Dear Councillor Lewis,

Open letter concerning proposed cuts and closures to Croydon Libraries

We are writing in response to the consultation on the future of public library services in Croydon. CILIP represents the library and information profession across the UK and internationally, and we would like to share our concerns about the proposed cuts and closures to the library services in Croydon and their impact on the local community and the ability of the local economy to recover effectively from the disruption of the last 12 months.

We understand and empathise with the position in which the Council finds itself and the need for structural action to address the financial challenges arising from 10 years of austerity in the public sector.

However, we are concerned that the proposals as we understand them will have a disproportionate impact on vulnerable and digitally disenfranchised members of your community. We are also alarmed to note that the consultation appears to have been conducted without an adequate Equalities Impact Assessment in place to ensure that all members of the community are able to access and contribute to your consultation.

Specifically, our concerns are as follows:

• The population of Croydon has grown by nearly 70k residents (22%) since 1991 (Source: ONS) and the borough has a higher demographic of children and young people than almost any other area of London. The proposed closure of 40% of the borough’s libraries will significantly impair life chances for them, as well as the wider impact on older groups;


• According to NHS data, 59.64% of the population of Croydon aged between 16-64 are below the national averages for heath literacy and numeracy – the withdrawal of library and information services will significantly disadvantage these groups and place additional pressure on frontline healthcare and social services;


• That the reliance on volunteers in place of professional library staff will further undermine the remaining services – leaving the residents of Croydon not only under-served in terms of the number of libraries per capita, but also in terms of their quality, consistency and social impact.


• 6% of Croydon residents have a disability, of whom 22% have a ‘serious’ disability. These users depend on the outreach and information services of local public libraries as a lifeline to keep them connected and informed. The proposed closures will abandon these users, who arguably need their services the most.

We recognise that this will be a challenging and volatile time for the council, but we would like strongly to urge you both to limit the negative impact on professional staffing to the greatest extent possible and to maintain access to library spaces, resources and expertise particularly at a time when access to IT for support, job searching and Universal Credit claims are of vital importance to your community. Libraries also provide essential support for public health, including mental health and help to combat loneliness, and will be key in supporting learners and particularly young people to catch up in their education.

We would draw your attention to the Local Government Association guidelines Delivering Local Solutions for Public Library Services: A Guide for Councillors, to which CILIP has been pleased to contribute and which offers a range of cost-effective solutions that maintain community involvement in library services without critically undermining provision.

We also draw your attention to the excellent resources provided by Libraries Connected, which showcase the impact of quality local library services for local people.

Yours sincerely,

Nick Poole, Chief Executive, CILIP

A PDF version of the letter can be found here.

Headline image: Thornton Heath Library photographed by Stefan Szczelkun, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0