book and magazines in modern library at university

Porthcawl Library will undergo a small renovation next month, thanks to a grant from the Welsh Government’s Cultural Service Fund.

The library will be closed to the public from Monday 1 March to allow for the improvement works to be carried out safely and in line with current Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

It is anticipated that the library will reopen on Monday 15 March, either with a ‘book and collect’ service or for browsing and borrowing, subject to the Welsh Government alert level in place at that time.

The renovation will involve rearranging and redecorating the front half of the library, to increase the size of the children’s library and move the public computers to a space with more privacy and closer to the printing facilities.

The reception desk is also being moved to alleviate the ‘bottle neck’ it often creates near the library entrance, and to add more space for customers to browse for books, particularly when social distancing measures must be observed.

Cllr Dhanisha Patel, Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Future Generations, said: “This investment into community facilities from Welsh Government is very welcome, and the work is going to improve the layout of Porthcawl Library while also making it easier for people to observe social distancing and other pandemic safety requirements.”

Richard Hughes, Chief Executive of Awen Cultural Trust, the registered charity which manages the library service on behalf of Bridgend County Borough Council, said: “Porthcawl Library is one of our busiest libraries for traditional book borrowing but its current layout means that access is severely limited and the space can accommodate the fewest number of customers of all our main libraries in the Bridgend area.

“We are grateful for this Welsh Government funding, which will allow us to make the space more flexible and give us the much needed room for safer browsing, improved public PC use, and to run more events and activities for the local community, when we are able to fully reopen.”