Colwyn Bay Library

Colwyn Bay Library was built over a hundred years ago and is situated in the town centre. The CyMAL grant is being used to modernise the interior of the building and improve service to customers. The money will be invested in improving the conditions for customers within Colwyn Bay library whatever the purpose of their visit:

- ensuring greater access to staff assistance and advice - through improving customer interaction at counters on the ground and first floors making best use of available staff; this will be especially felt on the first floor where People's Network computer users as well as information enquiries will have easy access to staff help; through providing self-service book issuing for those that want it, thus freeing up staff time to floorwalk for customer support and hold activities targeted at children, young people or people with specific interests.

- creating a new learning / community room with additional facilities on the first floor, making best use of space created by changing demand, and through flexible internal walling enabling the use of one bigger room or two smaller according to need; fitting out the room with furniture and equipment suitable for learning, community interaction and cultural events; freeing up the smaller existing meeting room for smaller groups and one-to-one surgeries by AMs, MPs, Pensions Service and other information and advice providers which already happen in other libraries where there is a small 'interview room'; potentially increasing income;

- giving more prominence to local history service and sources

- offering new services such as Wi-Fi on both floors so that anyone visiting the library can access their e-mails or the Internet using a laptop computer

- making the visit a more pleasant experience, especially on the ground floor, through bringing shelving down to an accessible level and displaying books in an enticing way, creating an open warm feel to the library with corners to relax with a book and a coffee, in good energy-efficient lighting and designed and marketed to attract non-users who pass by

- altering the infrastructure eg IT, electrical, telephones to enable the above.

There will be new shelving and a new less intrusive counter downstairs as well as a coffee machine, a self issue machine to reduce queuing and a wi fi hotspot.

The reference library on the first floor is being redecorated to serve as a local studies centre and we have created a new larger meeting room to meet the needs of community groups and elected representatives.

The counter upstairs is being moved to meet the needs of local history library customers and computer users, which should mean that staff are more visible and more available to help them.

Awards

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