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Public Libraries

Question for Department for Culture, Media and Sport

UIN 19644, tabled on 20 March 2024

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to increase access to libraries.

Answered on

28 March 2024

We will be publishing a refreshed Government strategy for public libraries later this year. This will be informed by Baroness Sanderson’s independent review of English public libraries and will help ensure that people across the country can benefit from great public library services.

The DCMS-funded £20.5 million Libraries Improvement Fund (2021-2025) is supporting public library services in England. It is enabling them to upgrade their buildings and improve digital infrastructure, increasing their potential to develop more flexible spaces and improving digital access, thereby increasing library access and use.