Issue - meetings

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published a revised set of ‘Public Library Byelaws for England’ in March 2025 (updated August 2025).

DCMS state library byelaws are aimed at helping libraries to offer a “safe and comfortable environment and to make libraries places everyone can enjoy”. They also aid the “library workforce to deal with disruptive behaviour and allow for flexibility in dealing with local concerns”.

BCP Council has not updated its library byelaws since local government review and thus we are still operating with separate versions in place for the legacy authority areas.

The library service would like to update its byelaws to bring consistency across areas, but also because the new version produced by the DCMS are more modern and a better fit for life as it is today. 

This report presents the draft byelaws and seeks support to undertake the necessary next steps to enable us to adopt them.

RESOLVED that Cabinet: -

(a)          approved the process required to formally adopt the new draft Library Byelaws made under Section 19 of the Public Libraries and Museum Act (1964);

(b)          delegates responsibility to the Portfolio Holder for Customer, Communications and Culture to review any concerns raised through public consultation, prior to the report progressing to Full Council and then seeking final sign off from the DCMS; and

(c)          delegates responsibility to the Library Management Team for implementing the new Byelaws and using them in day-to-day operation.

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holder: Customer, Communications and Culture

The purpose of this report is to present the draft new library Byelaws for BCP Council.

The Portfolio Holder for Customer, Communications and Culture presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'B' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

Cabinet was advised that the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) had published a revised set of ‘Public Library Byelaws for England’ in March 2025 (updated August 2025).

In relation to this Cabinet was informed that DCMS state library byelaws were aimed at helping libraries to offer a “safe and comfortable environment and to make libraries places everyone can enjoy”, and that they also aid the “library workforce to deal with disruptive behaviour and allow for flexibility in dealing with local concerns”.

Further to this Cabinet was advised that BCP Council had not updated its library byelaws since local government review and were therefore operating with separate versions in place for the legacy authority areas.

Cabinet was informed that the library service would like to update its byelaws to bring consistency across areas, and also because the new version produced by the DCMS were more modern and a better fit for life as it is today. 

In relation to this Cabinet was advised that the report presented the draft byelaws and sought support to undertake the necessary next steps to enable them to be adopted by the Council.

RESOLVED that Cabinet: -

(A)      approved the process required to formally adopt the new draft Library Byelaws made under Section 19 of the Public Libraries and Museum Act (1964);

(B)      delegates responsibility to the Portfolio Holder for Customer, Communications and Culture to review any concerns raised through public consultation, prior to the report progressing to Full Council and then seeking final sign off from the DCMS; and

(C)       delegates responsibility to the Library Management Team for implementing the new Byelaws and using them in day-to-day operation.

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holder: Customer, Communications and Culture

The purpose of this report is to present the draft new library Byelaws for BCP Council.