The British Library is lobbying the government in the run up to the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) this autumn and has published a document warning that cuts would lead to admission charges or limit its reading room opening hours. The cuts would also mean a drop in spending on research journals and books.
The library has set up a forum on its website calling for visitors to express their support, which has so far received more than 500 comments. But a spokesman for the library told Museums Journal that it was 'not actively going about trying to drum up support'.
He said: 'It's a sensitive issue. No one knows what the Treasury will do. If they look at the forum, that's fine, but we are not actively telling them to look.'
National museums have been told by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) that grants may be cut by up to 7 per cent each year for the next three years, while the future of Renaissance in the Regions is also in doubt.
Charles Saumarez Smith, the director of the National Gallery, in a lecture to the Royal Geographic Society in January, said that if the cuts go through, Gordon Brown could 'wipe out all the benefits of the past ten years'.
Sandy Nairne, the director of the National Portrait Gallery, said he was 'extremely concerned' about the spending review, and the reduction in lottery funds caused by the Olympics going over budget.
Nairne said the National Museum Directors' Conference was talking to Treasury officials and advisers and 'getting as close as we can to the relevant ministers', as well as talking to the DCMS. 'It is not just about nationals arguing the case,' he said. 'It is about making the case for museums and galleries across the country.'
Some have drawn comfort from Tony Blair's speech at the Tate Modern in which he hinted at a flat settlement in the CSR, to avoid 'boom and bust' in the arts.
But as David Fleming, the director of National Museums Liverpool, pointed out: 'We are working on the assumption that there will be a new prime minister who will look at changing the structure of government, and there is an air of uncertainty as the CSR comes at the same time.'
A date for the announcement of the CSR settlement has not yet been set but it is likely to be in the autumn.
Patrick Steel
The library has set up a forum on its website calling for visitors to express their support, which has so far received more than 500 comments. But a spokesman for the library told Museums Journal that it was 'not actively going about trying to drum up support'.
He said: 'It's a sensitive issue. No one knows what the Treasury will do. If they look at the forum, that's fine, but we are not actively telling them to look.'
National museums have been told by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) that grants may be cut by up to 7 per cent each year for the next three years, while the future of Renaissance in the Regions is also in doubt.
Charles Saumarez Smith, the director of the National Gallery, in a lecture to the Royal Geographic Society in January, said that if the cuts go through, Gordon Brown could 'wipe out all the benefits of the past ten years'.
Sandy Nairne, the director of the National Portrait Gallery, said he was 'extremely concerned' about the spending review, and the reduction in lottery funds caused by the Olympics going over budget.
Nairne said the National Museum Directors' Conference was talking to Treasury officials and advisers and 'getting as close as we can to the relevant ministers', as well as talking to the DCMS. 'It is not just about nationals arguing the case,' he said. 'It is about making the case for museums and galleries across the country.'
Some have drawn comfort from Tony Blair's speech at the Tate Modern in which he hinted at a flat settlement in the CSR, to avoid 'boom and bust' in the arts.
But as David Fleming, the director of National Museums Liverpool, pointed out: 'We are working on the assumption that there will be a new prime minister who will look at changing the structure of government, and there is an air of uncertainty as the CSR comes at the same time.'
A date for the announcement of the CSR settlement has not yet been set but it is likely to be in the autumn.
Patrick Steel
