Welsh and UK children's laurates on library cuts

UK children's laureate Joseph Coelho is currently travelling around the UK, visiting every local authority as part of his Library Marathon tour. At each stop, he is joining a local library, borrowing a book, and reading to schoolchildren.

Speaking in Newport to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he spoke fondly of his own treasured childhood memories of his local library, and said he feared children today could miss out if councils continued to cut services in a bid to shore up budgets.

“I was lucky, in that where I grew up there was a library next to my estate,” he said. “I didn’t come from a household that was filled with books.”

Taking part in a summer reading challenge “made me a reader, and by extension a writer”, Mr Coelho said, adding that he went on to work at his local library “as soon as I got my National Insurance card”, dashing there from school every Tuesday and Thursday.

Joseph Coelho, the UK children’s laureate, in Newport Central Library. Credit: LDRS

“Both the libraries I worked at close to my estate have now closed,” he said. “My heart breaks for the kids that are in the estates that I grew up on, whose families don’t have a car, who now don’t have that library which is just around the corner.”

Mr Coelho was joined in Newport by newly-appointed Welsh children’s laureate Alex Wharton, who grew up in Pontypool and said several local community libraries of his childhood had also disappeared.

“I just think it’s a shame,” Mr Wharton said. “If you live in a household where your parents don’t drive, you might not be able to visit a library – even if it’s two miles away, it might just be a little bit too far. 

“Libraries offer opportunities. They offer an exploration of the world: languages, literature, lyrics, different worlds. Having that opportunity is hard to quantify – who knows what it could do for you.”

Travelling on the Library Marathon tour has opened Mr Coelho’s eyes even further to the wide range of services they can provide across the UK.

Alex Wharton, the Welsh children’s laureate, in Newport Central Library. Credit: LDRS

“The more use we make of these wonderful spaces, the better,” he said. “Often people don’t realise everything that libraries can offer. Of course, there are books, but it’s also all the other wonderful sort of societal services – vital council services, but also board game clubs, Lego clubs, knit-and-natter groups. 

“People come to the library to weigh their babies. You have drop-in health centres. It’s just a lovely idea to weigh a baby in a library, or change the batteries for your hearing aids.

“There are so many other things that libraries do – vital things, as well as being warmth centres.”

The reality, however, is that the cost-of-living crisis may force councils to curb library spending, as they face up to a grim financial situation. Wider budget squeezes mean councils will almost inevitably turn to non-obligatory services, such as libraries, in order to make savings.

“It doesn’t bode well, does it?” said Mr Coelho on the threats libraries nationwide could face.

“It would be good if there was some protection in law for libraries, so that they don’t become the obvious choice [for cuts].

“It’s not an obvious saving, because later down the line, there’s inevitably going to be cost involved. I think it’s a terrible thing.”

Libraries are often distinctive and vibrant buildings, and Mr Coelho mourned their disappearance from town centres, where high streets are being ever more homogenised.

“Once the library is gone from a location, there’s nowhere else where you can just walk in and you’re not expected to buy a coffee, and you can just sit and meet; or where kids and teenagers can revise and do their homework or study, or find out about the world beyond their doorstep,” he said.

“I think they are essential and I think it would be very wise if there was more protection, and more of an onus on councils having to provide them.”

Mr Wharton said it was “necessary to be creative” about the future of libraries.

Coming from a background in construction, he noted how building firms often had to strike deals (so-called Section 106 agreements) with councils, in which they typically pledge to build green spaces or support affordable housing in order to secure planning permission for things like housing developments.

Compelling developers, or businesses like supermarkets, to fund and maintain libraries could be a way to keep services running in future, he suggested.

Mr Coelho said libraries “become an easy target when there are cuts”, but expressed a degree of sympathy for councillors who had to choose how to tighten the purse strings.

“It must be a really difficult thing to balance those books, but I think the fact of the matter is that councils shouldn’t be in that situation where the library becomes a potential victim,” he said. 

“That situation shouldn’t arise, because we know the benefits of reading for future life chances for children, and across the age ranges – older people coming in and getting computer lessons, people getting trained up on different software. I was in a library recently where they did programming lessons. 

“Libraries are key in enabling people to improve their life chances, and that’s got to be something worth fighting for and keeping.”