Richmond has the third highest percentage of in-person visits to libraries in London, with more than a third of adults visiting one, new data shows.
Over the past year, 36% of Richmond’s adults visited a library in person, the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)’s 2023/24 survey* found.
This is just below Hillingdon, which had the highest overall physical engagement in libraries in person (38%), and Camden (37%).
Evie Loy O’Neill, a librarian at Richmond Libraries Services and the BookTrust Coordinator for Richmond described libraries as being like a “third space” as they are social, community spaces, separate from home and the workplace.
O’Neill said: “Libraries are like having somewhere beyond just your work or your home or school.
“They are like being able to go somewhere else that doesn’t cost anything and, especially at the moment with the cost of living crisis, that is so important.
“Being able to come into your library where there’s no pressure to spend any money and access loads of resources completely for free, is really beneficial to people.”
She further noted how libraries can be especially valuable spaces for families and young children, becoming a real lifeline for parents who can socialise and share experiences with other parents and careers and reducing loneliness.
O’Neill added: “I think combating loneliness is also a really important part of libraries, and what we offer, for socialisation and being a free and welcoming space to everyone.”
Library engagement across London
London as a city had the highest percentage of in-person library visits, with engagement levels at 30%.
The percentage of total engagement in England was 26%, showing engagement rates in London were higher than other areas in the country.
In particular, in-person library visits in London, were notably higher than in areas in the North of England, with North East England nearly 10% lower in physical library visits with a 21% engagement rate.
Nationally, the DCMS data highlighted a broader trend of increased engagement, with physical visits to public and mobile libraries rising by 6% from 19% in 2022/23 to 25% in 2023/24.
However, the majority of visits were not for book borrowing, browsing or returning, all of which decreased by 2% between 2021/22 (72%) and 2022/23 (70%) and 10% in 2023/24 (60%).
Commenting on the interest in borrowing books in Richmond libraries, O’Neill said: “Of course, books are a really important part of what we offer, but it’s far more than that.”
O’Neill remarked that people are often surprised about the variety of events and services libraries offer which she explained including loaning books to ukuleles and offering community spaces.
She said: “Getting the message out there that libraries aren’t just silent places that you’re only allowed to go in and borrow a book and then leave and if you don’t return a book on time, you’re getting loads of trouble.
“We’re trying to break away from that image a little bit and make sure that people are aware that we are more than that, and we are community spaces where everyone is welcome.”
Engagement with libraries: events connected with literature and reading in London
Richmond is also amongst the highest London boroughs for adults attending literary events at libraries, the data revealed.
Following Richmond libraries’ Winter Warmer events series, funded by the council to ease the cost of living crisis, data from feedback forms revealed 70% of attendees were first-time visitors.
O’Neill explained: “Attendees had seen a poster, or they’d got our newsletter, or someone had told them, and that’s why they’d come in. They’d come in specifically for those free events, so I think that’s a big drive to why people come into libraries now.”
O’Neill is also a trained reader delivering Page Turner sessions, which is in partnership with the UK’s largest reading charity, The Reader.
She said: “The great thing about Page Turners is it is a drop-in session. You don’t need to have been before.
“You don’t know anything, you don’t need to prepare anything. You could just turn up on the day, be surprised that it’s on, and decide to join in.”
O’Neill explained she usually gets around 10 people attending each session, many of whom she remarked have become familiar faces and now attend other library events.
She said: “I’m very lucky because they’re all very lovely and it has become a real social event as well.
“Most people turn up, have a good chat before and then stay afterwards and continue to chat and they’ve built relationships through coming to Page Turners.
“It also means that I’m able to advertise other things that we have going on in our libraries and they will often come along to those other events then too.”
As part of an evaluation exercise issued by The Reader, a member of a shared reading group at a South London library said: “Loneliness, language barrier, and cultural shock are what new immigrants might come across in a new country.
“Joining this group, where you can meet local people, make friends, learn the language as well as history, culture, practice, and way of thinking, will help you settle down and start a new life.
“I have recommended the reading group to my friends from Hong Kong.”
With the support of the Unwin Charitable Foundation, The Reader was able to rebuild or rebuild or sustain 88 library groups across the UK, between April 2022 to March 2024.
Frances Macmillan, Head of Literary Content at The Reader said: “ Libraries are places of possibility and people walk in there with things that they need and shared reading is a way of answering those needs and that could be something from like what to read next, or it could be sort of much deeper.
“Quite a large percentage of our participant group members who take part in groups in libraries, haven’t spoken to anyone outside of their family for the past couple of weeks.
“They often need a reason to go there and if you understand that you’re going to get a connection and conversation with real meaning and a real chance to talk about the stuff that matters to you or to hear opinions and ideas that you don’t usually get in a space where everybody’s going to be valued and given time to speak, and it’s not going to be, competitive, or anything like that’s a reason for people to go to the libraries.
“I guess we’re just really trying to get that message out there that it’s free, it’s for everybody and it can really make a difference.”
Richmond Reads is another popular series of events, encouraging the community to engage in and attend public libraries in Richmond, in person.
As an annual season of events, Richmond Reads celebrates the benefits of reading and takes place across libraries in Richmond.
Author Nikki Smith also attended Richmond Reads (2024) and discussed her latest book The Guests with fellow writer, Louise Candlish.
Having grown up borrowing books from a mobile library, which visited the area she lived in weekly, she developed a passion for books and reading at a very early age.
Smith described initiatives like Richmond Reads as a wonderful opportunity for readers to meet authors face-to-face and provide the chance for them to ask authors questions about their work.
She said: “Authors aren’t paid for these events – we do them because we love meeting readers, but I think readers are also perhaps more likely to go on and buy or borrow a book from an author they have met and felt they connected with on a more personal level.
“Average author income has currently dropped to just £7,000 per year and we receive a small payment each time our books are borrowed from a library, so they are hugely important to authors for financial reasons, as well as being a wonderful way for readers to find us.
“But apart from their value to authors, libraries are also an extremely valuable resource in every single community and it is extremely worrying when we hear constantly about funding cuts and libraries being forced to close or reduce their hours of operation.”
Libraries as study spaces
In addition to being a space for hosting literary events, libraries are also increasingly becoming used as study spaces.
Ellie Reeder, 21, a final year university student said: “I love the library.
“I used to hate going to the library during my first year of university as found them quite daunting but once I started going with my friend, who is also a student, I found it so calming and peaceful.
“I now go all the time to study, often in between classes and if I need to get lots done and concentrate.”
She added that although she uses libraries as a study space to complete her academic work, she sources most of her research and articles using online databases, rather than searching through physical books and borrowing them from the library.
Reeder added, that despite not doing it very often and only when she can’t find what she is looking for online, she has always found the process of borrowing, returning and renewing books fairly easy to navigate.
However, not all students find libraries an ideal study environment. Maria Clarke, 20, pointed out that libraries she has visited often lack sensory-friendly spaces and can feel too cold, making them less appealing for extended use.
Clarke further noted that the libraries she has visited previously have had a reduced amount of sensory-friendly space, which, if were to be improved, would incentivise her to use the library as a space to study.
In terms of book borrowing, Clarke further noted she can’t recall going to the library to take a book within the last five years.
Children and young people’s engagement within libraries
One of the aims is to increase not just physical engagement with libraries, but to do so among children and young people.
Martin Galway, Head of School Programmes at the National Literacy Trust said: “We are expanding and deepening our work in schools and communities to support more children and young people to enjoy reading and develop greater confidence, to give them the skills they need to succeed in life.
“This includes growing our work with the Libraries for Primaries campaign, with the aim to ensure every primary school in the UK has a dedicated library space by 2028, as school libraries can play a crucial role in inspiring children and creating a reading for pleasure culture in our society.”
Featured image credit: Nadia Sayed
