A campaigner who petitioned to save a library has shared her sadness that it has been included in a list of three earmarked for closure.
Brighton and Hove City Council’s cabinet is due to meet next week to discuss the proposal to close Hollingbury, Rottingdean and Westdene libraries – subject to a consultation.
Save Rottingdean Library campaigner Sarah Craven-Antill feared her village library would be targeted for closure when the council announced that it was considering closing three community libraries to try to save £250,000 from its annual £3.7 million libraries budget over two years.
Mrs Craven-Antill’s petition on Change.org – Prevent Closure of the Beloved Rottingdean Library – had almost 3,000 signatures at the time of writing.
A second petition on Change.org – Stop the Closure of Brighton’s Community Libraries – had more than 700 signatures.
After the cabinet papers were published today (Wednesday 9 July), Mrs Craven-Antill said: “I’m saddened but not surprised by the proposal.
“Luckily, we’ve created a strong campaign group within the village and I feel confident as a community we can come up with a solution to save our library from closure.
“We’re lucky to have an art gallery, museum, tearoom and artists shop within The Grange and I hope we can utilise these in our next steps.”
A report to the council’s cabinet said that Rottingdean Library was within two miles of Saltdean Library, had good transport links and many people used both libraries.
The area was described as having “less evidence of deprivation” and reducing the number of libraries from two to one would achieve savings with “minimal impact” on residents, the report said.
Brighton and Hove Independent councillor Bridget Fishleigh said: “The news is hugely disappointing, especially as Brighton and Hove City Council acknowledged that Rottingdean Library attracts good footfall and that closing it will only produce a saving of £25,000 per annum.”
Councillor Fishleigh, who represents Rottingdean and West Saltdean ward, said: “I am arranging a meeting of Rottingdean Parish Council, Rottingdean Heritage and residents to look at alternative options to closure to present to Brighton and Hove City Council.”
Rottingdean had the sixth-highest number of visitors out of 13 libraries in Brighton and Hove, with 28,837 people visiting. Half of them used the Libraries Extra service when the building was unstaffed.
Saltdean Library had 40,861 visits and ranked as the third most popular library in Brighton and Hove.
Hollingbury Library, based in Old Boat Corner Community Centre, was also proposed for closure. It had the fewest visits of all the branches, with 6,554 visitors including almost 3,000 using Libraries Extra.
The report said that there were pockets of deprivation close to the library where people needed support.
Conservative councillor Alistair McNair, who represents Patcham and Hollingbury ward, said that he was shocked by the proposals.
Councillor McNair said: “This Labour administration is cutting back vital services despite promising change and an end to austerity. Things are actually only getting worse.
“They are hurting some of the poorer families and children in the city. Books are vital for social mobility. We thought Labour understood that.
“And while it can be argued Patcham Library is close, Hollingbury Library is on Hollingbury’s doorstep in one of the most successful community centres in the city.
“Residents and schoolchildren from Westdene will have to circumvent the busy A23 to access Patcham Library. Instead of a short walk, residents may have to drive.”
He urged people to respond to the 12-week consultation and submit ideas on how to save the libraries, should the cabinet agree to move forward with the proposals going before them.
The library with the second-fewest visits, Westdene, in Bankside, is also on the closure list. It received 10,039 visits, two-thirds of which were Libraries Extra visits.
Westdene has one of the smallest libraries in Brighton and Hove and is located within Westdene Primary School.
Westdene and Hove Park ward was described as having the lowest crime rate in the city and children living in the area were the least likely to qualify for free school meals.
Independent councillor Samer Bagaeen, who represents the ward, said: “Westdene Library, like many local libraries, is a vital community hub and its closure could have significant consequences.
“Libraries provide free access to books, digital resources and information for people from all walks of life.
“Closing the library would deny residents access to these valuable resources, especially for those who can’t afford to buy books or have limited access to the internet.
“Libraries are a key support system for students, offering study spaces. For many students, the library might be the only quiet space where they can focus on their work.
“Closing the library would strip the community of a neutral space that brings people together on the edge of the city.
“Libraries serve all demographics, including those with lower incomes, the elderly and people who might not have access to the internet or other technologies at home.
“Closing Westdene Library would disproportionately impact these groups, leaving them with fewer opportunities for personal development and connection.”
The council’s cabinet is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 2pm on Thursday 17 July. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast.
How can this be happening after Bella bragged about a surplus???
And has the social benefit been calculated financially, which for libraries in UK equates to three times their cost being saved in local mental health and other service costs?
https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2025/06/27/councils-1m-underspend-provides-brief-respite-from-big-financial-challenges/
I think you might be confusing surplus with an extremely low reserve there, James. One of the lowest in the country, in fact. I’m always saddened when I see stories like this article. Bringing libraries into the VCSEs still seems a strong move to protect them in the long term, because, as you say, the evidence base for their benefits on social isolation and mental health supports their existence.
I have to say that we are as shocked as residents that the Council wish to close three libraries, after boasting only a few days ago of their financial surplus of £1.1m
This Labour administration is cutting back vital services despite promising ‘change’ and an end to austerity. Things are actually only getting worse. They are hurting some of the poorer families and children in the city. Books are vital for social mobility – we thought Labour understood that. And while it can be argued Patcham library is close, Hollingbury library is on Hollingbury’s doorstep, in one of the most successful community centres in the city. Residents and schoolchildren from Westdene will have to circumvent the busy A23 to access Patcham library. Instead of a short walk, residents may have to drive.
The Conservative Group of councillors put forward proposals at Budget Council in February of this year to retain our city’s library services by making savings elsewhere. Clearly, libraries are not a priority for this Labour council.
But – it is important to remember there will now be a 12-week consultation. This looks like a done deal, but we urge residents to engage with the consultation, and to submit ideas of how the libraries and books could possibly be saved.
Councillor Lyons, once again, you’re playing politics with half-truths and selective outrage.
First, you cite a £1.1m surplus as if it’s a slush fund. You know full well this is a snapshot underspend in a budget of hundreds of millions. Brighton & Hove has one of the lowest reserves of any council in the country, and we are legally required to balance the books. That surplus doesn’t fix the £20m+ funding gap. It’s disingenuous to pretend otherwise.
Second, the closure of three underused branch libraries isn’t something anyone wants. But unlike your group, Labour took responsibility and produced a legally balanced budget. You claim you would’ve saved the libraries -how, exactly? Your amendment to the Budget Council didn’t offer a workable solution. If you had one, let’s see it. Vague gestures don’t fund services and are purely symbolic.
Third, the importance of books for social mobility isn’t up for debate. Labour knows that. But cuts to local government funding from your party in Westminster have left councils with impossible choices: cut services or go bankrupt. You seem to forget who caused this mess.
Stop playing games with people’s hopes and fears. Libraries deserve better than your party-political spin.
I am saddened by these cuts.I live in Rottingdean and have ill health. The library is essential to me, since I have been ill. Labour is denying poor people research and education.
Why are they doing this.
Get students to pay council tax, I believe they do not, which is crazy.
I appreciate that libraries can be social spaces to meet up in, but are most people aware that, with your library card, you can now read books online for free, and even download audiobook versions?
I’d want to know what numbers of library books are still exchange each week, in the traditional way.
I still value reading, be that for leisure and escapism, or for educational purposes, but the way we access books and other written material has changed fundamentally. Even on the beach today, I saw people reading from screens, but not from a printed page.
So we need to decide what these regional/local libraries are actually for. If they are not for exchanging books in the traditional way, are they perhaps places where poorer people (like me) can keep warm in the winter daytime, and with online services available to those who don’t have internet or fast broadband at home?
Before simply pulling the plug on a local library, these unseen benefits and increasing future needs should also be assessed.
If the figure quoted here is true – namely that closing Rottingdean local library only saves £25K off the council annual budget – then I’d suggest it makes more economic sense to lay off one or two council staff at the town hall instead. I’m a lefty, but it’s difficult to accept cuts to basic services when you see so much wastage of funds in the roadworks department, and with all those plastic signs the council obsessively cable ties to our seafront.
In short, we need to bring in changes to services with some sort of a long term vision – rather than as a knee jerk reaction to budget constraints.
Sounds like it’s decades since you visited a Library as they have very much kept up with the times offering all kinds of services including events such as children’s storytimes, writer’s groups, free internet access and talking books, DVDs, and now even a Council Services desk in the main Libraries.
Well you might be alright Jack, but for many people Library services remain a lifeline and one of the few free indoor spaces still available for them to utilise for educational and social, and even keeping warm, purposes in the winter.
Closing them is absolute cruelty to a lot of people, particularly those on low and fixed incomes in a cost of living crisis or who are digitally excluded from this world.
Labour have got to be the cruellest party pushing such blatant social injustice and discrimination, and while lying that they stand for the complete opposite.
You’ve just described a Community Centre.
Elaine, thanks for replying. As it happens, I was in the Jubilee St library only last week.
What I like best about modern libraries, is where they have a kids area, with books and other activities to engage the children.
I also just bought a book about tying knots for my godson, on the basis that, as a 6 year old, he quickly gets bored when being asked to read, but as an active boy he loves gadgets and practical stuff. So learning to tie knots encourages him to engage with the pictures and descriptive words, because it’s like a new hobby for him, and more interesting than stories. Maybe I could have got that book from a library, but maybe it’s too specialist.
I don’t think this discussion is necessarily a political thing, however some might make it so. It’s about the changes we have to make for the modern age, not just because there’s no money in the public spending coffers, but because traditional library use is changing.
That said, I don’t understand why they would close local libraries and at the same time instal a duplicated cycle lane on Hove seafront – as they intend to do.
It does sometimes feel that some council departments are wasting money hand over fist, while others are being made to cut essential services. It’s maybe the budget allocations and budgetary systems that are at fault here.
That’s quite estute. It makes me think of a different industry, community pharmacy, and has been undergoing it’s own metamorphosis over the years from being just a dispensary to delivering more point of care.
Modernising. That feels like the right conversations to be having. Rather than shutdowns, can we deliver libraries in a modern way?
I hear what you’re saying but my three children and I never ever read from screens. I personally hate them and probably read 2-3 library books a month. Libraries are a brilliant way to get children reading new books and trying new authors – e books are just not appropriate in this example and if we want children to read, libraries are essential.