Work is on track at St Anne's Library

Work is progressing well on the specialist repair work currently underway at St Anne's Library, and is on track to be completed early in the New Year.
Work being done at St Annes LibraryWork being done at St Annes Library
Work being done at St Annes Library

The repair work is necessary to ensure that the library is in good condition so it can continue to be used by the community.

The library had to be closed in August 2017 after some plaster fell from the ceiling. It had been due to be closed later that year for survey work, but the unexpected event meant the venue had to be closed for safety and the survey work brought forward.

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County Coun Peter Buckley, cabinet member for community and cultural services, said: "I am pleased that the contractors are making good progress repairing our much treasured Carnegie library. This is excellent news as the repairs needed are very specialist.

"The particular works required to a building of this age and nature are inevitably both time intensive and complex due to the very specific requirements relating to such premises. I'm told that on average, since the summer months, there have been 20 workmen on site every day working for various contractors.

"We will continue to keep residents informed of progress through the information board and the website.

"We are sorry for the continued disruption, but I'd like to reassure everyone that it has always been our firm intention to be able to reopen the library in January or February at the latest, and we are on track to achieve this if we carry on making the progress that we are currently achieving.

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"As soon as the contractors have finished on site, the library will be restocked and we'll get it ready to open again as soon as we can."

As the library is over 110 years old and Grade 2 listed, specialist heritage surveyors have had to be brought in to support county surveyors to undertake the work.

Areas where work is being carried out include the masonry windows, foundations to the 1930s extension, weather sealing, roof trusses and the cupola.

A temporary library service, based in a mobile unit, is running in St Annes while repairs are ongoing to the main library building.

This vehicle will be located at the Public Offices, 288 Clifton Drive South, until the work at the library building has been completed.