| WCDG > Projects > Permanent Library Feasibility Study
New
permanet Waterloo Library - feasibility study
WCDG led a project in 2002 which demonstrated strong support for
a permanent and enhanced library service in Waterloo. In December
2003 we received approval for funding a feasibility study led
by a steering group made up of local residents and other stakeholders
including Lambeth Council.
Changing lifestyles and underinvestment have meant that libraries
underperform.
All too often they fail to serve the community because they’re
in the wrong place, or they have the wrong stock or facilities,
or because they’re run-down, gloomy, or open at the wrong
times. Waterloo’s permanent library closed down in 1965
and has been run from a temporary hut on and off ever since.
WCDG’s project aims to answer four questions:
 What
sort of library facility do we need? This depends upon the catchment
area and the social needs and demographic profile of potential
users. The 55,000 local workers may want easy access at lunchtimes;
students may want quiet study space in the early evening; young
people may want music listening posts and sociable spaces; parents
want safe spaces for their children. And what about books, newspapers,
DVDs, planning applications, information points? And what about
toilets, refreshments/ café, exhibition space, training
or community rooms, an archive/ museum?
Where
should such a facility be? Recent successful new libraries such
as the Ideas Store in Bow and Stratford Central library illustrate
the need to be on high streets such as Lowe Marsh/ The Cut, with
high visibility and high footfall. Peckham Library demonstrates
the regenerative power of an imaginative design on a prominent
site. But what sites are available of appropriate size and how
much do they cost?
Who
will fund the cost of developing a new library? Will there be
enough money to keep it open for the hours we need, with the stock
and facilities we want?
The final feasibility report is expected in October 2004, which
will present a number of choices. Lambeth Council will then work
with WCDG and the steering group to begin the next stage –
working up designs and finding funds for the preferred option.
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