Libraries across the South East play a key role at the heart of communities, of education and academic research. In the region there are:

An estimated 2,500 library collections; major university, public, college, health, schools and workplace sectors

26% of UK research and development is undertaken in the South East; library and information activity underpins this activity

148 workplace libraries identified so far in business, voluntary sector, trade association, government, including military and government agencies

105 health libraries, with 4 NHS Direct offices

19 public library authorities with net revenue budget of £105.5 million, employing 3,100 staff, with an average of 8 loans per head of population by public libraries

498 public branch libraries with 48 million visits and 7,126,182 enquiries to public libraries per annum; 64 mobile libraries

Strong academic and research library collections are administered by the HE sector, notably at Oxford University where the Bodleian Library is one of three national copyright deposit libraries

24 higher education institutions delivering services through some 102 libraries

85 colleges in the region and over 3,000 schools; most have libraries