25 Aug 2010 11:48:55
In our days public libraries become not very popular because in the internet there are a lot of electronic books. Popularity has fallen from 48.2 per cent in 2005/06 to just 39.4 per cent in 2009/10 according to Government statistics.
The number of people who visit a library on a weekly basis has dropped by 32 per cent in five years to just 5.4 per cent.
Libraries are expected to face significant cuts as councils are told to reduce their budgets.
In some rural areas, such as Hudswell in the Yorkshire Dales, closures have forced residents to set up volunteer-staffed libraries in the local pub.
Meanwhile, the villagers of Westbury-sub-Mendip in Somerset have created what could be the world's smallest library in a former red telephone box.
Despite decreasing numbers of users Sir Andrew Motion, the former poet laureate, has attacked suggestions that library budgets should be cut as part of deficit reduction measures.
In June this year Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary, announced a package of cuts that included a £2million-a-year spending commitment set out in the Public Library Modernisation Review.
Despite falling adult figures the Department for Culture Media and Sport said that 77.9 per cent of five to 10 year-olds had visited a library in the last year.
The number of people who visit a library on a weekly basis has dropped by 32 per cent in five years to just 5.4 per cent.
Libraries are expected to face significant cuts as councils are told to reduce their budgets.
In some rural areas, such as Hudswell in the Yorkshire Dales, closures have forced residents to set up volunteer-staffed libraries in the local pub.
Meanwhile, the villagers of Westbury-sub-Mendip in Somerset have created what could be the world's smallest library in a former red telephone box.
Despite decreasing numbers of users Sir Andrew Motion, the former poet laureate, has attacked suggestions that library budgets should be cut as part of deficit reduction measures.
In June this year Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary, announced a package of cuts that included a £2million-a-year spending commitment set out in the Public Library Modernisation Review.
Despite falling adult figures the Department for Culture Media and Sport said that 77.9 per cent of five to 10 year-olds had visited a library in the last year.
