NEWS FEATURE
National public library strategy – where things stand
The government is set to publish a national library strategy soon. We take a look at where things stand and what is known about the strategy and the process.
THE Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) has said it will publish a national public libraries strategy. The announcement, which appeared in a press release
(
https://tinyurl.com/publibstrategy) about a funding boost for libraries, said: “The government intends to publish a new strategy for public libraries later this year to restore their position at the heart of communities and their pivotal role in improving the lives of working people. This will highlight how libraries support this government’s Plan for Change ambitions to provide opportunities for all and will encour- age cross-government action to ensure public libraries are fit for the future.” It is believed that the process for publication of the strat-
egy is in its final stages and will be then cleared with other government departments before being passed onto Down- ing Street – with a view to publication in early Summer. Parallel to the Government strategy, the Public Library
Workforce Development Partnership comprising Arts Coun- cil England (ACE), the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), Libraries Connected and Libraries Rising are working together to develop the future public library workforce with a toolbox designed to strengthen the skills of the public library workforce and help it thrive now and into the future.
Interdependent decisions The government’s strategy has a number of existing ‘live’ issues to navigate which are likely to be interdependent with any strategic direction set for the sector. One is the Hodge Review of the Arts Council England (
https://tinyurl.com/hodger- eview), which made a recommendation to give ACE’s sector development role to the British Library (see page 8).
Another unpredictable landscape the strategy has to con-
tend with is local government reorganisation. This could see the number of library authorities expand from 150 to 180. Publishing a sector strategy while fundamental issues remain unresolved may be tricky, but it could put the sector in a better position as the picture clears. Meanwhile finances remain the most pressing issue for public libraries with a crisis in local government funding made even more unpredictable by the national economic situation and geopolitical factors like the Iran war.
Government plans The new strategy will fill the gap left since the last strategy – Libraries Deliver: Ambition for Public Libraries in England 2016 to 2021 (
https://tinyurl.com/ambitionforlibs) – came to an end. The 2016 strategy challenged “both central and local gov- ernment to think and act differently to transform library services” and said: “Libraries should be integral to all public service strategies.” In its brief update in March the government was also interested in broadening the reach of the sector saying the strategy would show “how libraries support this govern- ment’s Plan for Change ambitions” and that it “will encour- age cross-government action to ensure public libraries are fit for the future.” In the Annual Libraries Report published in July 2025 Baroness Twycross acknowledged this saying she recognised libraries’ “potential to contribute to broader government missions and our plan for national renewal…we want to see libraries thrive, offering diverse services such as digital inclusion and cultural enrichment, all freely accessible to everyone.”
Department for Culture Media and Sport meeting to discuss the national public libraries
strategy. 12 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL April-May 2026
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