Around 2,000 jobs were cut, and the most deprived areas were four times more likely to lose a library than the richest, according to a BBC report
More than 180 UK council-run libraries have closed or been handed over to volunteer groups since 2016, new data shows.
Freedom of information requests sent by the BBC to every UK library authority, along with Arts Council England data, found that around 950 libraries – a third of those remaining – reduced their hours in the past eight years. Two thousand jobs have been lost, and dozens more possible closures over the next year were identified.