News / banksy
Banksy’s offer to help bankroll Bristol’s libraries
Banksy has joined the chorus of voices seeking to safeguard Bristol’s libraries – and he is apparently willing to put his money where his mouth is.
The famously elusive graffiti artist has got in touch with the council to offer his support to the beleaguered service in the wake of recent threats of funding cuts.
The revelation came at a cabinet meeting in City Hall on Tuesday, when a member of the public, Lloyd Roberts, asked about rumours of a “philanthropist who has stepped forward to help libraries in Bristol”.
is needed now More than ever
People packed into a public meeting in Redland Library to voice their dismay at the proposed cuts
Mayor Marvin Rees confirmed this to be true, while taking care to warn about “being careful with rumours”.
“A very well known person from Bristol wrote in and asked us about the nature of the challenge and what was needed to help the city meet that challenge. That person was Banksy.
“There is nothing signed and delivered, it’s just a conversation we are having. He has come forward and talked about supporting us. We will have to see how that plays itself out.”
Deputy mayor Asher Craig added that the street artist is one of a couple of potential investors to have come forward to safeguard libraries, saying: “They might be investing in the community portion, not necessarily the council’s coffers.”
Speaking after the meeting, a council source confirmed Banksy contacted the council about six weeks ago, pledging his support for the service and asking what he could do to help in the midst of proposed cuts that would have seen 17 of the city’s 27 libraries close.
While the council has pledged to keep all of the libraries open until 2020, it has made no secret of the need to modernise the service and involved community groups in order to safeguard its long term future.
Details of the offer and its implications are yet to be revealed, but it is not the first time the world famous artist has lent a helping hand to his home city – he gifted a mural to the pupils of Bridge Farm School in Whitchurch in 2016, and took over Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery with his exhibition, Banksy versus Bristol Museum, drawing crowds from far and wide, in 2009.
A paper outlining more details of how the council proposes to safeguard the long-term future of the library service is expected to go before cabinet in October, meanwhile, cabinet members have rubber-stamped the move to continue funding all of the city’s libraries until 2020.
Read more: All of Bristol’s libraries saved
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
