Welsh location named number one for libraries across the UK in new ranking

Nation Cymru staff

A Welsh location has been named the best across the UK for library access – with the most public libraries per person in the UK according to new ranking from Awesome Books.

The Library Access Index 2026 from Awesome Books ranks 44 UK cities and large towns on public libraries per head of population. Swansea comes top; Crawley comes last.

Wales punched well above its weight with two locations in the top ten, with Swansea nabbing the all-important first place position and Newport at number five.

Swansea came top across the entire UK, with 17 public libraries, one for every 14,800 people. Swindon, Wolverhampton, Blackpool and Newport complete the top five.

Across the 44 places the average is one public library for every 25,400 people.

London has around 316 public libraries, more than anywhere else, but ranks 36th per head, with one for every 28,800 people. Birmingham ranks 39th, with one for every 34,800.

The index comes during the National Year of Reading. A local library is often the only free place to borrow books, so where you live makes a real difference to how easy it is to find one.

Top ten (people per public library)
1. Swansea, 14,800
2. Swindon, 17,400
3. Wolverhampton, 17,600
4. Blackpool, 18,000
5. Newport, 18,700
6. Edinburgh, 19,000
7. Bristol, 19,000
8. Aberdeen, 19,300
9. Derby, 19,600
10. Glasgow, 19,700

Source: Awesome Books Library Access Index 2026

Bottom ten
35. Liverpool, 28,300
36. London, 28,800
37. Milton Keynes, 30,600
38. Southend-on-Sea, 30,900
39. Birmingham, 34,800
40. Sunderland, 36,100
41. Walsall, 42,200
42. Stoke-on-Trent, 45,100
43. Luton, 47,800
44. Crawley, 62,000

Taskeen Ahmed, CEO of Awesome Books, shared: “A library is often the only place in a town where a child can get hold of a book for free.

“The gap between one library for every 14,800 people and one for every 62,000 is a gap in opportunity.

“There is a direct correlation between literacy and life-expectancy and literacy and life-outcomes, and these gaps are widest in many of the places that can least afford it and need it the most.

“Research shows that children that have books are 4 times more likely to enjoy reading.

“That is why we donate pre-loved books to schools and literacy projects across the UK, to help children learn to read and instill a love of reading that will help them throughout their life. ”

Awesome Books is a UK book seller that makes books affordable and accessible for everyone.

Since 2008 it has saved more than 200 million books from landfill and donated millions to schools, libraries and literacy projects around the world. It sells affordable new and second-hand books with free UK delivery, and donates a book for every book sold.

View the full results and ranking of all 44 places, including the methodology at https://www.awesomebooks.com/pages/book-accessibility-index.