Written question WQ91060
- Asked by
- Andrew RT DaviesConservative
- To be answered by
- Minister for Finance and Local Government
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 7 days
Question
What Welsh Government support is available to community libraries?
Answer
Answered by Minister for Finance and Local Government
There are different models of community libraries and the level of support available is dependent on the model.
Community managed libraries that are part of the statutory local authority library provision benefit from access to Welsh Government support for public libraries including the National Digital Library Service. They can apply to the Transformation Capital Grant fund for Museums, Libraries and Archives with the support of their local authority.
Independent community libraries which are wholly run by volunteers can apply to the Transformation Capital Grant Fund for Museums, Libraries and Archives. They can also apply for the Community Facilities programme and, since 2020 over £220,000 in capital funding has been secured via this programme.
In 2023-24 Welsh Government provided an additional £150,000 in Cost-of-Living grants to 13 community libraries. This was in recognition of the inflationary pressures for utilities, materials and requests for a respective pay award that have all affected local sector organisations. This was available to both community managed libraries and independent community libraries.