Council urged to reverse ‘sudden’ closure of library

Liverpool Council took possession of the site last October amid a rent row

Liverpool Council took possession of the site last October amid a rent row

The “sudden” closure of a Liverpool library offers “no way forward” for the city and must be resolved, according to opposition members. A row broke out last year after Liverpool Council stopped providing funds to Alt Valley Community Trust (AVCT) for library services it ran in Breck Road in Everton and Dovecot.

According to the local authority, this was due to “substantial” debts owed by the trust. In October, after an agreement couldn’t be reached, the council activated a break clause in its head lease with the building’s owners and took possession of Breck Road Library and closed the site.

Now opposition members have laid a motion before the city council, calling for a resolution to be reached “urgently” between both sides. The Your Party group have also put forward their case for leaders to convene a meeting between officials to find a way to reopen the library.

The closure of the library in the autumn has left the building shuttered and AVCT unable to access the location. According to the council, no payments were received at all in 2017, 2018, and none were received for the last five years.

In total, there is an outstanding debt of £82,500 in relation to the building.

AVCT said no repayment plan had been agreed because it disputes the debt. The Your Party motion said Breck Road was the seventh most used library in the city with more than 14,000 visits between 2024 and 2025.

It asked councillors to support their view that there had been a “lack of sufficient consultation with the local community” and the city could not afford any further reduction in its library network.

The motion added: “Libraries contribute to communities by providing free access to information and technology, promoting literacy and lifelong learning, encouraging community cohesion, and supporting economic and social development.

“They are public spaces, available to all, that offer educational resources, support for job seekers, and vital social services, while also preserving cultural heritage and building more resilient communities.

“They are particularly important in socially deprived areas such as the one served by Breck Road library.”

The motion, laid down by group leader Cllr Alan Gibbons, said there should be a meeting, brokered by the council’s five political group leaders, between AVCT, officers and appropriate Cabinet members to find a way to keep Breck Road Library open.

It asks members to request the cabinet to “urgently seek a resolution to this issue.” The motion will go before all members of the city council when they meet at the Town Hall on Wednesday, January 28.

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