The current trend for reducing council spending on arts and heritage has spread beyond museums and into the to the world of libraries. Unlike museums, local authorities in the UK have a statutory obligation to the public to provide a library service – just as they do housing, education and refuse collection.

But that’s not stopped some councils in England thinking about alternative ways of delivering library services to the public. I’ve written an article about two councils in London  (Wandsworth and Croydon) who are in the process of contracting out their entire library service to an external provider.

It can’t be much fun trying to balance the books of a local authority at the moment and it’s interesting to see how some councils are coming up with creative ways of funding their core services. But are there also concerns about how this will go down with the public?

Read the article on Museum [Insider] to find out.