Kevin Wilkins

Following concern from a resident about the delays in the re-opening of the Central Library, I have received the following update from Lesley Noblett of the County Council:

As I am sure you will know, the construction work has been beset with problems. It was always going to be a highly complex project, given that so much was being done to the building - stripping it back to its basic framework, cutting out whole sections of the structure and reconstructing completely new ones - and all happening within the very tight constraints of a busy shopping centre, with limited access for the contractor. However the construction work then uncovered major faults in the original structure of the building - walls and staircases not properly linked to the main framework, and even more asbestos than anticipated. All of this has tested the ingenuity of the contractor to the utmost and seriously disrupted their project programme. And of course, we were not in the same category as the Grand Arcade project in terms of money - we have had to be very careful in the use of public funds. We are however now looking forward to a handover date at the end of the year.

There then follows the part that is really exciting for us - the fit-out programme that will take us into the early part of the new year. This is going to be a very high tech building - with an automated sortation system for returned books; the latest Radio Frequency systems to enable people to check their own books in and out; Wi-Fi; accessible technology for disabled people; a British Film Institute “Mediatheque” and more. All of this needs careful planning to install and test - and most importantly for staff to become familiar with. We will also be doing some essential testing with customers to make sure that everything is working well before we open fully. We may not be as big as Terminal 5 - but with such a complex building we certainly want to make sure we learn from their problems!