§ Mr. Alex CarlileTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many books were purchased for public libraries in(a) 1981, (b) 1985 and (c) 1991; how much money was allocated in each of those years; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Key[holding answer 26 October 1992]: Public libraries in England added 10.8 million, 11.1 million and 11.0 million books to their stock in 1980–81, 1984–85 and 1990–91 respectively. These figures include donations and free publications, as well as purchases. Their actual expenditure on books for the same years was £41.0 million, £56.8 million and £84.8 million. This represents an expenditure increase in real terms of almost 13 per cent. between 1980–81 and 1990–91.