Book borrowing down as Hampshire libraries struggle to attract visitors
With the increase in e-books and the internet, what does the future hold? Amber Westley reports
New figures released have revealed a dramatic drop in book borrowing from Hampshire libraries over the last 10 years.
The figures, which came from a Freedom of Information request, also revealed a drop in visitor numbers to libraries in the county, in the same time period.
Hampshire Libraries is one of the largest library services in England and in 2015/16 the budget for the service was £12.4m.
The FOI — for the period 2007 to 2017 — found a drop of more than 2.5m in book issues and a fall of 1.3m in visitor numbers.
Hampshire County Councillor Sean Woodward, who is the executive member for recreation and heritage, said: ‘There is a well-documented trend, across the UK, towards fewer physical visits being made to libraries.’
Nationally, UK libraries saw 243m visitors in the 2016/17 financial year, compared to a just year later when the figure decreased to just 233m. This is a fall of over 10.3m.
Councillor Woodward added: ‘In Hampshire, we are constantly looking ahead at the changing needs of customers, to ensure we keep libraries vibrant and relevant, and at the heart of the community.’
Four years ago, Hampshire County Council released a strategic library plan to modernise the library service and reflect the different needs of a 21st Century society. The plan is due to be completed next year.
The main proposals in this report were to review the future of libraries, scale back DVD, CD and game library collections, as they were not used enough, modernise libraries using the money from the £2 million Book Fund, replace the mobile library service with a home library service delivered by volunteers, share library buildings with other organisations, retrain staff for the new priorities, set in place a strategy to be used across all libraries and increase the use of volunteers.
While researching the service for the strategic plan, Hampshire Libraries found it spent £58 per active member in 2015. An active member is classified as anyone who has borrowed a book within the last 12 months.
Amber Elizabeth Bright, Winchester resident, said: ‘I take the kids in the school holidays for books and if they have activities on. But I find Winchester Library really limited for books for adults.’
Councillor Woodward pointed out, even though there is an overall downward trend in book issues and visitor number, in line with the national trend, some parts of library services are improving.
‘We are seeing a rise in some types of book loans, particularly children’s books,’ he adds.
The use of e-book and e-audiobook service ‘are also very popular’, he adds, as it means people can access content 24/7 without needing to visit a library. Cllr Woodward also said library building refurbishments were ‘designed to make visits to the library more convenient and accessible to all’.
Charlie Evans, Winchester resident, said libraries are a ‘great resource for kids books and local history’. He believes fewer people are using the library service because they ‘probably don’t have time’.
Fareham library suffered the biggest drop with 160,642 fewer books being borrowed. This library was closed for one day in 2017/18 for refurbishments.
There are some libraries, however, which have bucked the downward trend. Hedge End, Hythe and Stubbington all saw an increase in book issues over the requested period.
The biggest upward change was Hythe library with a change of 107,995 books being issued.
Sean Churchill, student, said: ‘It’s undeniable that the internet has become more useful and more convenient but libraries are still wonderful places. ‘There is nothing like discovering books and sitting in an environment where others are doing the same.’
Despite visitor numbers being reduced, nine of the 51 libraries run by the county council — Chandlers Ford, Fleet, Hedge End, Netley, Odiham, Stubbington, West End, Winchester Discovery Centre and Yateley — actually saw an increase in visitors in the past decade.
The greatest upward change was Winchester Discovery Centre, with 234,228 more visitors in 2017 than in 2007. This is partly due to a huge renovation which happened in 2008 and the library’s conversion to a Discovery Centre.
In Hampshire, there are 3 discovery centres, one in Gosport, one in Winchester and one in Basingstoke. A discovery centre is not just a library, but also a communal space. They have a café, gallery, performance space, as well as a large selection of books. This means they attract a larger number of visitors, than some of the other libraries.
David Cleeve, Hampshire resident, said: ‘I used to love going to the library, they always had a nice smell but the internet has made them pointless.’
Chris Gray, Winchester resident, said the reason for libraries has changed because of the rise of the internet and e-books but ‘they are still excellent research resources — librarians are highly skilled and qualified to help’.
He also said he sees many libraries expanding their range to educate young children.
‘I see the need — but that puts me off visiting,’ he adds.
Hampshire Libraries are controlled by Hampshire County Council, which is a two-tier system of county and district councils. The libraries are controlled by the county council.
However, Southampton and Portsmouth are separate from the county council as they are both unitary authorities which means they run their own services.
The figures are separate and therefore not included with the 51 other libraries in Hampshire.
How Popular is Your Local Library?
The following tables were created with population data supplied by the ONS, for each of the catchment areas in 2015. The Hampshire Library league table was created by dividing the visitor numbers by the population data. The resulting figure was then assessed against the others and the largest number was the busiest and the smallest number was the quietest.
During 2008, Winchester Library underwent a redecoration and a name change to Winchester Discovery Centre. The redecoration meant a café was installed in the library as well as two galleries and a performance space. This means it rises in the ranks, as more visitors come through the doors for the other facilities as well as the library. In cities where there are a large number of libraries and the population density of the area is higher, the resulting figure is smaller and therefore might not be an accurate representation of how busy a library is.
The figures for Southampton and Portsmouth are not included as they are unitary authorities and are not run by Hampshire County Council and the population data is only available for the entire city and not broken down into areas within the city.
