Culture Media and Sport written question – answered at on 21 July 2010.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport
(1) how many new public libraries were built in England in each of the last 10 years;
(2) how many public libraries were closed in England in each of the last 10 years.
Central Government do not produce data on the number of public libraries built or closed each year. Data showing the number of public library service points in England is published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) in their annual Public Library Statistics and is reproduced in the following table. Copies of the CIPFA Public Library Statistics are available in the House Libraries.
Libraries open 60+ hrs per week | Libraries open 45-59 hrs per week | Libraries open 30-44 hrs per week | Libraries open 10-29 hrs per week | Mobile libraries | Libraries open 10+ hrs per week (incl. mobiles) | Libraries open <10hrs per week | Libraries open (all hours) | |
1998-99 | 11 | 437 | 1242 | 1347 | 467 | 3504 | 150 | 3654 |
1999-2000 | 11 | 458 | 1222 | 1340 | 470 | 3501 | 132 | 3633 |
2000-01 | 19 | 469 | 1213 | 1331 | 465 | 3497 | 130 | 3627 |
2001-02 | 28 | 493 | 1199 | 1311 | 473 | 3504 | 115 | 3619 |
2002-03 | 42 | 598 | 1168 | 1240 | 462 | 3510 | 91 | 3601 |
2003-04 | 51 | 683 | 1143 | 1186 | 461 | 3524 | 80 | 3604 |
2004-05 | 69 | 727 | 1139 | 1106 | 433 | 3474 | 96 | 3570 |
2005-06 | 81 | 760 | 1124 | 1092 | 443 | 3500 | 73 | 3573 |
2006-07 | 97 | 741 | 1132 | 1096 | 428 | 3494 | 86 | 3580 |
2007-08 | 104 | 760 | 1111 | 1085 | 409 | 3469 | 96 | 3565 |
2008-09 | 119 | 780 | 1095 | 1062 | 395 | 3451 | 91 | 3542 |
Yes0 people think so
No1 person thinks not
Would you like to ask a question like this yourself? Use our Freedom of Information site.