DCMS announces further £4.9m for 27 library services

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has announced a further £4.9m from the Libraries Improvement Fund for 27 library services.

Among this round’s recipients are Essex County Council, which will receive £337,500 to install an interactive learning and play space at Colchester Library, and Stockton-on-Tees, where £50,000 will allow the library service to update and develop its collaborative workspace with new equipment, new programmes and opportunities for library users to engage with technology.

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said the investment, part of a broader £200m Cultural Investment Fund, alongside the Cultural Development Fund and the Museum Estate and Development Fund, “will help to level up access to arts and culture for everyone, no matter where they live”.

She continued: “Culture helps us create lifelong memories with our families and friends, provides entertainment and joy, and allows us to explore the world around us in new and exciting ways. It can also boost tourism, support local business and drive local economic growth.

“This funding will support brilliant arts organisations to upgrade their venues and create new projects that will be at the heart of their communities.”

This is the second round of the £20.5m fund, which supports library services in England by helping them upgrade their buildings and improve digital infrastructure. In the first round 25 library services received a total of £5m. The grants are administered, awarded and monitored by Arts Council England, with funding provided by DCMS.

Charity Libraries Connected welcomed the news. Chief executive Isobel Hunter said the funding “will have a real impact” on local communities, “leading to more accessible, innovative and inclusive libraries".

However, Hunter warned that the funding did not make up for real terms cuts in local authority budgets and called for a more sustainable financial model for libraries.

“While competitive funds can make a huge difference for recipients, without a more secure long-term financial settlement many councils will have no option but to consider making cuts to frontline public services, including libraries” she said. “We need government to take decisive action now to avoid a crisis in our libraries over the coming years.”