community hubs

Blackburn Central Library

~ librarytouristblog

Blackburn Central Library is part of a nice muti-storey community centre in the city centre. The building is on several floors and community groups hire the rooms upstairs. There was a dance group class or show upstairs (majorettes?) and as we looked like lost parents wandering around, several members of helpful staff asked if we were looking for the dance show. 

There was also the Hornby lecture theatre and a large IT area with computers and plenty of study desks. There’s a section with local history material. The complex had two lifts and toilets so was very accessible even though it was on several floors.

There was a photography display in the corridor upstairs as the local amateur photography group meets there and a project put together by Ukrainian refugees with photos and letters. There was also a jigsaw out and I think I saw a piano. This was all evidence of a bustling community centre. 

I like the way this display shows everything you can access with your library card:

Telford & Wrekin – Southwater Library

~ librarytouristblog

Southwater Library is sited in a wonderful pedestrian area that I would have to describe as a leisure piazza with shops, hotels, restaurants, cinema, bowling and an ice rink. Next to the library is a water feature and pond and a lovely vast park with bike hire, tree climbing and a zoo. The library is housed in a building with the Council offices.

 The ground floor is partly taken up with a Costa coffee shop and some library self-service facilities while the escalator takes customers up to the main library. The first floor has another entrance and terrace which leads to the pond and park.

The only drawback is that the floors had a bit of a doughnut feeling because of the escalators in the middle. The kids area was just a small section of the floor, not very intimate or imaginative, although comfy. But there were other nooks and crannies that had seating and bookcases and were intimate. On the second floor there are gates where you need a pass to access the upper floors – presumably where there are council offices – but somehow the gate barriers felt rather obtrusive and didn’t give off the right feel.

There was a variety of desks and seating but several were reserved for council business so we felt we couldn’t just sit down there and read, even though it was a Saturday and I suspect the council staff are not working or taking appointments on Saturdays.

But, generally it is an excellent facility with a welcoming modern feel and in the right environment. I can see it would be a great place to take young children as you could go to the park and feed the ducks and play in the water feature and pop into the library. I think teenagers and students would be encouraged to hang out there as it is a relaxed environment, although I am not sure there are enough serious quiet study spaces. I’m sure the adults and senior citizens in the community appreciate the investment into the area and that the library is part of that. I agree with community hubs that incorporate council first-contact points within libraries as I think it puts a positive face on council services. I also love libraries that have a cafe and I do love a Costa!

Newcastle-under-Lyme

~ librarytouristblog

I was in Newcastle-under-Lyme so decided to visit, even though I’ve already visited a library for Staffordshire – Stafford in 2018. Just like the Stoke library, I also had trouble finding this library as Google took me to this building:

However, I soon realised that I could see bookcases through the windows of the civic centre down the road. Castle House, which opened in 2018, is nestled in the lovely Queens Gardens which means most of the desks in the library have a decent view. The library shares the main space with the councils’ (Borough and County) customer service desks. Although I think this is a sensible use of space, I can see it causes confusion as libraries are generally open longer hours than Council departments and that confuses the user. Plus the role and skillset for library staff and Council workers is slightly different.

Newcastle is celebrating its 850th anniversary so there were lots of displays and bunting to mark this occasion, but also a nice display on autumn. There was a decent amount of book stock and chairs and (very comfortable) sofas but the place felt a little squished. I can imagine when people are waiting to speak to the Council staff it must get very busy and possibly noisy with the activity.

I couldn’t take pictures in the kids area as there several kids there and one having a tantrum, but there is a nice picture on this news report. It was a very open area with a ground and first floor with staff on both floors. However, the lift was out of order. There was a prime vacant area upstairs which was the money advice service – it will be interesting to see which body takes up the space. Would make a nice gallery because of the light in that front area of the building. There were also loos, a jigsaw and a 3D printer. Most of the computers and lots of the desks were in use by 11am on this Saturday.

Wembley Library

~ librarytouristblog

wembley2

Orange! That’s my first impression of Wembley Library.

The Library is in a very smart civic centre that opened in 2013. The building houses all of Brent Council’s services and is next to Wembley Arena and has a café, public toilets and a car park underneath.

The library is on the ground floor of the centre, and is comprised of glass and orange and white shelving. We visited on a January Saturday afternoon and it was packed full of readers and had the bustle of activity.

A whole table in the central area was devoted to travel. I don’t know if that is always the case or whether it was because we were there post-Christmas and that is when a large number of people turn their thoughts to their summer holiday.

There were four fixed ipads on a stand so that people could access the “Join the library” pages on the internet and presumably complete it there and then.

The staff were nice, chatty and engaging. So, it does not surprise me to read reports that in 2016 it was the third busiest library in the country after Birmingham and Manchester.

The Curve, Slough

~ librarytouristblog

Slough2

One word – Lego!

This library was really nice which was an unexpected surprise. We arrived early – about 9:40, on a Saturday and wandered around the ground floor – it took me a while to realise that the rest of the library (on the floors above) was opening later at 10am.

This building is called a cultural hub with a performance space, museum, register office and much more. The Curve is next door to the local shopping centre so it is easy to pop in when you’re going to the shops. On the other side of the building is a very attractive church so the building was designed to make the best of the view and has glass on that side. This let in a lot of light and as the building is largely furnished with white it had a heavenly feel. There was even a little reading patio on the church side of the Curve.

The ground floor had a cafe, although not open yet that day, some computer terminals, a help point and some displays of books, but once we got upstairs the ‘real’ library started.

What really excited me though was the children’s library – one of the biggest and best I have seen so far. I presume Lego helped with financial support as they have an office based in Slough and that is why it was Lego themed. There were large Lego models everywhere, Lego character stickers on the windows and a Lego portrait on the wall that looked like a tapestry and was tactile rather than hidden behind glass. There was a craft area with tables and a sink and worktops to make it easier to run craft sessions.

Slough17

The other feature that really impressed me with this library was the museum pods. Dotted around the building there were at least 7, maybe 10, small square pods that were themed on different topics. You could step inside and read boards about Slough in Victorian times, or go inside another one and find it decked out like a kitchen in the inter-war period. The structures added colour and interest amongst the white and grey calm of the rest of the building.

Lancaster Central Library

~ librarytouristblog

 

Lancaster21 (1)

Lancaster Central Library is in the centre of town, off Market Street, in an old building (I haven’t been able to find an exact date for when it was built). It has two entrances and we accidentally entered at the side entrance that has “Public Library Juniors” carved above the door but isn’t where the children’s library is now. The town’s museum is also next door.

Inside there is a really nice curved ceiling over the main area, with decorated windows which looks very tasteful.

Lancaster6

In an attempt to dress up the building there are colourful silhouettes on the walls that look really good. They look alive and full of movement. There are also quotes painted on the walls and corridors.

Lancaster7

The children’s library is a corner off the main room and had several children reading there. It is decorated with striking large stand-up Roald Dahl books. Plus, there is, of course, the compulsory Elmer rug.

Lancaster17

 

There’s also posters dotted about advertising the code club and lego club. The Friends of Lancaster Libs Twitter feed and website shows that there are bands and events organised in the library regularly. Apparently Lancaster Central Library pioneered the Get it Loud in Libraries where there are music gigs in libraries. The local seed library, which started in 2015, is often based in the library too, which is a fab idea.

Oddly enough the study/meeting pod is rather close to the children’s library but I suppose there wasn’t anywhere else for it to go. Upstairs there is a more quiet area (and appears to be called the Sanctuary). The library also has the local studies material.

Lancaster16

I really love the lampposts outside, that say ‘Library’ on them. I think they look a bit Dickensian – if you ignore the electricity part!

Lancaster3 (1)

Sale Waterside

~ librarytouristblog

Sale 5

Sale Waterside is a very modern building which the library shares with the council and is described as a local arts complex. Although the building is great and I am in favour of these community hubs I feel that the library should have been given more space. Hubs feel quite odd at weekends when the council facilities are all abandoned but the libraries are still open. However, further along the building is the local theatre and art gallery and a restaurant and a pub. Waterside stands on the site of the old civic theatre and town hall and has preserved some of the original features.

There was a well stocked library shop in the vast entrance area, but then moving into the library area the ceilings were comparatively low adding to a feeling of “squashedness”.

The library had plenty of stock and patrons and included the local studies library and a children’s area. It even had a replica of an old shop in a corner.

There were several displays up and I thoroughly enjoyed the women’s suffrage one as I am working on a similar display in my library.

I had to take a picture of the penguin in the foyer as I love penguins. Apparently it was part of a summer public art project in 2016 created by Two by Two Hurrah.

Sale 6

 

 

 

Riverside House – Rotherham

~ librarytouristblog

 

Riverside House reminded me of Rochdale. Both are modern library buildings mixed in with community services in a riverside setting, in a place starting with R, with big curved glass doors and with grey and purple as the décor theme!

The library takes up the ground floor in a U shape. There are swipe gates in the middle for the council staff to access the council offices. The library areas were very nice and modern but not that big. It also includes an exhibition area at one end of the library and some display cases with pottery in at the entrance.

The children’s area was great, with a stage area still kitted out from Halloween and a reading hideaway.

 

 

 

Wakefield Library

~ librarytouristblog

Wakefield Library is based with a large modern community building known as Wakefield One. I’m all in favour of these community hubs that include the council offices but one problem I have noticed is that they look a bit uninhabited, and therefore uninviting, on the weekends.

Wakefield One was built in 2011. As it is on a hill and you lose the sense of which floor you’re on as there are breath-taking views from the side windows. I came in on the ground floor but  I felt five storeys up. When you enter the library there is an Anglo-Scandinavian logboat which was so long I couldn’t get it all in one photo! It was found in the River Calder when the Stanley Ferry aqueduct was built in 1838.

The modern interiors of the library are very nice and I love the purple signs and dotty green and black furnishings.

White bookcases really brighten the interior up and even prevent the grey carpet tiles being too dour. There were plenty to people in the library, on the computers and the local studies area. The sign showed there is also a café, museum and business lounge on site as well.