The future for Winnersh Library
Winnersh Library is currently located at The Forest School. We're reviewing its future as the school has expanded and needs the space.
By way of background, to help meet the demand for school places in the borough, we made a £600,000 investment in The Forest School to help it grow and take more pupils.
The school's growth is an opportunity to review how best to provide an accessible and effective library service for Winnersh Parish. We want your views on how best to do that.
We invited both The Forest School and Winnersh Parish Council to discuss the future of Winnersh Library and explore different options available. We're considering three.
Option 1: Close the current library, without providing a replacement
This would mean there would no longer be a library in Winnersh Parish.
Residents of Winnersh would be able to use the other nine libraries across the borough. The nearest alternative would be Wokingham Library at the Carnival Hub, which is a four-minute train journey and a ten-minute walk or a 2.9-mile drive. The next closest would be Twyford Library, which is a 4.7-mile drive.
Both Wokingham and Twyford Library are new and offer greater services such as extended hours, a children’s area, free internet access, digital help sessions, clubs and activities for all ages, and more.
Ebooks would remain available online for Winnersh residents. And a home library service could be made available to residents no longer able to visit a library due to the closure.
Because of the short opening hours for Winnersh Library, there would be limited scope for savings, and a limited risk of redundancy. Staff would be redeployed to other libraries to accommodate the increase in use caused by the closure.
Option 2: Close the current library and following a delay, relocate it to the Winnersh Community Centre
Close the current library and, when space becomes available, open a self-service library at Winnersh Community Centre, about a mile from the current library.
Winnersh Parish Council is currently undergoing building works, so a new library could not open there immediately. We expect a new library would be able to be opened in six to 12 months, during which time there would be no library in the parish.
Ebooks would be available online for Winnersh residents and a home library service could be made available to residents not able to visit another library during this time.
Preferred Option 3: Close the current library and provide a temporary library in the interim. Then, relocate to Winnersh Community Centre
Our preferred option. Close the current library and provide a temporary library service at Rainbow Community and Children’s Centre, while work at Winnersh Community Centre is completed and then see a new library open there when the building is ready.
In the interim period of up to one year, a small, self-service library would open at Rainbow Community and Children's Centre, Rainbow Park, 0.6 miles away on foot. Due to it being located within a children’s centre, opening hours are likely to be limited.
This is our preferred option as our initial evaluation suggests some of the users of the current library only use Winnersh Library and no other libraries in the borough. We have a duty to provide residents with a library service, so we think we should provide a new permanent library and a temporary library in the interim until the permanent one opens.
Long-term, follow the self-serve model
We think the best, long-term choice for a library in Winnersh Parish in future would be a self-service library, like the one we recently opened in partnership with Shinfield Parish Council.
Shinfield Library is compact and cost-effective. More than 1,600 books are loaned out from there per year and it has nearly 250 active users. It holds a curated stock of 1,500 books within a space requiring just 10 metres of wall shelving.
While small in size, it offers meaningful access to books and supports reading within the community. It shows that well designed, small libraries can effectively meet local needs where space and resource is limited.
Phases
Analysis
Following the consultation, we will consider all feedback.