Colorful paper leaves and decorations hanging from a tree display inside Barnstaple Library, with bookshelves and signage for Children’s and Teenage Fiction sections in the background.

Consultation Opens On The Future Of The Library Service In Devon

Statement From Our Chief Executive, Alex Kittow

Devon County Council (DCC) have this week launched a formal consultation on the future of the library service in Devon. This is a crucially important time for local libraries across Devon. DCC commission us to run 50 public libraries in their area (the 4 we run on behalf of Torbay Council are not affected by this consultation) and we want as many people as possible to have their say and help shape how services are delivered in future.

Financial pressures, alongside the way people use Council services, are driving this consultation. We’ve been using our charitable reserves over the last few years to plug funding gaps, but we can no longer continue to do this. The consultation that has now been launched will help DCC understand how people use library services and how they’d like to see things develop in future years.

We’re incredibly proud of what Libraries Unlimited has achieved since it was set up in 2016. We’ve seen hundreds of thousands of people come through our doors, millions of books have been borrowed, and we’ve held thousands of events – all of which have been designed to have a positive impact on local people, bringing them together, making them smile and laugh, or expanding their knowledge or understanding in some way. But like all councils, Devon must deliver a balanced budget. Rising costs and limited funding mean difficult decisions are needed across all services they either directly provide or commission —and this includes libraries.

We know that libraries are still an incredibly valuable part of people’s lives here in Devon (with over 2.6 million visits through our doors for example in 2024/25), and the Council recognises this too. Please do take a few minutes of your time to take part in the consultation, and to have your say.

You can access the consultation document online and complete the survey by visiting https://devon.cc/your-libraries . And if you don’t have your own device to do this, public PCs in libraries can be used to complete the survey.

Our local teams in libraries will be supporting the consultation as best they can, but as this is a DCC consultation, and if you have specific questions you’d like to ask, please get in touch with the Devon County Council Consultation Team at: communitiesconsultation@devon.gov.uk