News

The latest news, updates and opinion from Libraries Connected.
If you’re a journalist please contact the Libraries Connected press team: media@librariesconnected.org.uk

An ice rink in a library.

A year of transformation and creativity in Wigan Libraries

Opinion

Craig Jones

Funding has enabled Leigh Library to act as both quiet space and performance venue.
Children dressed in orange listen to a storytime in a library.

Social value: Measuring the true impact of libraries

Opinion

Chad Bentley

Social value is a way to measure value that goes beyond the monetary and the financial.
A female customer asks for advice at a library information desk.

'Look to your team': A message for libraries in 2026

Opinion

Ed Jewell

Ed Jewell outlines his hopes for libraries in 2026 and looks back on 2025.
A blood pressure monitor.

Libraries: Helping save lives with blood pressure monitors

Opinion

Beth Harris

Libraries Unlimited has been working closely with NHS Devon on the 'One Devon' initiative.
The inside of a public library showing wooden desks and chairs.

Kathryn Harrison reflects on a life in libraries

Opinion

Kathryn Harrison

'The success of the library service depends on all the players involved', Kathryn says.
Image shows the Makerspace at Hull Central Library.

Skills bootcamps in Hull Libraries: How to grow creative talent

Opinion

Sarah Shiels

Demand for digital confidence is increasing amongst library staff.
A library van from Kent.

Kent's Home Library Service: Connecting the vulnerable and isolated

Opinion

Lindsay Prestage

The service forms a crucial connection for people who find it difficult or impossible to get to a library.
A young man works at a laptop in a library.

Ian Anstice reflects on 15 years of Public Libraries News

Opinion

Ian Anstice BEM

Anstice says public libraries remain 'amazing places that give free space and knowledge to all'.
A female librarian reads with a child in a library.

Hull Schools Library Service: Creating lifelong readers for pleasure

Opinion

Amy Jeffrey

Children and young people need to see themselves and others in the texts they read, Amy writes.
Members of the Over 60s Community Choir in Gloucestershire Libraries.

Singing for connection: How library-based choirs can transform lives

Opinion

Sally Williams

Gloucestershire's Over 60s Community Choir initiative was designed to provide connection among older adults.
A pair of hands seen grasping a white mug of hot brown liquid.

Public libraries: 'Places of belonging' at the centre of the Warm Welcome Campaign

Opinion

David Barclay

Among all Warm Welcome Spaces, libraries have grown faster than any other group.
A woman sits in a library wearing a blue coat.

What does the future look like for our public libraries?

Opinion

Ed Jewell

'I think these are the most challenging of times and the most exhilarating of times to work in libraries', Jewell says.