Final decision on Stockroom library move to be made in February

Stockport Council’s Cabinet is to have the final say in February on moving town centre library services to Stockroom, a new 21st Century facility planned for the Merseyway Shopping Centre.

During a Full Council meeting on Thursday 13th January, a motion was passed to refer the decision back to Cabinet to move library services from Central Library to Stockroom, a learning and discovery space planned for Merseyway and backed by the government’s Future High Streets Fund.

Following an extensive public consultation on Stockroom and the move of library services, it has been recommended that the increased floorspace, modern facilities and high street location could help reverse the decline in library use in Stockport and improve services available.

Plans for the future of the Central Library are now being reviewed that will ensure continued public access to the historic building and ideally will remain in keeping with the values of the Carnegie Foundation that originally donated the building to the town.

Cllr Elise Wilson, Leader of Stockport Council, said:

“Delivering a new library, learning and discovery space using £14.5m of Government money is a once in a lifetime opportunity to transform Stockport town centre, breathing new life into vacant retail units and transform how people live and learn in Stockport.

“Unfortunately, we have to face facts. The way people learn has changed dramatically since Central Library was built more than 100 years ago, as has the way people shop and use town centres since the advent of online shopping and the acceleration of online retail caused by a global health crisis.

“We simply cannot ignore the huge decline in usage of the current Central Library building which has seen visitor numbers almost halve in eight years – falling from more than 200,000 people a year in 2013 to less than 120,000 visitors a year while book loans by young people have similarly plummeted.

“Locating the town’s main library in Stockroom would start to reverse this decline, expanding the library service offered – together with a new café, leisure and learning facilities, makers and performance spaces – all in the heart of a shopping centre where people already go to meet and spend time and in doing so bring thousands of visitors back to Stockport.

“But we also know that Central Library is a unique asset which is cherished and that is why we have already pledged to safeguard it’s future and committed that it will not be demolished, abandoned and that public access for this much-loved part of Stockport’s heritage will be retained. I am grateful to all those residents, stakeholders and Councillors that have put forward their views so far on this very important decision and my Cabinet will take time to further reflect before we reconvene in February.”

The development of Stockroom will form another stage in the regeneration and transformation that is ongoing across the whole Town Centre and has already seen successes in Stockport Exchange, Redrock, the Markets and Underbanks and the emerging work at Stockport Interchange and of the Mayoral Development Corporation.  It is believed that creating a new, 21^st Century library, café and learning space in Merseyway will breathe new life into vacant retail units and will bring thousands of visitors back to Stockport town centre – a similar scheme in Chester attracted over 1 million visitors in its first year.