Caerphilly town’s £5.2 million library has opened its doors to the public.
The new library, built on the old site of the town centre’s Post Office, is to have its official ribbon opening on Friday January 10.
The three storey building, which incorporates stone from the old Post Office building, also houses a council customer service centre with spaces for a range of activities such as adult reading groups, Welsh reading groups, IT and adult education classes.
The top floor of the library plays host to a museum area for themed exhibitions from the Winding House Museum in New Tredegar.
The new library has drawn praise from the former head of libraries at Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council.
Geraint James wrote to Caerphilly Observer to tell us what he thought of the new building.
He said: “I started my career based at the old Caerphilly library and I’ve continued to take an interest in it ever since.
“I was in the area recently and called to see the long-overdue new library and I was more than impressed at what I saw in my brief visit. Nothing is perfect and I am sure that there may well be room for further improvement, but I think that the building now sets a very high benchmark for libraries in the region and everyone should be really proud about that.”
The new library replaces the old one situated in Morgan Jones Park. The future of that building remains unclear, although there have been efforts from ward councillor James Pritchard for it to continue as a community building.
The library will operate Monday to Friday between 9.30am to 6pm, closing at the later time of 7pm on Wednesday, and Saturday 9.30am to 4pm.
The customer service centre will be open between Monday and Thursday 8.45am to 4.45pm, Friday 8.45am to 4.15pm and Saturday 9am to 1pm. For more information call 01443 864068.