Wash Common Library to reopen

WASH Common’s volunteer-run library hopes to reopen its doors to the public in September, two years after it was closed by West Berkshire Council.

The Friends of Wash Common Library have campaigned to drum up local support, as well as holding a book exchange every Saturday morning to fill the void left by the library closure.

The chairwoman of the Friends of Wash Common Library Julia Calvert said: “The Friends of Wash Common Library are so pleased that through the hard work of the community, a very much-loved and valued resource will be reinstated, so that the local community will have not just a local library, but also a community hub where everyone will be welcome to meet.”

The library will be staffed entirely by volunteers and they hope to maintain the same hours – opening on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday – as when it was run by the council.

It will cost about £7,000 a year to run, which will come from a combination of donations and fund-raising events.

Wash Common Library was the only branch in the district to be closed in April 2016, following a spate of cuts to library services.

West Berkshire Council said it could no longer afford to run the building.

The closure was one of a range of measures taken to save around £580,000 a year within the library service.