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Gloucester Library City Campus plans get green light

University of Gloucestershire’s City Campus will be the new home for Gloucester Library, after Gloucestershire County Council’s cabinet gave the go ahead to the exciting plans (September 21, 2022).

Gloucester Library will move from Brunswick Road to a purpose-built space in the former Debenhams building, greatly improving the library space and increasing access to services in partnership with the University, using a model that has been successful in other counties.

These improvements, combined with a location in the heart of the city, have the potential to increase library use and will significantly improve energy efficiency, reducing carbon and ongoing heating costs.

University of Gloucestershire Vice-Chancellor, Stephen Marston, said: “When the University first bought the Debenhams building, it was part of the original vision that we could work with local partners to use the building for a range of community services as well as teaching.

“We have agreed with NHS partners a new Arts, Health and Wellbeing centre, and we are very much looking forward to delivering a great new public library for the City in partnership with the County Council.”

The move is set to happen in the 2023-24 academic year when the first phase of the refurbishment works have been completed. The current library would remain fully operational until then. The county council is looking forward to sharing its plans for the space with the public in the coming months. The first phase of the City Campus development will also deliver a public access café, with a frontage onto King’s Square.

Cllr. Dave Norman, cabinet member for libraries, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to bring Gloucester Library up to the standard we should expect for the city’s flagship facility. “By linking up with University of Gloucestershire and locating ourselves in the centre of the city, we will greatly improve our facilities, our appeal to users and support the economy by relocating our innovation lab. It’s fantastic to see that the potential move would also significantly impact on our carbon reduction targets – a major priority for us.”