THE National Library of Wales has responded with dismay to the announcement it is to receive a 4.7 per cent reduction in Welsh Government funding in 2016-17.

And Ceredigion AM Elin Jones has warned of dire consequences for universities as a result of a 16 per cent cut in their revenue funding.

Linda Tomos, National Librarian, said: "Yesterday, the Welsh Government announced that The National Library of Wales budget would be reduced by 4.7 per cent.

"We understand that Ministers had some tough choices to make, and we appreciate that this budget settlement demonstrates that Welsh Government values culture and heritage. To ensure that this reduction in funding will not have a detrimental effect on the national collection and access thereto, we will need to secure additional funding from other sources including fundraising efforts.

"An extensive corporate restructuring process to find ways of reducing costs and to operate more effectively and efficiently has already taken place and will continue in the foreseeable future.

It is a challenging period for the Library, and also one that presents us with many opportunities to increase our social, economic and cultural benefit through innovation and collaboration’.

"The National Library of Wales is currently working on ambitious new strategies to extend its digital and physical reach to communities and sectors right across Wales and beyond. Future investment in digital technologies and building exciting new partnerships will ensure that the rich cultural heritage of Wales is fully exploited by the Welsh economy to inspire, innovate and grow’.

"The National Library of Wales welcomes nearly 90,000 visitors annually and its digital resources are set to surpass one million users this year. An innovative new partnership with Wikimedia UK since January 2015 has substantially increased the impact of our digital collections with well over 10 million views on Wikipedia alone.

"Outreach and education events are also held in schools and communities across Wales in partnership with Welsh Government and other cultural bodies to drive the cultural regeneration of Community First areas and inspire young people and adults.

"Like many public organisations, the Library has experienced significant cuts to its funding in recent years. However, the management and staff have worked extremely hard to ensure that users have not seen any reduction in service or provision. In spite of these cuts, we will work just as hard in the future to try and ensure that we maintain the Library’s services and provisions."

The budget for Welsh higher education, including the funding provided to Aberystwyth University and the University of Wales Trinity St. David, is set to be cut by £20 million.

Elin Jones AM said: “This savage cut to the higher education budget will come as a massive shock to our local universities.

Ceredigion’s economy is hugely dependent on our two university campuses. A cut on this scale threatens universities’ ability to provide the excellence we need in teaching and research.

“This Government’s priorities are hard to fathom. Labour are still determined to press ahead with a £1 billion project for a small section of the M4, and want to force costly mergers of councils.

But at the same time, they’re threatening universities with savage cuts at the same time that we expect them to lead in research and development to improve our country’s economic prospects.”