RESIDENTS will benefit from a controversial proposed library, a councillor has said.
Kirklees Council wants to close Almondbury Library at Stocks Walk and move facilities to a children’s centre planned for the Fussey Allotments site, off Northgate.
Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman supports a residents’ petition to keep the library – built in 1904 by Scottish-American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
But Almondbury Liberal Democrat councillor John Smithson supports the proposed move.
He said: “The library is too small and there’s no room to expand. There’s also very little parking in the area.
“The centre of gravity of Almondbury has shifted since the library was built. It can’t be made into what a modern library has to be.”
Clr Smithson believes a new library and information centre at the Fussey Allotments site would serve the community better.
“It would have 30% more shelving, allowing for a wider range of books,’’ he said. “There would also be room for more computers.
“The staff would be able to give advice on council services. For example, if you wanted to get a wasps’ nest sorted, they could point you in the right direction.”
Clr Smithson believes a new library would have more users.
He said: “In places like Lindley and Skelmanthorpe, library and information centres have boosted usage by 50%. “The current Almondbury library has 34,000 visits a year. I’m confident that a new library could increase this to 50,000.”
Clr Smithson believes the library building could be maintained even if it’s sold for residential use.
He said: “As a building it’s superb. It could be turned into one or two houses while retaining the external part of the building. That’s what happened to the old Almondbury Infants School building nearby.”
There will be a public meeting on the issue at Almondbury Working Men’s Club at Southfield Road at 6.30pm on Tuesday. Clr Smithson will attend with fellow Almondbury councillors Linda Wilkinson and Ann Denham.
