Written question asked by Stephen Hesford (Labour) on Tuesday, 13 January 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 15 January 2009. It was answered by Barbara Follett (Labour) on Monday, 26 January 2009 on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Public Libraries

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assistance his Department plans to provide to local authorities to improve public access to library services.

Answer: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is undertaking the Library Service Modernisation Review, which was launched by the Secretary of State on 9 October 2008. This seeks to define the Government's vision for a modern, world-class public library service and sets out some of the steps necessary to achieve it. There are already some excellent library services across the country, which serve their communities' needs and support the delivery of a range of outcomes. With the review's findings, which will be published in the spring, we aim to help empower all library services to reach this standard, and help the best to go even further.The Museums Libraries and Archives Council is the Government's strategic adviser on the public library sector, and it continues to work to deliver its Action Plan for public libraries funded by DCMS through grant in aid. More details are at"
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Secondary information