(29 March 2016) Almost 8,000 jobs in UK libraries have disappeared in six years, about a quarter of the overall total, an investigation by the BBC has revealed.
Over the same period, some 15,500 volunteers have been recruited and 343 libraries have closed, leading to fears over the future of the profession.
Children’s author Alan Gibbons said the public library service faced the “greatest crisis in its history”.
The government said it funded the roll-out of wi-fi to help libraries adapt.
The BBC has compiled data from 207 authorities responsible for running libraries through the Freedom of Information Act.
The BBC’s analysis is here as is the dataset.
