To: Mayor Woodley and Cabinet members
Halt cuts of 15% (£773, 225) coming to Hackney Libraries in 2026 and 2027 !
Hackney Council wants to press ahead with sweeping cuts to your library service as of 2026. This follows very swiftly from a massive restructuring process in 2022, which saw job losses and other savings made in the name of sustainability.
Furthermore, a further 15% of the service budget is to be slashed, amounting to £773,225 per year. This represents three-quarters of the savings from our directorate (1.1m savings), Climate, Homes and Economy. CH&E have a net budget of £69.2 million (2025/26)
This will mean libraries closing on particular days, affecting the availability and quality of your local service. There will also be significant cuts to stock, development, security and the much-loved Community Library Service, which is a lifeline for the elderly, hospital patients, people with a disability and those unable to visit the library in person.
This will mean libraries closing on particular days, affecting the availability and quality of your local service. There will also be significant cuts to stock, development, security and the much-loved Community Library Service, which is a lifeline for the elderly, hospital patients, people with a disability and those unable to visit the library in person.
The council’s cabinet made this decision and will be enforced on the service with little in the way of consultation.
Hackney Libraries are taking the brunt of the cuts to the Climate, Homes and Economy Directorate. As a front-line service with well over a century of heritage and immeasurably deep roots in your community, we do not agree with the council’s assessment that libraries are fair game to chip away at!
Why is this important?
Libraries do so much more than lend books!
We are one of the last vestiges of public civic life, accessible to all, located at the heart of your community. We provide:
- A safe space, open to everyone, cool in summer and warm in winter
- A wealth of information, free at the point of delivery
- Services such as printing and room hire are far below the commercial rate
- IT assistance for the digitally excluded
- Free community groups, clubs and societies for you to join
- Free crafts, activities and workshops for your children
- Partnership programmes with local schools to reinforce learning
- Learning and development programmes and classes
- A public platform for organisations to liaise with the community in person
… and a lot more besides.
