CAMPAIGN group Save Our Libraries Essex (SOLE), which fought successfully to stop proposed closures of to branch libraries across Essex five years ago, warns that libraries could be seen as an easy target as Essex County Council faces break up.

The county council will disappear and a new set of smaller councils including the current ‘unitary’ councils of Thurrock and Southend, will take over running the services. It is understood that libraries will be run separately by each of the new councils.

Central government are pushing the changes but are not thought to be making funding available to cover the costs. This means it is feared new councils being implemented ‘on the cheap’ and being driven to look for early cuts.

Libraries must not be a target

SOLE is also concerned that the library service will suffer from being divided between the new councils if each faces having to run libraries on a shoestring, with consequences for book stocks, inter-library loans and staffing. Campaigners are worried it will put local branch libraries back in the crosshairs of councils who want to make savings.

Campaigners point to the footfall in Essex libraries actually increasing after Covid lockdowns as the public enthusiastically supported their local branches. Campaigners say that local branches are a community resource and one of the few remaining public spaces for information and learning. “Their importance is greater than ever.”

A spokesperson for SOLE commented:
“Communities across Essex rallied to fight for their local libraries when a previous County Council administration threatened to close many branches. The service has more than proved its worth over subsequent years. We don’t want our libraries under threat once again due to a reorganisation that looks like it may end up being done on the cheap.
Libraries aren’t just a ‘nice to have’, they’re a vital part of people’s lives all the way from children learning to read, through adults studying, to older people accessing services and information.”

“If libraries are just seen as a source of easy savings or are broken up with no concern for an integrated service, it will be a disaster for people across Essex.”

“SOLE pledges to fight for the library service alongside users of every local branch across the length and breadth of the county. We urge the public and councillors to stand up for our service. We will defend our libraries.”