Sheffield councillor champions her local library as an important social hub

Coun Karen McGowan was speaking at a meeting of Sheffield City Council’s communities, parks and leisure policy committee (December 12). The meeting discussed areas of future investment in the city’s leisure sector.

A report outlined how “investment in leisure facilities and green and open spaces is now combined with an emerging priority of investing specifically in facilities for young people in our communities and in Family Hubs”.

A report said the strategy for libraries is “ensuring our library estate is sustainable and meets changing needs of communities – whilst communities will grow and change over time access to information and digital access will remain a priority as will spaces where communities can meet, and local events can take place”.

It added: “We will need to work with others in the council to ensure our estate is in the right places as communities change and provides access to services near where people live and work.”

One of the first projects will be in Stocksbridge, where a 30,000 sq ft community hub will contain a modernised library service. This forms part of the Stocksbridge Towns Fund plan for £24.1m of investment to regenerate the area, financed by the government.

Coun McGowan spoke about the importance of Frecheville Library and Learning Centre in her Birley ward, which has been run by volunteers since 2014.

Frecheville is one of 16 libraries in the city that are now run by voluntary and community groups following council cuts to library services.

Coun McGowan said: “It’s the one I went to as a kid, it’s right close to my heart.

“It isn’t just a library, it’s everything else they offer in there, and it’s what it means to the community, so I don’t want to lose that by moving it somewhere else and lose that.”

During a recent visit to a craft fair held in the library, Coun McGowan also saw a knit and natter class and other activities, adding: “I’d call it a community hub rather than a library, so I don’t want to lose that.”

Director of culture, parks and leisure Lisa Firth said that, just as treating people for injuries in a clinic inside a leisure centre might make them more comfortable with being in an active environment and doing activities there, heading to a community hub to access the youth service or an activity might also make them feel comfortable with using the library in that space.

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Future plans for services include a citywide leisure investment review to “improve core sport and leisure facilities so they are modern, welcoming, inclusive, and meet the needs of everyone in Sheffield, helping more people to be more active which will benefit health and wellbeing and contribute to reducing health inequalities”.

At Hillsborough Library, there are proposals in the report for improvements to the entrance to the building in Hillsborough Park. These would include accessible toilet and changing facilities and landscaping to provide an outdoor reading area and space that could be used for children’s story times.

As reported separately, the future of the Graves Building on Surrey Street, which houses Sheffield Central Library, Graves Gallery, part of Sheffield Archive and the Library Theatre, is under discussion.

The building needs major renovation work and it is being assessed to see which services might remain there or be moved.