Public libraries remain a vital part of community life, providing free information and reading materials to everyone. Their role is particularly important amid a long-term decline in reading for pleasure among children and young people. But our research indicates that England’s public library collections are being hollowed out through long-term underinvestment.

In June 2026, former libraries minister Baroness Twycross confirmed that the government is developing a national strategy for libraries and reading in England, setting out ambitions for the next five years. The expectation was that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport would publish it over the summer. However, we have a new libraries minister but no published strategy.

A national strategy is long overdue. England’s previous strategy for public libraries covered the period from 2016 to 2021, while the legislation underpinning the service dates from 1964. Our research has shown that although the Public Libraries and Museums Act remains relevant, it no longer provides sufficient clarity about the purpose and expectations of a modern library service.

The national strategy matters because many of the challenges facing public libraries are systemic and cannot be addressed by individual services alone. Library services are reporting a decline in funds to buy and maintain books and other resources, complicated and expensive approaches to accessing digital reading materials for their........

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