New Hampton Hill library to open in February

4.44.41pm GMT Mon 28th Dec 2009

• WORK on the new £200,000 Hampton Hill library, at 68 High Street, is well advanced, with the library set to open to the public in February.

The new library will provide a larger catalogue of books, six computers and more space for a range of education and entertainment events. Visiting the site last week, Cllr Liz Jaeger, Cabinet Member for Youth, Culture and Leisure on Richmond Council, said: "By moving the library we hope to see more people visiting and finding out what it has to offer. The existing site in Windmill Road is tucked away out of sight and visitor numbers have suffered as a result. The structural work that is needed there also means that we will save money in the long term by moving to the High Street. We have almost 1.5 million visits to our libraries each year and over half the borough population are members - so we know how important they are to local people. They offer a huge variety of resources from loaning of books and internet access, to children's entertainment and book readings from famous names. Our aim is establish libraries as hubs for the local community, which serve people of all ages. I look forward to the new Hampton Hill library opening in February and I hope the new location will mean more people visit, and existing members will benefit from the improved services."

Cllr Jaeger was accompanied by Cllr Stephen Knight, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Resources, who added: "The redevelopment of this former petrol station site has provided us with an ideal opportunity to secure a new state of the art library facility in this prominent High Street location."

Work on the new site began in autumn. The current site at Windmill Lane will be vacated in January.

In the last year the borough's libraries have:

• Welcomed 1,462,385 visitors

• Issued 1,276,510 books, CDs and DVDs

• Handled 54,977 customer reservations

• Managed 113,020 hours of PN usage

• Delivered 1,086 hours of ICT learning

• Supported 550 reading group members

• Enabled 38,830 electronic visits via the website

• Given 7,125 Bookstart packs to local families

• Delivered books to 292 housebound readers

• Led 291 nursery, school and other sessions

• Purchased and added 52,182 books into stock

• Answered 567,234 enquiries

Related Link:

• The borough library service