Stories about austerity inevitably reference the social harms it causes. These include the cutting of public services, decline of infrastructure and communities, reductions in financial or other support that helped people lead more secure and fulfilling lives, and compounding inequalities. Oh, and library closures. Lots and lots of library closures.
But there’s an alternative narrative. One in which, in defiance of the negative outcomes that would otherwise follow, people take action in innovative and brave ways to counter the threat. Hay-on-Wye Public Library is an excellent example.
Hay Library and HOWLS
In 2016, due to Powys Council’s need to make savings, there was a real risk that the 69-year-old public library in Hay-on-Wye would be closed. The local community was outraged and an action group was formed to fight the proposal.
The activism by Hay-on-Wye Library Supporters (HOWLS) was successful. Powys Council agreed that the library could remain open, albeit in a new location at Hay Primary School.
But that wasn’t the end of it. In 2019 Powys Council proposed cutting £200,000 from its library service, which threatened librarian job losses and undermining of library service viability. The proposal didn’t go through, such was the countywide opposition. However, threats of deep cuts in the following years continued, not so much the prospect of salami-slicing but wholesale butchery of essential services.
HOWLS leapt into action again, this time going beyond straightforward opposition. Over 400 members of the local community decided to establish a Community Interest Company (CIC). Hay Public Library.Org CIC came into being on 1 May 2019.
Double-dipping
A CIC is like any other company. It has its own legal personality and is separate from the people who manage its affairs. For example, it can own property, enter into contracts, employ people, sue, and be sued.
Where it differs from a normal commercial company is that, as its name suggests, a CIC must be run for community, not private, benefit. The law for CICs is set out in the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004 and the Community Interest Company Regulations 2005.
The purpose behind the HOWLS CIC was to work with Powys Council in the delivery of Hay’s library service. In 2021 a five-year collaboration agreement was reached between the two. This ensured the library’s future until 2026, including the librarians’ security of employment.
The CIC also agreed to the provision of funding raised from the local community to help deliver the Hay library service. So, by entering into the collaboration agreement, it can be argued that Powys Council was able to avoid doing something it should be doing itself.
Under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964, Powys Council has a statutory duty to ‘provide a comprehensive and efficient library service’ for everyone in its area. Accordingly, surely the council alone should be funding Hay Library? By chipping in as well as paying council tax, the community is arguably paying twice or extra for that service – and during a cost-of-living crisis at that.
A broader vision
Two points can be made in response. First, Powys Council’s ability to fulfil its statutory duty is dependent on funding. As is well known, due to austerity local authorities have been subject to repeated rounds of underfunding. Powys Council might not be able to fulfil its duty from its own resources.
Second, it could be argued that Powys Council could still fulfil its statutory duty despite the closure of Hay Library if it continued to offer a library service locally – say, in Talgarth, which is eight or so miles away. Telling the council it must legally provide a Hay library service specifically would have been problematic.
The pragmatic position taken by the CIC is understandable. A quote taken from its website provides insight: “Powys County Council is BROKE … And Yes, the State has broken the Social Contract with the People … Either we bitch about it OR WE TAKE BACK CONTROL, keep our Library open, re-invent it so it becomes a pivotal link between members of our community and their collective search for knowledge, and connectivity.”
That refers to something beyond simply keeping Hay Library open. Another quote explored a different angle: “Our Public Library needs also to be recognised as the primary local interface between our Community and the State.” If this wider vision is realised, Hay Library is much more than a library.
For example, the CIC engages with Egin, an organisation concerned with ‘unlock[ing] the collective power of communities in Wales to take their first steps towards tackling climate change and living more sustainably’. Part of Egin’s work is to nurture ‘community assemblies’ to promote democratic involvement. The first assembly for Hay Library asked how Hay might become as self-sufficient as possible in sustainably grown local food. Over 80 people attended.
Empowered communities
It’s too early to say where this will lead, but in this case austerity produced an empowering community response in the ‘town of books’. It started with saving a library service, but developed to have a wider purpose.
If HOWL and its CIC hadn’t been formed, Hay Library might have closed. While that outcome is hypothetical, what’s certain is that the community became engaged, put the ‘bitching’ to one side, and ‘took back control’. On any reasonable analysis that is a positive response to austerity. No doubt there have been and can be similar responses elsewhere.
But while there is something positive to say, self-help – whether individual or collective, socially responsible businesses, entrepreneurs, charities, or volunteers – can never replace adequately funded public services, including library provision. Local authorities should not be put in the position where they’re unable to do things the law says they must.
The Powys Council-HOWLS CIC collaboration agreement must be renegotiated in 2026. Will it have to continue, or will central governments step up and dig debt-laden councils out of the hole of under-resourcing?
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