The new Brent library figures are out, and it appears that the long run of rising issues and visits is now over. The 2018/2019 financial year showed a decline in visits from 2,547,168 last year to 2,505,502 (down 1.6%). Loans went from 1,045,967 to 969,812 (down 7.3%).
These figures were clearly not helped by the interruption at Willesden Library in July. Willesden accounts for almost one in five Brent loans. However, the reduced activity appears to have been fairly broadly split across all six libraries. There is a particular fall off in loans during the last quarter, which may have been related to the expected cut in library budgets that never in the event occurred.
It is also worth noting that the only Brent library where visits went up significantly during the year was Wembley Library (where they went up 3.6%). This makes me more sceptical that there is miscounting based on the physical structure of the library. Wembley Library has, after, had the same layout since in opened in June 2013.
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