Public libraries are doing more for their communities, but they need support

By Jo McKenna-Aspell, Post-Doctoral Research Associate in Library and Information Science, University of Sheffield
Briony Birdi, Professor of Library and Information Science, University of Sheffield

Public libraries remain a vital part of community life, providing free information and reading materials to everyone. Their role is particularly important amid a long-term decline in reading for pleasure among children and young people. But our research indicates that England’s public library collections are being hollowed out through long-term underinvestment.

In June 2026, former libraries minister Baroness Twycross confirmed that…

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