Yate Library wins Lottery fund
30 October 2007
Yate Library has been awarded a grant of £1.5million from the Big Lottery Fund to extend and redesign the interior of the library to create a building that it is hoped will become the hub of community activity in Yate.
The extension will include space for community learning and an exhibition area to enable local organisations to engage with the community.
Heather Goddard, South Gloucestershire Council’s executive member for community services, said: “This is great news for the people of Yate. Since the library was built in 1971 there has been a transformation in public libraries. Many more services are now offered and during that time the population served by the library has doubled.
“This investment will form part of our major investment plans for libraries over the next few years which will see major enhancements and improvements delivered across South Gloucestershire.
“The next few years are going to be an exciting time for Yate with the council making huge investment in the town including a new children’s centre, upgrading of the leisure centre, new council offices and other improvements.”
Cheryl Kirby, the chair of the library committee, welcomed the news of the award: “This is something the committee have been campaigning about for a very long time and we are delighted that the Big Lottery Fund has given the grant.
“The project will not only increase the capacity of the building but also develop the ways in which the library service engages with the local community to make the library a key part of the Yate community. If everything goes according to plan the new building will be open by 2010.”