The council is asking what its libraries should do next, and its own page says money is why. The survey closes 17 November, with forums from 13 October.
Kensington and Chelsea has opened an eight week consultation on the future of its libraries and archives. It closes on Tuesday 17 November 2026.
The council’s news release, published on 23 September, asks what makes your local library special and what could make it better. It says the survey takes about ten minutes and that it wants to hear from regular users, occasional visitors and people who have never used a library at all.
The page that actually hosts the survey is blunter about why it is being run.
As councils face increasing financial pressures, we need to think carefully about how services are delivered in the future, how resources are used, and how Libraries and Archives can remain sustainable and relevant to local needs.
That sentence appears on the council’s Help shape the future of libraries and archives page, last updated on 21 September. It does not appear in the news release.
Councillor Tom Bennett, the lead member responsible for libraries and archives, said in the release: “Our libraries are much-loved assets in communities across Kensington and Chelsea, many of which have been operating for over 100 years.” He asked residents to “tell us what works, what doesn’t and what new ideas can make our libraries even better places to visit”.
The three ways to take part
- Online. The survey is linked from the council’s libraries consultation page.
- On paper. Printed copies are available in every open library.
- In person. The council is running community forums, which it says will “capture resident feedback, encourage discussion and ensure that a wide range of voices help shape the future direction of the service”.
The forum dates
The forums are listed on Eventbrite rather than on the council’s own site. These are the sessions whose listed venue matches their title:
| Date | Time | Library |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 13 October | 2pm to 3pm | Kensal Library, 20 Golborne Road, W10 5PF |
| Tuesday 20 October | 2pm to 3pm | North Kensington Library, 108 Ladbroke Grove, W11 1PZ |
| Wednesday 28 October | 11am to 12pm | Chelsea Library, King's Road, SW3 5EZ |
| Friday 6 November | 11.30am to 12.30pm | Kensington Central Library and Local Studies, 12 Phillimore Walk, W8 7RX |
Each session runs for an hour.
If you use Brompton Library, check before you travel
Two of the six listings in the council’s Eventbrite collection are titled Brompton Library Community Forum, and neither is straightforward.
- One is dated Monday 10 August 2026, 3.30pm to 4.30pm, at Brompton Library, 210 Old Brompton Road. That date passed six weeks before this consultation opened.
- The other is dated Thursday 12 November, 2pm to 3pm, but the venue on the listing is Kensington Central Library, 12 Phillimore Walk, about three quarters of a mile north of Brompton Library.
We are not going to guess which is right. If you use Brompton Library and want to take part in person, ask the library staff to confirm the date and the address before you make the journey, or fill in the paper survey there instead. We will update this page if the council corrects the listing.
One library is already shut
The council runs six libraries: Kensington Central, Chelsea, Brompton, North Kensington, Kensal and Notting Hill Gate, plus the Local Studies and Archives collection at Kensington Central.
Notting Hill Gate Library, 1 Pembridge Square, is currently closed for building works. A banner on its library page, last updated on 3 August 2026, says so, and adds that the K+C Co-works co-working service has moved temporarily to Brompton Library. No reopening date is given. That is why there is no forum listed there.
Money is going into the buildings at the same time as the review. On 18 September the council’s executive director of organisational strategy approved a contract with Amber Construction Services Limited to repair the pitched roofs at Kensington Central Library and install a fall arrest system, for £567,382.56 excluding VAT, or £680,859.07 including it. The work is booked for 20 weeks from September 2026, with an optional four week extension. The council’s report describes the fall arrest system as “essential to safely carry out all inspections and periodic maintenance of roofs and rainwater goods”.
What it means for you
This is a consultation about how a service is run, launched by a council that says on its own page it is under financial pressure. Nothing has been proposed yet, and no closure, reduction or change of opening hours is on the table in anything the council has published so far.
What it does mean is that the record of what residents said will be this survey, and it is open for eight weeks. If you use a library for the computers, the printing, the children’s sessions, the local history collection or simply as somewhere warm and quiet to sit, that is the thing to say now rather than later.
Three practical points:
- The deadline is Tuesday 17 November 2026. There is no indication it will be extended.
- You do not have to be a library member. The council says it wants to hear from people who have not used the service.
- The archives count too. The Local Studies and Archives collection is inside the scope of the review, and its forum is the one at Kensington Central on 6 November.
We will report what the consultation produces. Our planning news page and local information pages carry the council’s other live consultations and decisions as they are published.
Sources
- Have your say on the future of libraries and archives, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, published 23 September 2026, for the launch, the eight week window, the 17 November deadline, the three ways to take part and Councillor Tom Bennett’s quotes.
- Help shape the future of libraries and archives, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, last updated 21 September 2026, for the financial pressures wording and the survey and forum links.
- Have Your Say on Libraries and Archives, the council’s Eventbrite collection, read on 24 September 2026, for every forum date, time and venue, including the two Brompton listings.
- Notting Hill Gate Library, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for the closure for building works and the temporary move of K+C Co-works to Brompton Library.
- Decision: Contract award for installation of a compliant fall arrest system at Kensington Central Library ED5012105, published 18 September 2026, for the contractor, the contract sum and the 20 week programme.
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