There is a mystery here... all the press cover (Mail, Guardian, lots
of local papers) includes this bizarre assertion:
The apparent decline in interest in libraries comes despite an overall
increase in the number of libraries, including those transformed from
public libraries by community and volunteer groups. There are 3,450
libraries in England, according to the most recent figures from the
Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, up 2% from
2010.
There is nothing like this in the Taking Part report. The Library
Campaign is trying to track down where it has come from.
Meanwhile, the report itself does have a wee section (p.10) about
"Government policy which may have had an effect on child participation
rates in the cultural sectors" - which re libraries mentions only that
The Reading Agency runs the Summer Reading Challenge - nothing about
mass closures/cuts to child-friendly local libraries...
Taking Part 2014/15 - Annual Child Report | Statistical Release
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/447730/Taking_Part_2014_15_Child_Report__Repaired_.pdf
Laura Swaffield
The Library Campaign
On 26/07/2015, Frances Hendrix <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> DAILY MAIL : 25th July
> Fears for literacy after it emerges fewer children are going to libraries
> ....
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> * Library visits by young children have plummeted over the past five
> years
> * Number who had used a library in the previous seven days fell by a
> quarter
> * The fall in numbers comes despite an increase in the number of
> libraries
>
> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3173954/Fears-literacy-emerges-fewer-children-going-libraries-number-visiting-quarter-five-years.html
>
>
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>
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> Frances Hendrix
> Martin House Farm, Hilltop Lane, Whittle le Woods, Chorley, Lancs, PR6 7QR
> Tel: 01257 274 833. Mobile: 0777 55 888 03
>
>
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