East of England residents are offically the most enthusiastic library-goes in the whole country, figures from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) revealed today.
Not only is the East of England one of the three regions bucking the national trend and enjoying an overall rise in library visits, three of its libraries won places in the survey’s national top twenty for number of visits, and three came in the national top ten for number of issues per year.
Topping both polls was the flagship Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library, achieving over 1.5 million visits and 1.1 million issues. The County Library in Ipswich, Suffolk and the libraries in Southend, Colchester and Chelmsford in Essex also scooped top positions.
Sue Hughes, Regional Development Manager at MLA East of England, said: ‘Libraries are at the heart of our communities and play an important role in the cultural life of our towns and cities. We are delighted that East of England residents embrace these services so whole heartedly. It pays tribute to the commitment, creativity and ingenuity of our dedicated library service teams throughout the region.’
Today the region’s libraries are about more than just borrowing books. MLA East of England is on hand to help public library authorities work out how, within limited budgets, they can provide in a good range of stock, information and learning opportunities that people need, from buildings they want to use.
The survey not only confirmed that the East of England is served by some of the best library authorities in the country, but also provides important information that MLA East of England and its partners can use to help libraries compare their performance, learn from best practice, and strive for excellence.
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