About LibrariesWest
What is LibrariesWest?
LibrariesWest is one of the leading public library consortia in the UK, and is a partnership between Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, Somerset and South Gloucestershire library services. It is seen as an example of good practice where authorities work together to achieve significant economies of scale and deliver better services for customers.
LibrariesWest is about doing things better together, and we have adopted the strap line ‘Get more from your library’.
Customers can use their membership card in any one of the 100 + libraries across the consortium to borrow, return and reserve items, and use the computers to access the internet and office programmes. They also have access to a joint catalogue of more than 2 million items, which has the facility to interlend all stock, including DVDs, CDs and computer games.
Facts and figures
- LibrariesWest serves a resident population in excess of 1.5 million across an area of 1,847 sq miles, through a network of 99 static libraries and 13 mobile libraries. See an interactive map of our libraries here.
- We also provide a Library Management System to 4 prisons, 2 Schools Library Services and a number of schools and Learning Support Centres.
- In 2009/10 274,651 people - around 1 in 5 of the population - borrowed items from our libraries.
- Our catalogue contains almost 2.5 million items and around 760,000 individual titles.
- Almost 9 millions items were loaned from our libraries last year - approximately 65,000 more than the previous year.
- 343,358 reserved items were supplied to customers last year, a 7.2% increase on the previous year - 80% within 15 days, a 1% increase compared to the previous year.
- 70,471 new members joined our libraries during the year, a slight reduction on last year.
- 372 reader reviews were submitted on the web during the year, making a total of 1742 reviews in total for customers to view.
- 369 borrowers made comments about the library service - all had individual responses.
More information
Each year LibrariesWest produces an annual report, and these can be downloaded here:
Details of library services in each of the LibrariesWest authorities, including contact details can be found on their web sites: