Background to Love Libraries

The initial impetus for the campaign came from Reading Partners a consortium of nine British publishers and The Reading Agency. The publishers in the consortium had spent the last 2 years working with libraries, and seeing how powerful their work with adult readers can be, wanted to support libraries in fast forwarding and spreading it.

Discussions with government and library bodies resulted in the formation of the Future Libraries Partnership responsible for Love Libraries. This consists of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport , the Society of Chief Librarians , The Museums Libraires and Archives Council , the publishers and the Reading Agency . The Partnership was later joined by three library authorities Kent , Cornwall and Richmond for the first stage of the campaign which focused on a fast tracked showcase transformation of three libraries.

The Love Libraries campaign is now evolving. Its objectives are:

• To communicate a positive image of libraries to the public
• To influence attitudes and spread awareness of what libraries have to offer the modern citizen, generating consumer demand
• To act as a coherent brand for such activity, promoting a “modern library service”

MLA now leads Love Libraries work, in consultation with the founding partners.