No plans to fund library from education budget

The education department has "no plans" to fund a community library that is facing closure due to future financial pressures.

The Isle of Man's Family Library said the facility was set close its doors on 31 July due to expected annual losses of £100,000 as a result of rising costs and declining incomes.

Some Tynwald members have called on the Department of Education, Sport and Culture (Desc) to "take a lead role" in finding a solution.

But Decs member Paul Craine MLC said the department did not have the "capacity to provide financial support within the current budget constraints".

Since full funding was pulled by the then Department of Education in 2011, following a revision of the island VAT income, the services have been run as an independent charity.

It operates a mobile library in rural areas and a home service for those who are housebound, alongside running a library on Westmoreland Road in Douglas offering activities to young people, schools and adults.

Following a Tynwald motion in 2017, £100,000 was provided to The Family Library with a further £138,500 provided by the government in 2019 and 2020 while a Council of Ministers working party reviewed library services on island.

In 2022, the government agreed to a five-year funding plan on a sliding scale beginning with £125,000 in August of that year, with the final sum of £65,000 due to be awarded in August 2026.

Speaking after the closure was announced, director Kurt Roosen confirmed it could not "guarantee" it would have the funds to operate for the next 12 months.

After putting forward an urgent Tynwald question on the situation, Lawrie Hooper MHK said a number of people had highlighted the level of support they got from the library and "the loss to communities" around the island if the closure were to go ahead.

Meanwhile other MHKs praised its "value" and called on Desc to lead talks with the wider government to find a "sustainable solution".

Craine said the "extent of the department's involvement" was that it owned the building, which was leased to the library for "a peppercorn rent of £50 a year".

He confirmed talks had taken place between the parties but said the Desc did not have the "physical resources to oversee the management" of the facility or take discussions forward, or the financial resources to support it in future.

It was therefore "not a matter" for the department and there were "no plans" to fund the The Family Library in future, he added.

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