Manchester libraries buck the national trend

Following recent reports suggesting that visitor numbers to libraries are down across the board, Manchester appears to be bucking the national trend.

A report from DCMS last week revealed that the number of adults using local libraries across the UK has decreased from 48.2% in 2005/06 to 39.4% in 2009/10 but in Manchester the figures are rising.

In the last five years, visits to the city’s libraries have increased by 17% from 2.8 million to 3.1 million a year.

Book issues, computer sessions, online reservations and searches on the library web pages are all up on the last year. There has also been a 42% increase in the number of young people visiting library homework clubs and the issue of children’s books is up by 11% (June 09 compared with June 10).

Add to this the thousands of members also making use of the library twitter and facebook pages and it’s clear how Manchester is making the most of its library resources.

Labour Councillor Mike Amesbury, Manchester City Council’s executive member for culture and leisure said: “The way in which we use libraries has dramatically changed in recent years and I think, in Manchester, we’re keeping up with these changes extremely well. The variety of services and events we now offer is having a marked difference on the popularity of the city’s libraries and as people turn their focus towards online and social networking resources we are meeting their demands to ensure a useful and relevant library service for everyone. Over the coming months draconian cuts will be imposed by the new ConDem government” we will continue to work with partners to try to renew our Library service.
Manchester has already successfully opened two new, modern libraries this year.

Longsight Library, which opened in April complete with a new adult learning centre, has issued 48,400 books in the last three months and welcome 2,500 new members.

City Library meanwhile, serving the city centre while Central Library undergoes refurbishment, has welcomed 1,520 in the last two months.

The next plans are for new libraries in Beswick, due to open on 13 September and Brooklands, which will open in October while the new Overdrive service is now up and running to allow members to download books to computers, e-readers and other devices, without having to set foot outside their own homes.