Northern Grampians Libraries will be moving its Stawell services to the Entertainment Centre foyer in the Stawell Town Hall next month in preparation for the upcoming refurbishment of the Sloane Street facility.
In April last year, Northern Grampians Shire Council received $640,000 in funding through the Victorian Government’s Living Libraries Infrastructure Fund to refurbish the Stawell Library. The library will be revitalised with a new multi-purpose meeting space, updated cabinetry, computer desks, movable shelving and a redesigned kitchen featuring a public access kitchenette.
Northern Grampians Shire Council Mayor, Cr Murray Emerson said that despite delays caused by the pandemic, it is encouraging to see the “Modernising the Stawell Library” project back on track with works expected to commence in a month’s time.
The Stawell Library will be closed from 12 September and reopen at 10am on Saturday 17 September from its new location in the entertainment centre foyer. Library services will run from this new location until July 2023 except for some weekends when pre-scheduled functions may cause the library to be closed.
“We understand that libraries are community hubs used by diverse groups of people from our youngest to our most senior citizens,” stated Cr Emerson.
“We anticipate that the library moving to its temporary home at the town hall will not present too much inconvenience for our library users as we are aiming to continue running all the services that we can.
“There may actually be some benefits for the community being able to combine their visit with accessing other council services at the same time.
“The end result will be a beautifully refurbished library and it will be worth the wait.”