Activism

This is your last chance to sign the petition to protect our libraries

We urgently need to ring-fence funding for our public libraries. They are cultural centres of learning, literacy and opportunity

group of elementary school kids and their teacher lying down while working in the library

The library is their favourite place to learn

The Big Issue has long been a champion of books and reading and has campaigned to protect libraries around the country from closure and cuts.

That’s why we’re helping to give a last push to a petition to ring-fence government funding for libraries. Add your signature before the March 24 deadline to help defend a vital resource, not just for the promotion of literature and culture, but also for the digitally excluded, who need library computers to get online and access key services.

“At The Big Issue we never tire of banging on about the power of reading to improve lives,” says Big Issue editor Paul McNamee. “We have lobbied for better literacy across Britain. We have called for libraries to be kept open.

“We believe closing school libraries is an act of short-term cultural vandalism and cuts off a path to social mobility. If access is closed, how can opportunity be found?”

We will sound the battlecry whenever we get the chance.

As many as 816 libraries have been shut down since 2010, 127 of which closed last year. 3,600 are still in operation. Earlier this year a Centre for Studies report showed that libraries were receiving 40 per cent less funding than in 2009-10.

Books matter. Let’s fight to save them.

Add your voice to the fight and sign the petition here

Support the Big Issue

For over 30 years, the Big Issue has been committed to ending poverty in the UK. In 2024, our work is needed more than ever. Find out how you can support the Big Issue today.
Vendor martin Hawes

Recommended for you

View all
This man let 12 strangers give £100,000 of his money away. Governments should follow suit
Philanthropy

This man let 12 strangers give £100,000 of his money away. Governments should follow suit

Housing estate plagued by mould, damp and dire conditions. Now, residents are fighting back
tower hamlets
Housing

Housing estate plagued by mould, damp and dire conditions. Now, residents are fighting back

'He's like a caged animal in the flat': Meet the parents fighting for an adult social care revolution
Parents and children take part in a sensory parachute exercise at Linden Farm
Social care

'He's like a caged animal in the flat': Meet the parents fighting for an adult social care revolution

Big Issue founder John Bird celebrates vendors at House of Lords – and vows to help end destitution
National Vendor Week

Big Issue founder John Bird celebrates vendors at House of Lords – and vows to help end destitution

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Here's when UK households to start receiving last cost of living payments
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Here's when UK households to start receiving last cost of living payments

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know