Stop the Privatisation of the British Library!

On 16 October, Jeremy Silver, Interim Chief Executive Officer, announced to staff that British Library management intends to:

These proposals were announced to staff without any prior consultation with PCS. Alongside these issues, PCS members are also in dispute with management over its failure to make an improved and acceptable pay offer for 2026/27. 

PCS is seriously concerned about the proposed privatisation of staff and public spaces at an institution that has been publicly owned for over 50 years.

Closing the Science Reading Rooms:

Closing the Science Reading Rooms and turning them into coworking spaces operated by a private company is not an isolated decision. It is part of a wider trend towards the privatisation of public spaces. At a time when rents are soaring, housing is becoming increasingly unaffordable and public spaces are being fenced off for corporate interests, any attempt to privatise the British Library represents an attack on the public's right to accessible, free and communal spaces.

It also marks the start of deteriorating service quality as private companies prioritise profit maximisation over public service. Management has failed to provide a relocation plan for the existing collections or an alternative operating model. Management's justification for commercialising these spaces rests on the unsubstantiated claim that it will deliver financial savings. But where will those savings actually come from? Cutting staff costs? Reducing service quality? Restricting access to the Science Reading Rooms and their collections?

PCS is also deeply concerned about the wider staffing consequences of the proposed privatisation and the subsequent restructure. PCS will not accept potential job losses as an inevitable consequence of management's proposals. Staff must not be made to pay the price for decisions to commercialise public services and spaces.

Outsourcing Security Staff:

Management is not only proposing to privatise public spaces at the British Library; it is also seeking to privatise the in-house security function. PCS fundamentally opposes the outsourcing of security staff to a private company.

Outsourced workers are more likely to face longer working hours, lower pay and insecure or temporary contracts. Public money is being systematically diverted from public services to fund private profits, shareholder dividends and senior management salaries. Outsourcing also undermines collective bargaining by dividing the workforce, weakening workers' collective power.

Outsourcing also disproportionately impacts BAME workers, who are heavily overrepresented in outsourced roles. PCS opposes any attempt to establish a racist two-tier workforce at the British Library.

The proposal is particularly difficult to understand in the context of the government's current direction on outsourcing. In June 2026, the government announced its ambition to end “outsourcing by default” and introduced a Public Interest Test intended to focus decisions on long-term service quality and public value. Cleaning and security were specifically identified among the services the government is looking to bring back in-house. 

Libraries must remain in the public domain and, therefore accountable to the people who work there, to those that use them and the communities they exist within. They must not become vehicles for private profit.

Inadequate pay offer for 2026/27:

Lastly, British Library management has failed to provide a meaningful and acceptable pay offer for 2026/27. Members have reported that, as a result of low wages, they have struggled to afford rising rental, energy, food and transport costs. Staff deserve fair pay that recognises their contribution and keeps pace with the rising cost of living.