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Public libraries have an obligation to provide a balanced range of treatments and opinion.
Building Collections
The changing role of public libraries in providing access to news resources
CCESS to current news reporting has long been a core part of the public library resources offer. Traditionally, even
small branch libraries provided a range of key newspaper titles, giving free access to a balanced and comprehensive range of news and opinion. However, preferences for news consumption have changed significantly, and continue to do so. On its most basic level, more people are now accessing news digitally than through physical, printed means, but it is not as straightforward as a shift to digital equivalents of traditionally printed newspaper formats. Whether it is for reasons of quick, easy access, or due to changes in the trust people have in traditional journalism and editorial, people are increasingly turning to less structured means of news consumption, through social media and more ‘grass roots’ sources. Research by Reuters and Oxford University for the Digital News Report 2023 showed that in the UK only 14 per cent of news consumers used print newspapers as a source, compared to 74 per cent accessing news online, including social media. Thirty-eight per cent specifically stated social media as a news source (
https://tinyurl.com/3dc56mh4). This is a fascinating sociological
shift, which raises many questions and challenges, but the pertinent question here is, what does this mean for the role of public libraries in enabling access to news?
Obligation
Alongside these broad, sociological shifts is a trend of reduced funding for public library resources and increased cover price for newspapers. Reducing demand and increased cost creates a cost per use/user that is becoming increasingly difficult to justify, with many services having to make reductions in new provision. However, a reduction in quantity in this
June 2024
area is not that simple. Public libraries have an obligation to provide a balanced range of treatments and opinion. In a time when newspaper content is ever-more polarised and partisan, and libraries’ capacity to buy a range of titles is vastly compromised, a rounded or balanced physical newspaper provision is practically impossible. This puts librarians in the position of having to be increasingly selective, and in this area deciding what titles to exclude can look and feel a lot like censorship. Many library services have made pragmatic decisions to stop trying, either reducing provision to limited locations, such as central reference libraries, or withdrawing physical provision altogether.
Digital access
Options for providing digital access to newspaper titles have increased in recent years, with eBook aggregators and providers such as PressReader offering access to a range of newspapers, in digital format across the whole authority catchment area. This is positive, but it is only a partial solution. Firstly, although they increase potential reach, it is reliant on means of digital access and leaves a significant number of people excluded due to lack of digital skills, awareness, or tech/data availability. Secondly, remote digital solutions do not encourage the social connections and interactions experienced when spending time in the library reading the newspaper. Most public library branch staff can tell you about that small group of customers for whom reading the paper acts as a mechanism for social connection in their otherwise isolated day. Finally, albeit in digital format, these are still traditional newspaper resources, and so they are providing news in an increasingly outdated package. They don’t engage with the increased taste for the more organic
Paul Howarth (
paul.howarth@suffolklibraries.
co.uk) is Head of Content and Resource Development, Suffolk Libraries.
www.suffolklibraries.co.uk
INSIGHT
news consumption that sources like social media allow.
Opportunities
The challenges this situation presents, equally present opportunities. The potential for libraries to act as enablers of digital inclusion is clear here. By augmenting a digitally based news provision with initiatives to increase digital skills, confidence and access, libraries can create context where not only is digital news accessible but where those people potentially left behind are brought along. News content can act as the ‘way in’ for encouraging increased digital engagement that will also help in many other areas of life. Equally, there is huge potential for creative approaches to in-library digital access, to maintain the socially interactive benefits of the traditional approach. There is also a role for public libraries in encouraging critical news and media consumption. We all know the adage ‘no news is good news’, but access to world, national and local news is key to our understanding of the world and our place in it. By rising to the challenges and opportunities created by the shifting landscape of news consumption, public libraries can further build on their role in growing social impact, inclusion, and connection. IP
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