Jesmond Library has had another successful year financially, making a net income of roughly £10,700 between 2022-23.

Friends of Jesmond Library is the organisation that runs the community site, located on St George’s Terrace, which has been a focal point for Jesmond since it re-opened in 2013, entirely run by volunteers. The last decade has been a huge success for the library, which has made a profit £600, or 6%, larger this year compared to 2019-2020. (Financial results for the covid years were not available.)

Anne, a volunteer at the library, said that she volunteers because “when I was only six years old I loved going to my local library as I could read any book I wanted and for free”.

A lot of the library’s income comes from regular donations from locals, with 34.5% of general income coming from donations. On top of this the library receives bursaries from the Catherine Cookson Trust, who this year donated £30,000 to the library. Dame Catherine Cookson was a beloved writer from South Shields, and following her death in 1998, the Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust continues to support charitable, medical, and academic research.

Another key source of income is from room hires. The library has two rooms available to rent, a smaller room for £10 and the larger main room for £20. This service accounted for 19% of their income in 2022-23.

With the help from grants and donations, the library has recently been able to invest in new windows to reduce the usage of central heating while ensuring that the library remains a warm place for locals during the winter. The replacement took nearly four years to complete and cost just under £150,000.

The library is a hub not only for access to books and computers, but also for several languages’ lessons, including Spanish, French, and German, and regular evening talks from locals. The lessons and events cost between £2 to £4 to attend, most of which goes towards the running of the library.

John Griffiths, an adult education lecturer, has given several evening talks at Jesmond Library, his most recent being on ‘The Pope who came to Newcastle’. John believes that it is “so important that places like Jesmond Library keep going because they are not just places to borrow books, they are information exchanges, places to meet your friends, take your children, go to courses or storytelling sessions, and all other sorts of activities.”

A mum of two young children who wished to remain anonymous praised the events that are offered at the library for such low prices, adding that “you don’t often hear about small libraries doing so well in this technological age”, and was “thrilled to hear” that the library was doing so well.