Burton residents urged to comment on library revamp

Burton residents are being asked to have their say on outline proposals to move and improve the town 's library at a series of public engagement events, taking place this summer.

The library proposal is one of seven connected projects that aim to revitalise the town centre economy, bringing more footfall and businesses into the town centre. They make up the Burton Town Investment Plan, which was awarded £22.8million by the Government 's Towns Fund in the spring Budget.

This summer a comprehensive public engagement programme will take place, organised by Staffordshire County Council, where people will be able to have their say and help shape future services.

Burton Library is one of Staffordshire 's busiest libraries and its relocation will allow the addition of state-of-the-art facilities that are expected would see increased visitor numbers and support the regeneration the Market Place area outside.

In addition to the library, the building would house a range of community services, including enterprise space for small businesses, exhibition and flexible performance space, meeting rooms, and a cafe. The total project cost using the Towns Fund allocation would be £7.3million.

This is due to cost of carrying out an extensive refurbishment of a heritage building to protect it in the long-term. Plans include a new roof, heating and lighting systems, extension of the balcony area to create office space and a ground floor extension to create meeting rooms.

Staffordshire County Council 's cabinet member for communities and culture Victoria Wilson said: “At present, no decision has been made to relocate the library. We do have an exciting proposal on the table which could see Burton having a library to rival the quality of the new Lichfield library, where visitor numbers doubled after its relocation from its previous site but whether this will happen or not is yet to be decided.

“A vital part of this process is to hold an extensive public engagement programme to ensure people have an input into how they view their current library offer and what improvements they would like to see.

“In addition to discussing the new library proposals, we also want to discuss what can realistically be achieved within the existing 1970s library building, which continues to serve the town well but has far less scope for modernisation and improvements than what could be achieved through a move to the Market Hall.

“We always knew that people would have a lot of questions and so we 'll be making the public engagement programme as comprehensive as possible. It is also important for us to address any misconceptions and correct the significant amount of misinformation that is circulating on social media.

“We want as many people to take part as possible. We will draw up the engagement programme in the coming weeks and will adapt where necessary to reflect Covid-19 restrictions at that time."

In December 2018, Lichfield Library was relocated from The Friary into the former St Mary 's church on the Market Square.

During its first year of operation, according to Staffordshire County Council, the relocated Lichfield Library saw a 97 per cent increase in footfall, 85 per cent increase in new membership and a 19 per cent increase in stock issues.

Pictured: An artist's impression of what the library may look like once refurbished