Date: 02 June 2007 22:11

BOOST TO CITY SERVICES DURING LIBRARY REFURBISHMENT

Cambridgeshire County Council has boosted Library services in Cambridge 
while the city's Central Library undergoes a complete interior rebuild.

The Library in Lion Yard is undergoing a £7.5 million rebuilding and 
refurbishment which will transform the services and accommodation offered to 
the public by the council's Libraries, Archives and Information Service. The 
Library is scheduled to reopen in the spring of 2008.

In the interim, the County Council has already extended opening hours and 
facilties at the five branch Libraries around Cambridge and now services 
have been further boosted by the introduction of extra mobile library stops 
around the city.

A Mobile Library now parks on Cambridge Market Square on Mondays and 
Saturdays between 10.00-4.00pm. Except on Bank Holiday Mondays.

In addition, new stops have been introduced in Newnham and West Cambridge. 
These stops will operate fortnightly on alternate Fridays - next stop will 
be on May 25. The Mobile Library will be outside Cambridge Rugby Club's 
ground in Granchester Road from 1.00-1.50pm and at Pinehurst from 
2.00-3.00pm.

County Council Cabinet Member for Universal Service, Councillor Martin 
Curtis, said: "We have already extended opening hours and expanded the 
services available at the branch libraries in Cambridge to ensure it's 
business as usual during the Central Library redevelopment, but now in 
response to public demand we are providing additional Mobile Library stops 
in areas of Cambridge which are not easily served by those community 
libraries.

"When it reopens, Cambridge Central Library will boast the most modern 
facilities and services and meet the public expectation for a 21st Century 
Library. In the meantime we are doing everything we can to provide a 
comprehensive Library, Archive and Information Service to the public."

Details of the alternative services are available in leaflets at Libraries 
throughout Cambridgeshire and on the Cambridgeshire County Council website 
at: www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk

The scale of the Central Library building work is massive. The inside of the 
Library is being ripped out, demolishing some areas and rebuilding others. 
The extensive work meant the building had to be closed to the public on 
health and safety grounds.

The 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 the void between 
the first and second floors and the top floor terrace will be roofed overThe 
existing entrance will be removed and replaced by a major new entrance 
straight from 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 ventilatoin, electrical 
wiring, heating and plumbing completely replaced and modernised
* Escalators giving access to all three floor will be installed and lifts 
refurbished

 John Reynolds