List of Library Trusts and prospective Library Trusts

Included below are a list of trusts running libraries. A “trust” is defined on this page as any non-council non-profit organisation running a library or group of libraries.

Single-council leisure trusts

1. Angus – Angusalive – with leisure and culture, started December 2015.
2. Argyll and Bute – with leisure and culture, from 2017.
3. Blaenau Gwent – to transfer leisure/sports/history/libraries into “Life Leisure Trust” (March 2014). Aneurin Leisure Trust runs service and reports low budget from council (April 2015).
4. Bridgend – Libraries part of Awen Cultural Trust.
5. Dundee transferred its libraries late in 2011 to Leisure & Culture Dundee.
6. East Ayrshire – transferred to East Ayrshire Leisure Trust, 1st July 2013.
7. East Renfrewshire – Plan to transfer libraries/leisure centres/community halls/theatre to Trust by Summer 2015. Confirmed December 2014.Fife – Part of Fife Cultural Trust.
8. Glasgow – a combination of Trust (for tax advantages) and CIC (for trading advantages). Covid caused loss of income for Glasgow Trust, with several venues, including libraries under threat (April 2021)
9. Highland – converted to High Life Highland in Sep 2011.
10. Hull – Libraries formally handed over to Hull Culture and Leisure Trust (HCAL).  (March 2015)
11. Luton –  Luton Libraries were in a trust with Arts and Museums (called Luton Culture). In April 2020 Libraries were moved into another trust, Active Luton, which runs sports facilities and promotes healthy living in Luton.
12. North Lanarkshire – Moved to Culture NL, July 2013.
13. Northeast Lincolnshire – Libraries and leisure centres to move into combined trust, after private company contract for leisure centres ends in 2013. Libraries will move into Lincs Inspire Trust after review carried out (May 2014)
14. Northumberland – Leisure Trust “Active Northumberland“
15. Nottinghamshire – Libraries became part of non-profit trust Inspire (along with archives and culture, music teaching, community learning and skills service, music hub and education library service). (November 2015), announced November 2013. Inspire website.
16. Perth and Kinross – Libraries/Museums/Arts/Galleries  run by non-profit trust Culture Perth and Kinross from April 1st. (January 2016)
17. Redbridge – Vision – Originally leisure centres, the trust took over responsibility for libraries in May 2011. Trust received extra grant from council December 2011.
18. Renfrewshire – Considering moving libraries, culture and leisure to non-profit trust. £360k tax saving expected from move (source: 26th June 2014 council paper). Became a Trust January 2015.
19. Rochdale – Link4Life – Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG) includes local studies but not libraries.
20. Salford – Salford Community Leisure Trust – Combines leisure, libraries and culture.
21. Scottish Borders – Libraries run by Borders Sport and Leisure non-profit trust.  (October 2015). announced February 2014. Move to libraries being run by a Trust delayed. (June 2015)
22. South Lanarkshire.

Multiple-council leisure trusts (all run by GLL)

• Bromley 
• Dudley – GLL took over new libraries/archives mutual for at least five years.(2017 – 2):  Employee-led mutual to run libraries/archives/adult learning from April 2016. Savings expected to allow for 11% budget cut 2016/17 to 30% 2017/18.
• Greenwich – GLL took over provision in April 2012, immediately facing a strike from the Unite union due to worries over terms and conditions.
• Lincolnshire – Learning Communities non-profit trust runs two “Community Hub and Libraries” (Birchwood and Ermine, opened in August) and will open one more new one (Boultham) soon. (November 2015) GLL takes over 15 “core” libraries. (April 2016)
• Wandsworth

Library trusts

• Devon (also runs Torbay) – Libraries Unlimited – Took over Devon Libraries from April 2016. Trust is owned 1/3 by staff, 1/3 by Friends Groups, 1/3 by trustees. All staff (incl relief) are members. Each Friends Group is one member. Companies House records show the Trust is a Private Limited Company by guarantee without share capital use of ‘Limited’ exemption. Libraries Unlimited took over Torbay’s  library services in December 2017.
• Northern Ireland.  The whole of Northern Ireland is run by an arms-length operation called Libraries NI.
• York

Trusts smaller than a single council

• Herefordshire – Council pay community centre staff to run Peterchurch Library
• Lambeth – Upper Norwood Library Hub runs one library (December 2017).
• Shropshire – Cleobury Mortimer Library. When not staffed by library, community centre staff are paid by council to help with self-service machines.
• Lewisham.  Eco Computer Systems run one ex-library in Deptford as a community enterprise (combining it with computer recycling) and have recently taken over three more in Crofton Park, Grove Park and Sydenham. Darren Taylor, manager says “The three libraries we took over do not have the recycling business at all in them, just a small cupboard which was never being used is now utilised to store donated IT equipment. It is then collected and taken to Pepys Resource Centre, where it is got back into reuse and installed into community centres, sheltered and care homes and given to underprivileged families.”.  ADP Projects has been employed by Eco Computers to improve the building at Crofton Park.

Returned to council control

1. Falkirk changed over on 1st July 2011 (inc. leisure centres, museums as well as libraries, with an hoped saving of £1m in rates and VAT). Membership body criticises council’s decision to take leisure charity back under its control | Third Sector (February 2021)
2. Flintshire changed over to Aura (Flintshire Leisure and Library Services run by a community benefit society.  in January 2017. The council took back control and set up a trading company from 31 October 2024.
3. Merthyr Tydfil – Wellbeing Merthyr (formerly Merthry Tydfil Leisure Trust) to return all leisure/library services to council. with alternative provider being sought. (March 2024) cf. Libraries formally handed over to Merthry Tydfil Leisure Trust. (March 2015)
4. Northamptonshire – Was run by First for Wellbeing (community interest company focusing on integrated wellbeing inc. health, libraries, parks] (2016). This was a partnership between the council, the local university and the local NHS. However, due to council overspending, libraries returned to council control and then were split into the two successor councils in 2022.
5. Peterborough –  Leisure trust Vivacity hand back contract for libraries to council after losses caused by lockdown (June 2020). this Trust, Vivacity, has merged museums, art galleries, libraries, sports and leisure into one organisation (most of its trustees are from private enterprise).  Vivacity started having volunteers used to extend opening hours as pilot project for three months (4/3/12).
6. Suffolk – Suffolk Libraries.  Library services run by an Industrial and Provident Society, with Bungay becoming the first branch formally under its control. Transferred libraries to an Industrial and Provident Society, with 95% of funding from council.  Hoped to gain 80% reduction in property rates; to remove “council bureaucracy” and allow for more grant applications.  Cost was £652,000 to set up but estimated as 27.6 per cent cheaper to run, assuming rates exemptions stay in place.  See details here on what an Industrial and Provident Society is. Previously: interested in community interest company or other variant).  The board of the IPS is currently appointed (that is, nominated, not elected) but will be elected by members of the IPS in late 2013.Separate to this county-wide Trust, one of the seven pilot non-council runners of the smallest libraries  run by its own community interest company. Suffolk Libraries returned to Council control, March 2023.
7. Wigan – Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust. Created in 2003, paid for by a council grant/external funding/income generation.  It has had some successes (extending services and running services from other councils) but faced a cut of over £1m and considered closing 6 of its libraries. The Trust document “The Next Chapter” details the changes.  The Trust has a trading arm which lost a reported £250,000 on an event, leading to calls for the service to be taken back under Council control.  In July 2014, it was decided that Libraries were to be taken away from Trust and returned to council control and it was reported that they had done so November 2014.
8. Birmingham –  In October 2016, the Library of Birmingham Trust was wound up.  It was set up as a separate fund-raising body for the LoB, seeking funds from companies and philanthropists.  It failed to raise sufficient money and blamed cuts to the Library itself for philanthropists being unwilling to pay.
9. Warrington – Livewire (leisure/libraries) brought back under full Council control at £5m cost due to Covid/high energy costs in March 2024. Was spun out in 2012.

Councils which considered passing libraries to Trusts

• Aberdeenshire – Libraries may be moved into non-profit trust. (September 2016) To become some sort of trust in expected £1m cut (January 2018) Abandons leisure trust proposal after spending £370k researching it.(February 2018)
• Birmingham (March 2014) Tender to interested parties willing to consult on what is need to turn libraries into a Trust (August 2014). :Staff co-operative likely to be agreed soon for 39 branch libraries. (March 2015) Decided against.
• Bolton – Considered setting up non-profit trust for libraries. 10 job losses. £300k-£500k budget cut. (November 2014)
• Brent – Considered becoming outsourced (January 2015). Abandoned proposed move to libraries non-profit trust. £160k budget cut will therefore be made in another way. (February 2016)
• Buckinghamshire – November 2014. and again March 2016.
• Carmarthenshire – Considered moving leisure/libraries into separate Trust. (October 2014)
• Cheshire East – Library service considered transfer to ESAR leisure trust in £230k cut.  (November 2017)
• Cheshire West and Chester – Consultation on future delivery model of libraries/arts/museums/archaeology. (September 2015)
• Cornwall – Consultation ends. Council moves towards tender libraries/One Stop Shops to independent organisations.  (July 2015)
• Derby
• Durham consideredtransferring libraries to a “non profit distributing organisation” after cutting them by £1.4m p.a.  On top of this, it was claimed, “the transfer to the NPDO would save more than a million pounds a year“.  However, the move was put on hold due to concerns that the result of a government review this Summer (21/5/12) will remove tax advantages.
• East Lothian
• Herefordshire –  Soft market testing for contracting out museums, libraries and archives (November 2017)
• Hertfordshire – Considered whether to become a library trust and to use swipe-card open technology. (November 2017) Further £500k cut by 2019/2020 expected after £2.5m cut 2016/19. Consultation on becoming a trust. (January 2018)  Full council votes for libraries to become public services mutual. (April 2018) Transfer to “Libraries for Life” delayed until 1 April. (November 2020) Move to library trust paused “indefinitely” (September 2021)
• Kent – Announced was looking at becoming a charitable trust, May 2014.
• Kirklees – looked at options (Feburary 2017).
• Lambeth
• Moray
• Newport – considering moving libraries into a Trust (March 2014).
• North Ayrshire
• Pembrokeshire – Libraries were looked at being part of leisure/cultural/tourist trust. (August 2016)
• South Tyneside (Cost of changeover may be £100,000)
• St Helens – Considering outsourcing, June 2015.
• Surrey.
• Wakefield.
• Wirral – Leisure/culture/library service considered being transferred to Trust. (2017 – 3)
• Wrexham –  Decision to keep library service in-house: research showed moving to a Trust would cost £200k more per year. (July 2016).  Council moves closer to libraries trust model (July 2015). Cultural services including libraries may be transferred into community trust with other services inc. museums and Arts (July 2014).