Date: 07 December 2006 17:51

EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT FOR CENTRAL LIBRARY USERS

Cambridgeshire County Council has presented an early Christmas present to 
users of Cambridge Central Library by announcing that it will remain open 
during the busy festive season.

Following ongoing discussions with the developers of the Grand Arcade, the 
Library will now not shut for a major £7.5 million reconstruction until 
January 20, 2007. The Library was originally set to close just before 
Christmas.

The overall programme of work is not expected to be extended by the later 
closing date and the brand new Cambridge Central Library should reopen to 
customers in the Spring of 2008.

County Council Director of Community Learning and Development, Mike Hosking, 
said: "Because of changes to the building schedule of the Grand Arcade they 
do not now need to take possession of areas of the Library until after 
Christmas which is good news for the users of the Cambridge Central Library
who will now be able to use the existing facilities over the festive period.

"The later closing date should not have an impact on the overall time it 
will take to redevelop and refurbish the existing building and I am very 
much looking forward to the brand new facilities opening their doors to 
customers for the first time in the Spring of 2008."

The scale of the Central Library building work is massive. The inside of the 
Library will be ripped out, demolishing some areas and rebuilding others and 
on health and safety grounds the building has to be closed to the public 
during the construction and fitting out processes.

Work includes:
* The Grand Arcade will cut through the existing building.
* The odd shaped first floor annex used for storage and office space will be 
cut away.
* New floor space will be created by filling in the part of void between the 
first and second floors and the top floor terrace will be roofed over.
* The existing entrance will be removed and replaced by a major new entrance 
straight onto the first floor of the Library - linking the building to the 
Grand Arcade's first floor shops and the Lion Yard car park.
* Asbestos in the old building will be removed and ventilation, electrical 
wiring, heating and plumbing will be completely replaced and modernised.
* Escalators giving access to all three floors will be installed and lifts 
refurbished.

Details of alternative services which will be available throughout the 
refurbishment have now been finalised and details are available in leaflets 
which will be made available at Libraries throughout Cambridgeshire and on 
the Cambridgeshire County Council Website at: www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

During the closure, Central Library's most popular services will continue to 
be available through the network of branch libraries in Cambridge which will 
have improved facilities and extended opening hours to cope with the extra 
demand.

Milton Road Library will more than double its opening hours to 60 per week 
including Sunday opening, a higher amount than the current Central Library 
opening hours, and both Rock Road and Bar Hill Libraries will see their 
opening times increase by over 50% to 45 hours per week.

There will be increased availability of computers for free internet, email 
access and wider online services at Rock Road and Milton Road and the 
Central Library's range of current newspapers and magazines will be 
available at Rock Road.

The unique resources of the Cambridgeshire Collection will be accessible 
from Milton Road Library. Customers of this renowned local studies 
collection will have study facilities and access to the most heavily used 
resources of the collection, either immediately or by ordering in advance.

 Additionally, the Learning Centre at Arbury Court Library will offer 
expanded access to its on-line courses.  The County Council's Library 
Service also offers a superb range of on-line information services that can 
be accessed from home and workplaces and these will be backed up with a 
telephone information service.

Cambridgeshire County Council Cabinet Member for Community Learning and 
Adult Social Care, Councillor Fred Yeulett, said: "We are delighted that we 
are able to offer such an extensive range of alternative provision whilst we 
are taking this opportunity to transform Cambridge Central Library into a
state-of-the-art library for the 21st century.

"The extended services available will offer a good solution in the short 
term to meet demand and enable us to continue to provide a high level of 
service to the public wherever possible."

John Reynolds