Exciting Plans For Library Provision At Cardiff Royal Infirmary

Plans to potentially relocate library services for the Adamsdown and Roath areas of the city will be discussed by Cabinet next week. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Cabinet will consider agreeing to public consultation on an exciting project to permanently establish library provision at Cardiff Royal Infirmary (CRI), in partnership with Cardiff and Vale University Health Board (UHB). ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Due to the closure of Roath Library on Newport Road in November 2014 because of significant long standing repair and maintenance issues, temporary library provision has been located in the CRI building for some time. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Now, the council is proposing to work with the UHB, who have recently confirmed that the CRI site will become one of three Health and Wellbeing centres across Cardiff and the Vale, to breathe new life into the historic former chapel building on the site by converting it into a café, library and information centre. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

With sympathetic conversion work, the chapel has the potential to accommodate a range of services and become a vibrant hub for the Adamsdown and Roath communities. Services could include a café, a range of library books and reading materials, children’s area, free open access Wi-Fi, public access PCs, meeting rooms and reading and conversation groups. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Cabinet Member for Community Development, Co-operatives and Social Enterprise, Cllr Peter Bradbury, said: “A considerable amount of time has passed since Roath Library closed and while temporary provision has been in place, there is a pressing need to find a permanent solution for both the provision of library services in the area and the building on Newport Road. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“The conversion of the chapel at Cardiff Royal Infirmary presents us with an exciting opportunity to create a Reading Café environment and secure long-term library service provision to meet the needs of people living and working in the area.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

If approved, the CRI project would remove the existing requirement for the re-provision of library services from the Roath Library building and the building could be re-advertised for CAT on different terms to seek a community or commercial interest with a definable community benefit. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

If agreed, consultation on the proposal to relocate services to CRI would begin next month and works to convert the chapel would begin later this year. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​