Three libraries are set to close as the council continues to slash services to balance its budget.
Rottingeean, Hollingbury and Westdene Libraries are slated for closure, and opening times set to reduce at Jubilee Library and Hove LIbrary.
The plans are set out in papers due to be considered by Brighton and Hove City Council’s cabinet next Thursday.
Councillors will be asked to approve a consultation on the plans, which will also ask whether the libraries could stay open but be run by volunteers.
The papers say a number of factors including how many people use the libraries and the needs of their communities were taken into consideration when drawing up the plans.
This included an analysis based on economic activity and receipt of benefits and free school meals to prioritise areas in most need, as well as each library’s usage, the proximity of alternative community libraries and the operational costs.
The proposed changes at Jubilee and Hove libraries – two hours on Monday evenings and three hours on Sunday at Jubilee and two hours on Wednesday evening and three hours on Saturday – reflect the times when the fewest people access them.
If councillors agree, a consultation on the proposals will run from 18 July to 10 October. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport requires a public consultation for any proposals that reduce or significantly change statutory library services.
Responses to the consultation will be considered and included in a Cabinet report for final decision in December. Any changes agreed will be introduced from April 2026.
Councillor Alan Robins, Cabinet member for Sport, Recreation and Libraries, said: “Libraries play a crucial role as learning, community and social spaces in Brighton & Hove, and we’re incredibly proud of our city’s libraries.
“This consultation sets out proposals that make sure we protect library services where they are most needed, but also help us to achieve the necessary savings so the council can become financially sustainable and deliver essential services for our residents.
“We are also keen to hear views and ideas on how we may be able to protect the libraries vulnerable to closure through an alternative operating model, such as a community asset transfer to a community or voluntary organisation. We have already begun discussions with Rottingdean Parish Council to this effect.
“We want to continue the creative approach to library provision, for example introducing our Libraries Extra service to extend opening hours and improve access while reducing costs. We’ve also co-located services alongside our libraries, including the recently introduced council help desks.
“If Cabinet agrees to go ahead with the consultation, we’ll be seeking views from as many residents, visitors, staff and partners as possible. While budgets mean our options are limited, no decisions have been made yet.”
Brighton and Hove City Council’s current library service is made up of 13 libraries, including Jubilee Library in central Brighton, Hove Library and 11 community libraries across the city.
Jubilee Library is one of the most visited libraries in the UK, recording over 830,000 visits in 2023/24 and accounting for about 50% of the city’s library transactions.
In May 2025, the council integrated customer services by introducing help desks at Jubilee and Hove libraries to enable more face-to-face support and access to council services, while library officers also staff the council’s telephone switchboard.
Hollingbury Lilbary has already closed, it’s now in the Old Boat Corner Club
Permission has been given to build flats on the Old site-all looks good.
I think saving libraries by hosting them inside community spaces, where feasible, is a pragmatic way of protecting their continued availability.
Except that the community-space hosted Hollingbury library is now set to close…!
Old Boat, right? I didn’t think they actually ran the library, though, just hosted it within their community centre?
These libraries are noew more than just books.
It’s a place for mothers etc to meet up.
Mothers… Oh dear.
As a concerned Rottingdean resident and council tax payer, I wish to express my concern that while our community contributes significantly to the wider council budget, we see comparatively little direct benefit in return. The local library represents one of the few tangible services available to us — a vital resource that supports education, community cohesion, and access to information. I strongly urge that it be maintained as a minimum-cost service, potentially supported by trained volunteers, to ensure it remains open and accessible to all residents. This would be a modest but meaningful way of recognising the contribution our village makes to the city’s finances.
I’d rather my council tax was spent on libraries than other areas of council spending.. but we don’t really have a choice..
Besides how much does running a library cost? The benefits surely far outweigh the cost as Michael Clark eloquently puts.
I mean, if we’re talking the most basic form, a book exchange, once you have your initial upfront cost of buying books, then have an honour system in place, nothing beyond the occasional replacement.
This is shocking and disgusting on the part of Labour.
Libraries are statutory public services, not optional extras, and this is social injustice and isolation at its worst in an increasingly marginalised city of haves and have nots and some people going days without any social interaction, even in a supermarket.
There appears to be no link to a public consultation on these closures either.
Social value reports have also proven it costs three times more in other local services such as social services, to close a Library than the paltry amount saved by closing a Library. So a short-sighted and ill-educated decision in the extreme.
Perhaps whoever made it might have benefited from spending more time in a Library during their formative years. Then they would also know their value. What a dumbed down world we live in.