The Bristol Library Strategy sets out the aims and goals of the library service.
Library Strategy 2025 to 2030
Our aim is to deliver a new 5 year Library Strategy for a modern, reliable and sustainable service that reflects the needs of residents and communities.
For the new strategy, we must understand:
- what services people want to access and how
- what people like about the current service and what they would change
How we're developing the new strategy
Our new strategy will be informed by views and information gathered from residents.
We're taking a phased approach to enable community engagement:
- Phase 1, June 2025 to November 2025: set a direction of travel for engagement through a needs assessment and outline strategy principles.
This phase of our discovery work is complete, and we have developed an outline draft strategy for people to consider. This will be shared soon.
- Phase 2, November 2025 to May 2026: build on the outline draft strategy with a detailed 5 year strategy for the future of the library service.
Only after more discussion and learning from communities will be confident to seek a final decision on the draft strategy.
What communities are telling us
- It's clear communities want access to a library service that's fit for purpose, accessible and reliable.
- Many respond positively to the range of services they can access, the activities in the libraries and the helpfulness of staff.
- Many, however, identify barriers to accessing services that include limited opening hours, the condition of buildings and poor transport links.
Our areas of focus for the next phase
We'll begin trialling some approaches that will help inform the final strategy. These could include:
- changing opening hours to better suit local need
- exploring options for potentially co-locating libraries with other community services (sharing space)
- improving publicity of our services to increase awareness and boost usage
How to get involved
In early 2026 there will be in-person focus groups and a city-wide survey. We will share more details on this page in the new year.
You can stay updated in the mean time by signing up to our library newsletter for monthly emails about Bristol libraries.
You can also stay up to date with future Bristol City Council engagements by signing up to the Ask Bristol newsletter.
Library Strategy 2020 to 2024
Background to the strategy
The Library Strategy built upon discussions with:
- the community
- Friends Groups
- staff
- councillors
The strategy was also informed by the work done nationally by Libraries Connected, particularly the Universal Library Offers, and partner organisations such as The Reading Agency and the Carnegie Trust.
The Library Service worked collaboratively with the community to ensure that libraries were sustainable and relevant for the future.
The strategy took into account what we knew about:
- the way the city was changing
- needs and ideas identified in previous consultations and engagement with communities, staff, service users and equalities groups
- measures about the current service provision and use
- costs to deliver library services