Meeting:	Executive
Meeting date:	15/07/2025
Report of:	Pauline Stuchfield - Director of Housing & Communities
Portfolio of:	Cllr Pete Kilbane – Executive Member for Economy and Culture

Annex B

Proposed enhancements to Acomb Library

The overall budget for Acomb Library enhancements is £390k, made up of £100k of Council capital funding, £250k from Art Council’s, Library Investment Fund and £40k from Mayoral Renewables Fund.

The £250k grant from the Art Council’s, Library Investment Fund (LIF) was successful due to the strength of being able to demonstrate public consultation and a bid that responded to the user’s feedback.  In summary, our local community asked for:

Øinvesting in new furniture and shelving to create a larger children’s library,

Øa larger indoor café area,

Øan improved entrance,

Øquiet spaces for work and study,

Øimproved toilet facilities including an additional accessible toilet,

Øa larger area for books,

Øimproved meeting rooms including a refurbished and improved IT suite,

Øa covered area for community outdoor events.

Øflexible shelving on wheels for onsite performances both inside and outside of

Øimproved lighting, PA and blackout blinds.

The £40k from Mayoral Renewables Fund and CYC Climate change budget for solar PV, is based on a feasibility report (Dec 2024) by York Community Energy which demonstrates a 30kWp system, projected to generate 26.6MWh annually, which is estimated to support 59% of electricity consumed by the library site.  This can be delivered as a separate piece of work as will require specialist supplier.

The priority of works must align to LIF funding requirements as the outputs are agree in the bid. Table 1 below was included in the bid and shows the detail of each element:

Table 1: Outputs funded by LIF

Furniture, fittings and equipment

Specialist Library Furniture for main library floor plate - New furniture, fittings and flexible shelving throughout the library to create fun, accessible, quality comfortable spaces, a separate young persons area, shelving on wheels throughout, provision of quiet study zones including café seating.

Fit out of 3 meeting rooms - including presentation facilities (screens with appropriate connections for use with a variety of devices)

Performance Space - Tech and equipment to enable the delivery of high-quality cultural experiences improving the customer experience including black out blinds, adjustable lighting and spot lighting to create atmospheric performance spaces, flexible staging and a PA.

Construction/building works

Toilet refurbishment - including accessible toilet

Internal redecoration - floors, walls and ceilings where required

New front patio to increase café seating area

Improvements to front entrance to reduce draft issues and access

LED lighting

Car park line marking of disabled bays & spot repairs to ensure safe access

In addition to the grant funded works, table 2 shows other work elements:

Table 2: Other outputs

Renewable Energy

Solar panels - New solar PV installation of a 30 kWp system.

Fire Alarm System

Fire Panel – the existing fire panel is at end of life and needs replacing

Café Improvements

Kitchen – Works are required to reshape the kitchen layout and update equipment

Other

Drainage – Problems with existing drains need to be investigated and resolved

Timetable:

The timetable for delivery can not be certain at this point, until a construction partner has been appointed to take on the works as there are a number of options to consider.  The project team are working on the basis of a 12-week closure of the Acomb Library during Autumn/Winter 2025 and possibly into spring 2026, depending on the agreed start date of the selected contractor.  The aim will be to look at options that minimises public disruption.

The deadline for delivery for the solar panels and LIF outputs is 31 Match 2026.