AN official moving date has been announced at long last for Bromsgrove Library.
The building which is currently housed on Stratford Road, was due to close its doors in the middle of September, and move over to its new home in the multi-million pound Parkside hub, to open at the beginning of October, but Worcestershire County Council put the move on hold at the last minute, citing ‘technical problems’.
However the Library’s official Facebook page released an announcement this week to say that the library will be closing the Stratford Road building on Saturday, November 14 at 4pm, and re-opening in its new home on Monday, November 30 at 9am.
Councillor Lucy Hodgson, cabinet member for communities and localism at Worcestershire County Council, said: "This move is another good example of the positive changes happening within the Libraries and Learning Service and of two local authorities working collaboratively to identify opportunities to rationalise and share public sector buildings".
The redevelopment scheme is transforming the former Parkside Middle School into a one-stop shop for council services, including the register office, Job Centre Plus base, council offices, a new chamber for the district council, a customer service centre, a community hall, and the new library.
Library customers will be given extended loan periods to ensure that no books are due back during the period of closure, and they will be able to visit other libraries in Catshill, Rubery, Droitwich, Hagley or Kidderminster while the building is closed.
Customers will also be able to return items to any Worcestershire library, including The Hive in Worcester, and online services including free e-books and e-magazines and online reference sources including Britannica and the OED will all still be available to library members at worcestershire.gov.uk/libraries.
The Parkside building, had been earmarked for demolition back in 2008, but received a last minute reprieve when it was granted Grade II listed status, and this project has cost £6.9 million overall, a figure which has been split between the county and district councils.
The library move was originally planned for June, but was delayed because of repairs to the former school building taking longer than anticipated, and pushed back to September.
The new library building will also have opportunities for volunteering with a wider variety of roles on offer including: meeting and greeting library customers; helping people get online; shelving and helping to keep the library tidy, unpacking items of stock and getting involved in library clubs and other library activities, including helping at a range of one-off events. Anyone interested can find out more by calling into the library or visiting worcestershire.gov.uk/info/20002/community_and_volunteering.
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