Council to launch consultation on the future of Devon’s library services

A consultation is being launched to look at how Devon’s libraries are run as the county council faces growing financial pressures.

The council directly funds 50 libraries across the county through a £7million contract with the Libraries Unlimited charity, but this agreement ends in March.

Now the council is looking to reshape the library service to better reflect how libraries are used and to consider how it can juggle the pressure on its finances while continuing to support the service.

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At its cabinet meeting today (Wednesday, October 8), councillors agreed to launch an extensive 12-week public consultation in November.

It will seek to gather residents’ views on how libraries should adapt and evolve to meet changing needs and financial pressures.

A report to cabinet said the service was already struggling and to deliver it within the available budget has led to measures such as delaying maintenance work, implementing a more cost-effective computer network and a recruitment freeze.

The report said there are 113,661 active users across Devon’s libraries, with children being the most engaged group – making up 28% oif the total.

Exeter has the highest engagement at 18% while Torridge and Teignbridge have the lowest at 11%.

The council said digital borrowing had increased greatly, with more than one million digital issues annually, while physical borrowing remained 22% below pre-pandemic levels.

Libraries also hosted more than 12,000 events in 2024-25, attracting more than 218,000 attendees - an 85% increase since 2019/20.

These ranged from bounce-and-rhyme sessions to Coder Dojos, Lego clubs, arts and crafts and various workshops and performances.

Councillors today heard that the newly developed Library Needs Assessment will guide future strategy and help identify gaps and opportunities for development.

The consultation will look at various options such as revised opening hours, extending access through volunteers and technology and transitioning some libraries into community hubs managed by local organisations with DCC support.

Cornwall for example only has four in-house libraries, with 27 now run by local organisations.

The consultation is due to end in January, with a fully-formed proposal expected to be submitted to the cabinet by April and then the outcome implemented in May.

Councillor Cheryl Cottle Hunkin, the cabinet member responsible for libraries, said: “Devon’s libraries are trusted spaces at the heart of our communities. We know how vital they are and we are absolutely committed to them.

“But the way people are using our libraries is changing and this is a chance to redesign the service to provide a modern, flexible service which reflects how people use our libraries today.

“Nothing has been decided and when we launch the consultation next month, we want to hear what you, the users, think; your ideas will help us form and shape our proposals.”

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Alex Kittow, chief executive of Libraries Unlimited added: “We understand the funding pressures that Devon County Council are under.

“As a charity we have been using our reserves for the last few years to try to plug the gap and deliver the service as it was, but we cannot continue to do this.

“We are able to offer a substantial amount of added benefits to the service through grants and funding, for example we just used a grant to refurbish the children’s library in Exeter, but the core library service is funded by the council.

“We are working with DCC to create a more sustainable library service and we urge everyone to get involved in the public consultation when it comes out, as libraries are vital to our communities.”