Library services for children in the UK

Abstract

The Library and Information Statistics Unit at Loughborough University has carried out annual surveys of library services to schools and children for a number of years. The historical background to these surveys is described. The detail in the information collected has increased over the years, and the response rates to the surveys are high. There has been a common core of questions, and some of these are used to demonstrate trends in provision and use of these services over the last five years. The overall picture for schools library services is encouraging. Despite many organisational and funding changes over the period, the majority of services which have survived appear to be rising to the challenge of providing continuing support to schools, with levels of provision and use maintained. For public library services to children, the picture is rather bleak, with cuts in both provision and use. It is little comfort to realise that the children's service is faring better than adult service provision in many areas, with the proportion of materials expenditure on children increasing, albeit slowly.