Shopping Centre Library Plans

Herefordshire Council is working on a project to move Hereford's main library into a shopping centre to attract more locals and visitors into the city centre.

04 Sept 2022

A drawing showing Herefordshire Councils plans for a new Hereford Library

The Maylord shopping centre, built in 1990, was bought by the Council in June 2020. The proposals are for a new library on two floors, alongside existing retailers. The development will also provide a Learning Resource centre to be used by the Council’s Adult Learning Team as well as other partners and groups.

The former library in Broad Street could then be renovated to provide increased exhibition space for the city’s museum and art gallery, which shares the current building, and a home for the Herefordshire Hoard - buried Viking treasure, including jewellery and coins, unearthed in 2015 and just acquired by the Council for the people of Herefordshire.

A photograph of Maylord Shopping Centre in Herefordshire

The £3.5m library project is part of wider plans for a&nbs‘Stronger Hereford’ - funded by a £22.4m grant from the Government’s Towns Fund - encompassing a number of projects to improve the city.

Planning permissions allowing, work on the project could start in early 2023 with the library planned to open in early 2024.