The following is an edited version of the address given by Libraries Connected President Ed Jewell to the 'Libraries 175' event held at Manchester Central Library in October 2025.
 

Opening remarks

It is a privilege to stand here in Manchester, in this remarkable library, to mark the 175th anniversary of the Public Libraries Act. It's an honour to represent my profession as we mark this moment and I’m pleased to have been joined here today by several Past Presidents of Libraries Connected, not least Neil MacInnes. 
 

Manchester: A city at the centre of the public library movement

Manchester has a special place in our story.  It was here, in 1852, that the first free public library opened under the powers of the Act.  Among the speakers that day was Charles Dickens. He spoke of his earnest hope that the books made available would “provide a source of pleasure and improvement in the cottages, the garrets, and the cellars of the poorest of our people” and declared himself “a zealous advocate for the diffusion of knowledge among all classes and conditions.”

I believe those two thoughts express what are still the essence and spirit of our public libraries today: services that are there for every home, for every circumstance, making knowledge freely available to all.
 

Public libraries: Living entities shaped by their users

I became a librarian because I believe everyone deserves the freedom and opportunity to shape their own lives, and that libraries make that possible.  At our heart, we help people gain the skills and confidence and resources to read, learn and create; to become curious about the world around them and, in turn, to change it for the better.

Our libraries hold the raw materials for new ideas.  They are places where questions begin, where change is kindled, where assumptions can be safely tested.  They offer stability, welcome and space for both social connection and for deep thought.  We are havens for those new to our communities, and places of learning for those seeking to understand more about their lives, their health, their environment and their future.

We see that purpose lived out in our libraries in a thousand small, but human moments every single day. There’s the mum, juggling the pressures of daily life, who finds joy and connection in a rhyme-time session with their child and other parents. The teenager who comes to the library every afternoon, not only to revise for exams but to feel the calm reassurance of a safe, quiet space. An entrepreneur developing an idea, supported with advice, resources and then given the confidence to take their next step. The newcomer finding their feet, sitting with a librarian, using translation software to complete a housing application.

None of these stories would have surprised Charles Dickens or the shapers of the 1850 Act. They would have recognised the same impulse to make knowledge, learning and community available to everyone, whatever their background or circumstances. These moments are ordinary and everyday, but they are also profound. They remind us that our libraries are not simply buildings or collections; they are living entities, reimagined and renewed daily by those who walk through their doors.

 

The changing shape of public libraries in challenging times

The shape of libraries has changed countless times since Dickens spoke his opening words. 
Today our work, spread across a network of some 4,000 libraries, is broad and varied. We are deeply involved in support for digital inclusion, health and wellbeing and climate literacy, alongside offering the books, cultural events and educational talks that Dickens would recognise. 

We are delivering these services in challenging times, and many libraries continue to do extraordinary things under great financial pressure.  As local authorities face difficult financial decisions, our task is to ensure libraries are recognised as essential to the fabric of public life. When libraries thrive, communities do too and the research consistently shows that they deliver a return on investment many, many times over.

The impact is real, measurable and enduring. I’m sure the advocates for the original 1850 Act, Edwards Edwards and William Ewart, would be proud that public libraries remain one of the UK’s best-used and most trusted services. Over a quarter of adults and more than twice as many children visit a library every year. Surveys consistently show libraries are seen as reliable, welcoming and valued institutions. 

That trust and reach make libraries indispensable partners in local and national priorities, from literacy and digital skills to health, creativity and inclusion. We see that partnership in action through Camden’s Reading Together strategy and Barnsley’s partnership with the Digital Media Centre, from Merton’s collaboration with health providers, the broader national Libraries of Sanctuary movement and, here in Manchester, the Let’s Get Digital programme.

We have taken up the vision laid out by Edwards, Ewart and Dickens and carried it far beyond the library’s walls. With partnerships and technology, we can now take the immense potential of our libraries into every home, school, community centre and workplace.

Public libraries: A ‘People’s Network’ for the 21st century

In the late 1990s, the new Labour Government invested in what became known as the People’s Network, a nationwide programme that equipped every public library with computers and internet access to foster the spread of vital new technological skills. It created a digital bridge for millions, and its legacy lives on. Today there are around 25,000 public computers in libraries across the UK, used for more than 14 million hours each year.

Imagine what we could achieve if we took that same rationale and applied it to the challenges we face today around declining literacy rates, the information revolution, health and wellbeing, and social cohesion. With investment, imagination and courage our libraries can be at the heart of the solutions our communities need. 

I hope that when our successors stand on this, stage 175 years from now, they will see that libraries rose to the great challenges of this century; that we became trusted guides through the bewildering flood of digital information, that we nurtured a renewed culture of reading in an age of distraction, that we helped communities build happier, healthier lives together.

That is why this moment, today, matters. It’s a chance for all of us, librarians, partners and policymakers, to think boldly about what comes next: how we can build partnerships and libraries that match the scale of the challenges we face; grounded in evidence, collaboration and shared purpose. The story that began in Manchester 175 years ago is still being written, and it’s ours to shape.

So, as we celebrate this anniversary, I ask us to not only look back with gratitude, but forward with resolve. The spirit of the 1850 Act is not a relic from a dimly remembered past, it is alive in every child who discovers a love of reading, every person who learns a new skill, every community that finds a home in our libraries. Our duty, as librarians, leaders and citizens, is to keep that spirit strong, relevant and vital for the next 175 years.