Wirral Weighs a Five-Year Plan for Its Libraries
Wirral Council's Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committee will decide on Thursday 22 October whether to adopt a new strategy for the borough's libraries. Called Libraries for All, it sets out how the service should change over the next five years to meet the needs of local communities.
Libraries as a front door
The strategy describes libraries as welcoming, inclusive and trusted places that support reading, learning, digital inclusion, wellbeing, culture and access to information. It also gives them a bigger role as a front door to the council, connecting residents with a wider range of council and partner services. This fits the council's draft Wirral Plan 2027-2031 and its proposed way of working, which puts community hubs and joined-up local access at the centre.
Measuring progress
Accountability is a central theme. Councillors are being asked to back a dedicated performance management framework to track delivery. Under the plan:
- an annual performance and delivery plan will turn commitments into measurable actions;
- progress will be reported to elected members every year;
- new Wirral Library Service Standards will set expectations for customer experience, buildings and service quality.
The focus on measurement follows the consultation results. Residents broadly supported the strategy's aims, but only 48% said they were confident it would deliver improvements. The council says it will address this through open monitoring, regular reports and clear measures of success.
Public consultation on the draft ran from 2 March to 13 April 2026 on the council's Have Your Say platform and received 190 responses. Around 30 pupils from Years 7 to 9 also took part in a dedicated session in June. Their feedback was used to refine the final version.
If approved, the strategy will guide Wirral's library services for the next five years. The committee meeting takes place at Wallasey Town Hall and will be webcast.
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