2022: the year we moved into temporary accommodation
Due to the deteriorating condition of Ian Clough Hall, we were unable to let people into the building and continued with an Order and Collect service for the majority of 2021. In November 2021 we finally re-opened our doors although we were restricted to having only 10 library users in the building at one time.
At the beginning of this year in January 2022, we extended our opening hours from 18 per week over 4 days to 22.5 hours over 5 days.
In order to have sufficient numbers of volunteers to manage the newly extended opening times, 5 new volunteers were recruited and inducted in January 2022 and became very welcome additions to our team.
Storytime and craft sessions also restarted on Fridays in January 2022 and were led by our fantastic volunteers, Jill McD and Jane B on a weekly basis. Again, these sessions were restricted to 10 people due to the condition of the building and we had to close the library whilst storytimes took place.
The Book Club continued to meet at ACS Office Supplies on Otley Road in Baildon - we are all very grateful to them for their continued support and generosity. The book club members love meeting there and have been made to feel very welcome by their staff.
Our volunteers, Rosemary and Linda B, ran some 1-2-1 family history sessions in July 2022. Volunteers met individually with members of the public to support them with their family history research. Library users can access Ancestry and Find My Past for free within any of Bradford Libraries.
On 22 August 2022 Linda P (staff member) and Linda B (volunteer) closed the doors for the last time at the library's premises on Hallcliffe.
During the following 2 weeks an army of volunteers and staff worked very hard (in very hot weather!) to pack and move the library to its temporary location on Northgate. One of our volunteers, Jill H, also brought cake and cream teas to keep everyone fortified which was incredibly well received.
On Monday 5 September 2022, we re-opened again in our temporary home at 2 Northgate in the centre of Baildon. We also extended our opening hours further to 26 hours per week over 6 days.
Read about the move to the temporary location in the Telegraph and Argus
We've had a lot of people join the library since we've been based on Northgate - in the first 6 weeks we had 55 new members!
We have now settled into our temporary home and are looking forward to moving again next year to our permanent location.
Our plans for 2023!
- to restart storytimes again in different locations in the community;
- to move into permanent home at the former Baildon Club;
- to re-open for 40 hours per week;
- to continue to offer the best service that we can;
- to recruit more volunteers to join our team!
