Jonathan Davies

I beg to move, That this House has considered the future of public libraries. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. Public libraries are at the heart of our communities. They have incredible value, as I am sure we will hear from colleagues today, but they also have an important and underutilised role in delivering the Government’s plan for change. I will talk briefly about the diverse and important roles that public libraries play in our society and the profound risks they face, and finally I will urge the Minister to work with colleagues to implement and go boldly beyond the recommendations of the Sanderson review. That review, commissioned by the previous Government and published last year, calls on Government to develop a national strategy for public libraries. I thank the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals for supporting me to understand the challenge faced by libraries and articulate the need for change. It is good to see some friends from CILIP in the Public Gallery today. The public library as we know it has been shaped and moulded by the laws and motions enacted in this place. It is 175 years since the Member of Parliament William Ewart, against much opposition, led the charge to introduce the Public Libraries Act 1850. The Act compelled boroughs to establish free public libraries, and it was the first legislative step in the creation of an enduring national institution that provides universal free access to trustworthy information. Opposition was rooted in the belief that knowledge was a volatile force, too potent for “the rough and poor”, who were seen as unfit to grasp or use it responsibly. Libraries, opponents warned, would become breeding grounds for unrest and lecture halls of unhealthy agitation, threatening social order. There is a sweet irony, then, in the face of an explosion of misinformation and a rapidly changing world, that libraries have become a rare beacon of trustworthy information where we can build our knowledge and skills with confidence. It may be that our democracy depends on it. While I could spend my full time today waxing lyrical about the importance of libraries, I want to think more specifically about the needs they meet, more strategically about their role in delivering Government priorities, and more precisely about the value they contribute to the economy. Everybody knows that the public purse strings are tighter than they once were, but despite facing real-terms cuts of 49% since 2010, public libraries continue to produce immense educational, economic and social value. They have adapted in ways that William Ewart could not have imagined.