Newham confirms no plans to close any libraries, despite budget pressures, thanks to higher government funding. Library Strategy to be unveiled in March.
Newham’s Cabinet members were today told that there are no plans to close any of the borough’s libraries.
Cllr Zulfiqar Ali, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resource, made the announcement at a Cabinet meeting held at East Ham Town Hall to discuss the forthcoming Budget.
Concerns had been raised about the future of the library service due to budget constraints.
But higher than expected funding from central government has meant that many of the worst-case savings scenarios have been averted.
Cllr Charlene McLean, Cabinet Member for Resident Engagement and Resident Experience, said: “I want to set the record straight with regards to the Library Review as there has been a growing campaign by Save Our Libraries and consequently a lot of misinformation in the public domain.
“The Library Review had a suggested a savings target of £1.6m, which was retained to reflect the expectation of a material level of savings from this service as agreed at Full Council in February 2025.
“Years of underfunding left the Council in a position that we had to consider extremely difficult savings.
“The actual level of savings to be delivered will be determined through the library review and the public statutory consultation.
“Libraries are an essential part of the ecosystem of Newham and are a valued resource by this administration and at this point there are no plans to close any of our 10 libraries situated across our eight neighbourhoods as part of the libraries review.
“While books remain central to Newham’s statutory library service, the service plays a much broader part in the lives of the people who live, work, and study in the borough providing equity and opportunity.
“As we know, Newham’s award-winning library service offers a range of services that support residents and I am proud to announce that we were recently accepted into the inaugural cohort of libraries participating in the new Libraries Development Framework, administered by Arts Council England and our submission received the highest rating of Met Strong.”
The Library Strategy is due to come before Cabinet in March and will outline the borough's proposed vision for Library Services.
