New service to support people in Whitchurch to keep reading with town's library still shut
A new service to help people keep reading in Whitchurch after the town library closed will be launched next week.
The 'Ready Reads' service will begin on Tuesday, December 12 for people affected by the temporary closure of Whitchurch Library.
The Whitchurch Civic Centre was one of hundreds of buildings nationwide forced to close after The Health and Safety Executive found RAAC (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) that was beyond its lifespan and may "collapse with little or no notice".
In November, Shropshire Council revealed that the building's problems were further complicated by the widespread existence of asbestos, which would be disturbed by any work to fix the dangerous beams.
The 'Ready Reads' scheme, which will allow people to order books remotely, was utilised by Shropshire's libraries during the coronavirus pandemic when the buildings weren't open to the public. Now the service has returned to north Shropshire.
Library staff will take requests for books when they are at the town’s market on Fridays, and readers will be able to collect their chosen books from Whitchurch Heritage Centre, which has partnered with the library to support the service. Requests can also be made online.
Robert Macey, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for culture and digital, said: “We don’t want our library customers to miss out on the delight of settling down with a good book.
"The Ready Reads service means customers can share their areas of interest or preferences for certain genres and have books provided to them.
"In addition, our excellent and knowledgeable team will be able to make recommendations. The request service will be operational from home in the usual way and there will be no charge for this service while we operate in this way.
“Thanks to the support of Whitchurch Heritage Centre, the books will be ready to collect on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10am and 3pm and hopefully no-one will miss out.
“We fully understand people’s frustration with the closure, but we hope that Ready Reads will help customers while the library building is closed, and until we can find an alternative site that will be suitable for the full service to resume.”
The council previously said it was "actively looking for alternative sites with the aim of continuing our service as soon as possible".
