Somercotes Library To Temporarily Close For Five Months
Somercotes Library is to temporarily close for five months from 10 November due to nearby building work which is affecting the delivery of the service.
Somercotes Library is to temporarily close for five months from 10 November due to nearby building work which is affecting the delivery of the service.
The Derbyshire County Council-run library is based on the Somerlea Park Junior School campus on Bank Street, Somercotes, which is currently undergoing a complete redevelopment involving clearance of part of the site, demolition of existing buildings and construction of a new school.
Building work started on site in June and the council’s property and library services have been liaising closely with the school, the contractors and the Department for Education to attempt to mitigate the impact of noise and disturbance on library users and staff. This has included putting up a security fence and signage around the construction zones and suspending customer parking on site.
Despite the extra measures, as work has progressed, the noise, dust and disruption have had a negative impact on the running of the service, with reading, study and activities normally held in the library disturbed.
No suitable temporary alterative premises have been identified in the area which has led to the decision to close the library for five months until the beginning of April 2026.
A decision will be taken next March as to whether the library is in a position to re-open in April, or if an extension to the closure is needed.
To mitigate the temporary closure, nearby Pinxton Library will extend its hours and open for five days a week, with two additional afternoon openings, and increased activities will be offered at Pinxton and South Normanton libraries using staff who will relocate from Somercotes.
Nearby Alfreton Library is open six days a week and is an eight-minute bus journey from Somercotes (using the Nines bus route which runs every 15 minutes).
Books borrowed from Somercotes Library can be returned to any Derbyshire library, and Somercotes Library users will be able to keep the books they have without incurring overdue charges during the closure.
Derbyshire County Council Cabinet Member for Health and Communities Councillor Dawn Abbott said: “We have been working closely with the school and the construction company and we were not sure when the building work began how it would affect the running of the library and our library users.
“While we really welcome the new school which is very positive, the disruption caused to the library means that we have had to take this decision for the good of our customers and staff.
“When I personally visited the library to inspect the situation, the noise was very disturbing and makes using the library very unpleasant.
“We do apologise for the inconvenience and this is only a temporary closure, with a view to re-opening as soon as we can. We hope the extended hours at Pinxton, and the moving of activities to Pinxton and South Normanton will go some way to mitigating the inconvenience.”
For more information about library opening hours go to Our Libraries - Derbyshire
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