A couple of years ago, the library service in Cheshire West and Chester was in decline. The number of visits had dropped by nearly 100,000 in the two years leading up to 2016. It seemed it was another casualty in the dismal UK landscape for libraries, where many have been closed or forced to rely on volunteers.
Today, visitor numbers have rocketed by more than half a million, library membership has increased by 6% – up 11% among teenagers – and book borrowing is on the rise. Libraries across the district are now thriving community hubs, providing spaces for a diverse range of groups including a Syrian refugee sewing circle, and venues where health visitors can support hard-to-reach families and where young people not in education, employment or training are happy to meet.
The new £37m cultural centre Storyhouse, which brings the city’s main library, a new cinema and a theatre all under one roof, has been the catalyst behind this transformation of library services. And on Tuesday, Cheshire West and Chester council’s vision was recognised when the authority was named the overall winner in the Guardian’s Public Service Awards, in addition to winning the transformation category.
“We hear so much about councils struggling to maintain services, but Cheshire West and Chester has rejected retrenchment and gone on the front foot with a stunning investment that has not only breathed new life into its libraries, but triggered a much wider cultural and community reawakening,” says David Brindle, the Guardian’s public services editor.
“It took years of planning and scratching round to raise the money. But the end result shows brilliantly that councils can still find and skilfully deploy funds to arrest the depressing decline in their services, even though day-to-day revenue cash continues to be so squeezed.”
The council’s priorities to revive library-going and boost cultural and educational opportunities for its young people to give them a “great start in life” were behind its vision, according to executive support officer Robert Butler. It also recognised that while the city attracts millions of visitors a year, it had no cultural heart. “Not to have a cinema [or theatre], to have a library in decline, and not have any sort of cultural hub was quite a big miss,” says Butler.
In the middle of Chester was a disused cinema – an art deco Grade II-listed building – that had been empty for a decade. It was the perfect site for the city’s new cultural hub.
With £33m of council capital funding and extra money from Arts Council England and other trusts, Storyhouse opened its doors in 2017. The new library, which is the only one in the UK open daily until 11pm, is integrated throughout the building linking the cafe, the cinema and the theatre. There is a new children’s area with opportunities for arts and crafts and storytelling, and a new study space to support learning and research. But it’s the books that have pride of place. “The library goes through the whole of the building,” explains Butler. “There are bookcases all the way around. It’s unlike anywhere else I’ve ever seen. It’s attractive and it does inspire you to read.”
Bringing the library, cinema and theatre into a single building has also created unique opportunities for joint cultural ventures such as Babble – a festival celebrating the diversity of languages spoken in the district that featured Syrian storytelling and Hungarian folk artists – and a three-day event, Love Later Life, which looked at loneliness and isolation, and offered performances, talks, digital workshops, and yoga and art. Every month, 125 community groups use Storyhouse as their home and 1.4 million visitors have walked through its doors since it opened.
But it is not only the people in Chester who have benefited. The development has also had an impact on library services across the wider locality. Indeed, 1,514 of the 16,500 total new library members have registered at services outside the city. “All [our libraries] have seen a positive impact,” says Butler. “It’s a big borough with more than 300,000 people. You don’t want just the children of Chester to be educated.”
Storyhouse has also inspired library staff, who are now more energised and engaged, according to Rachel Foster, senior library services manager. “We’re really positive about what we can offer. I don’t think that’s the case everywhere. We have reduced budgets and pressures, but I think our culture is positive and engaged, and we don’t talk about libraries in a defensive manner,” she says. “People are more empowered. There’s leadership, passion and engagement. And in terms of the way the library service is delivered, it’s a lot more interactive. It’s a community-driven cultural hub.”
Butler adds that the library service has found “a new lease of life”.
The impact of Storyhouse:
Cheshire West and Chester council’s library service comprises 23 libraries across the region as well as a mobile service, which makes regular visits to villages throughout west Cheshire. Since Storyhouse was built, the profile of other libraries in the region has risen and there have been more activities such as quizzes, talks and knitting clubs. Library visits increased from 1.37m to 1.96m between 2016-17 and 2017-18, and library membership is 6% higher in 2017-18 than the year before.
