One of the glories of our cultural heritage, Britain's libraries face an uncertain future. Many are threatened with closure, others seem more interested in yoga and coffee. Rachel Cooke argues we should fight to keep reading at the heart of our culture.
How libraries add up
1653 Chetham's Library, the UK's first public library, is founded in Manchester.
3,469 Number of public libraries in the UK today. There are 591 mobile libraries.
Since 2003, 82 libraries have closed nationwide. In 2006/7, a total of 71 libraries closed in England alone, with an overall net loss of 40.
There were 328.5 million visits to UK public libraries in 2007/8 compared with just over 345 million in 1997 – almost 20 million fewer visits per year.
1.5 million visits to Norfolk and Norwich Millennium library last year makes it the UK's busiest library.
37.9% of adults in Barnsley use public libraries making it the local authority with the lowest number of visitors in England.
In 1996/7 there were 92.3 million books available for lending in the UK; in 2007/8 that figure fell to 75.8 million
307.6 million books were issued in UK public libraries in 2007/8. a 34.8% drop in book issues since Labour came to power in 1997.
There are 14 million books in the British Library collection and 920,000 journal and newspaper titles.
5,679 Number of professional staff in UK public libraries in 2006/7 compared to 6,145 in 2001/2.
Expenditure on books in public libraries is below 8% of the total public library funds (in inner London that fi gure is just 5.7%).
On average, councils spend just 1.6% of their library funding on children's titles.
Jacqueline Wilson's books were borrowed almost 1.5 million times in 2007/8, making her the most popular children's author.
