It is said that a library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. This rings true to me when I reflect on our fantastic library service in Reading.
I’m proud we continue to boast all seven library branches – each a fantastic community asset – in our borough, even when austerity has meant lots of other councils were sadly forced to close theirs.
We know that people who use our libraries continue to value them.
As well as all the traditional things you’d associate with a library (books, I suppose) we also offer a wide range of other important facilities for our neighbourhoods. In these tough times where every penny counts, libraries offer a haven of free resources which include access to computers, free WiFi and, for families, much loved rhymetimes, storytimes and children’s books, providing a vital boost for early literacy.
The free online resources offered by our libraries are also vast. If you haven’t tried it, check out the huge range of e-magazines and e-books right at your fingertips – all you need is a free library card.
In January this year, we received the incredible news that the Council has been successful in our bid for ‘Levelling Up’ funding.
We were awarded the sum of £19.1 million to revitalise Reading’s cultural facilities.
This gives us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to invest in our library service and we now have the exciting prospect of creating a truly brilliant new Central Library for our town.
Our plan is to relocate from the tired, old building along the Kings Road. It has served us well and no doubt many of you have good memories, but there is little doubt that it has seen better days.
We plan to move the library into the heart of the town at our easy-to-access Civic Offices, opposite the Oracle shopping centre, combining the creation of a new library with a new public reception and service centre.
The new location offers us a truly unique chance to create something that meets the needs of everyone in our community.
This week we launched a four-week public consultation on this major project. The survey offers an opportunity for people to feedback, and the chance to ask questions about the library move and the development at the Civic Offices.
I really encourage you to take part – you can go online to www.reading.gov.uk/NewCivicLibrary, or you can ask for a paper copy from the Civic Offices or at your local library branch. We also really want to hear from Reading’s young people, so alongside the main survey we are reaching out to all our local schools and inviting Reading’s future generation to help us shape our new library space too.
The exciting transformation in our town doesn’t stop there either. Just around the corner, we are investing to revitalise Reading’s much-loved and popular Hexagon Theatre.
The plan there is to extend to the right-hand side of the existing building to create an attractive, flexible, and exciting new space for performances and community use. This will form the first phase of a longer-term regeneration of the Hexagon and, indeed, that whole area, which is set for a phenomenal level of transformation over the next few years.
The ‘Minster Quarter’ plan will include building hundreds of new homes, creating a vibrant thriving new community at the heart of the town.
A lot of the housing will be much-needed affordable housing, and the project will also bring new jobs and growth for the benefit of residents and the local economy.
We’ll keep you all updated on all these big projects as they get underway, but, for now, please take 10 minutes to let us know your thoughts on what you’d like to see at the new library and reception.
Cllr Jason Brock is the leader of Reading Borough Council and ward member for Southcote
