.1%
Hackney increased by 6.5%
Hammersmith and Fulham declined by 7.8%
Islington declined by 1.5%
Kensington and Chelsea declined by 8.9%
Lambeth increased by 2.1%
Lewisham increased by 0.6%
Southwark increased by 1.9%
Tower Hamlets declined by 4.2%
Wandsworth declined by 3.0%
Westminster declined by 9.7%
At the same time the cost of the library service in those boroughs rose by 19.4% and is nearly £250m per annum. Do these libraries contribute to the reading and learning of the capital-- at all?
Posted by Tim Coates at January 23, 2007 10:53 AM