Ahead of the upcoming closure of the main library in Reading town centre, a question over what will happen to all the furniture there has been cleared up.
The Central Library in the Abbey Square, which is owned and run by Reading Borough Council, has stood as a book repository since 1985.
It has also served as a hub for IT services, printing, study and an indoors children’s play area.
The library is due to close on Monday, May 11, with services being moved into a newly created library at the council’s civic offices in Bridge Street this summer.
But the closure has led to a question about what will happen with the furniture at the library.
Laurence Berks, a member of the council’s Older People’s Working Group, raised the question at a recent meeting, suggesting that the furniture should be transferred over to the new library.
The council has clarified that the furniture in the existing library will be given out for free to other council services, voluntary and faith groups and schools.
Then, a sales process will begin, and any items that cannot be sold will be recycled.
A spokesperson said: “The council is trying to find new homes for as much of the furniture currently in Reading Central Library as possible.
“We have offered to donate — for free — any furniture to other council services, including other libraries, as well as to our partners, voluntary sector organisations, churches, and Reading’s schools.
“We have had a good level of interest and have already found new homes for some of the furniture.
“The majority of the furniture has been in the library since it opened in 1985, and some items were designed specifically for the King’s Road building. These are therefore not suitable for the new services and layout of the new Reading Central Library in the Civic Centre.
“After offering furniture for free to organisations, it will be offered for sale, but no sales target has been set.
“Only when we have exhausted these avenues, the remaining items will be broken down into recyclable parts.”
A new library is being created at the civic offices after the council’s £8.6 million Levelling Up funding bid was granted by the previous Conservative government.
Camille James, a capital project manager at the council, stated that the new library will have fewer books on public display than the existing one at a meeting of the Older People’s Working Group in October 2023.
The council’s policy committee agreed to dispose of the Central Library building in a decision made at a meeting in June 2024.
The Local Plan states the site could be used to provide up to 50 homes.
