Reading Central Library building is up for sale having officially appeared on property website Rightmove.
The current Central Library, which was opened in 1985, is being sold by Reading Borough Council as library services there are being brought into the civic offices.
The new library project is being undertaken after the council £8 million from the department of levelling up, housing and communities to create an improved library.
The project has meant that the council no longer requires the Central Library building at the junction of Kings Road and Abbey Square.
The library is being marketed by Savills, which has stated that it is a ‘brownfield’ redevelopment and conversion opportunity.
The aim for the council is for the site to be repurposed into a residential-led development, with a potential capacity for 46 new homes.
No price has been outlined for the Central Library building yet, with it being listed on Rightmove as ‘POA’ meaning ‘price on application’.
The building, which is around 40 years old, could either be demolished and replaced or retained and converted.
Retention has been judged as the most viable option according to a senior council official.
Charan Dhillon the council’s Assistant Director of Property and Assets Management, said: “Although the bid to the government refers to the demolition of Central Library building to make way for the 46 new homes and help address the housing shortage in Reading, it is now recognised that it may not be possible to demolish it given the potential archaeological implications associated with any excavations on this site.
“Additionally, valuation advice has been sought and the advice places a higher value on upwards extension and retention of the existing building, which would also have the benefit of reducing embodied carbon.
“What the market dictates is the best value for the site will not be certain until marketing commences.”
The building will be vacant by the first quarter of 2026, ready for the purchaser.
Current occupants the Berkshire Family History Society, REDA, the economy and destination agency, and Reading Voluntary Action must all leave.
The Family History Society is set to relocate to Battle Library in Oxford Road before December, with REDA and Reading Voluntary Action set to leave by December as well.
Sustrans, the active travel charity, has already vacated.
Meanwhile, the new library at the Civic Offices in Bridge Street is set to open in the Spring next year, with the books from the Central Library being relocated both to the Civic Offices and the other libraries across the borough.
At a meeting of the council’s Older Person’s Working Group last October, library project manager Camille James admitted the new library will have fewer books and less floorspace than the current Central Library.
