Bury Council has praised residents for being ‘cultured and civilised’ after figures showed just four people had been banned from the library system in four years.

According to data released under the Freedom of Information Act, two bans were handed out at Bury Library in 2023 for people viewing inappropriate material, with one ban in 2021 and another in 2022 for ‘anti-social behaviour’.

As of April, no bans had yet been made yet this year. No bans were recorded in any of the borough’s other libraries.

A Bury Council spokesperson said: “Bury Libraries have around 56,000 members and welcome 191,000 visitors each year.

“With only four exclusions in four years, it goes to show how cultured and civilised Bury folk are, and how respectful they are of our libraries!”

Last year, the borough joined the shared Greater Manchester Library Management System, giving people in Bury the choice to borrow items from the nine other districts of Greater Manchester as well as from the borough branches in Bury, Prestwich, Radcliffe and Ramsbottom using their Bury Libraries membership card.

The figures are in stark contrast to neighbouring Bolton, which has already seen four bans issued this year – the same as was issued in Bury in the last four years.

 A total of 30 bans have been issued in Bolton borough since 2020 for reasons including indecent exposure, aggressive behaviour, drinking alcohol, racist abuse, vandalism, and swearing.

In Oldham, 13 bans have been handed out since 2021, for reasons including threatening behaviour, discriminatory language, and repeated verbal abuse.

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