Discussions over what services could run from an improved North Kensington Library are taking place following the decision to ditch its relocation.

An ideas session was held at the Ladbroke Grove library between the Friends of North Kensington Library and Kensington and Chelsea Council deputy leader Councillor Will Pascall.

Other services suggested that could run alongside the library ranged from access to a NHS triage health service to running a Citizens Advice bureau.

It follows a decision by Kensington and Chelsea Council to scrap the £17 million plans to move the library a short distance to Lancaster Road and lease out the current facility to Notting Hill Prep School.

That prompted accusations of asset stripping and a Public not Private campaign, which saw demonstrations outside the library and during a council meeting.

The council say feedback from the session will help shape a public consultation in which the views of the wider community will be sought.

Other services to potentially run from the new and improved North Kensington Library include

A local archive

Homework club for Children

Small business or enterprise support

Adult learning facilities

Employment support

Lectures and talks from local people

Cllr Pascall said: “These are exciting times for North Kensington Library and the residents who use this local resource.

“It was fantastic to meet with the Friends of North Kensington Library and discuss some truly innovative ideas for the library’s future.

“I look forward to finding out the views of the wider community when we launch a public consultation on the future of North Kensington Library.”

A banner at a protest outside North Kensington Library in 2016

Friends member Chris Bushell added: “We’re really pushing for a formal agreement from the council that this will remain a library, maintained by the council and staffed by librarians.

“The group has put forward exciting ideas on the future of the library and we look forward to seeing some of these ideas put into place.”

North Kensington Library

Work to carry out short term remedial improvements to the Victorian building, once regarded as “one of London’s finest public libraries” have either been completed or are due to finish soon.

These include:

  • Walls and ceilings refurbished by summer;
  • New floor covering to the stairs;
  • Entrance ramp: replace non-slip surface, redecorate handrails and refurbish lighting to be completed by early April;
  • Improvements to the plant area;
  • Extend WiFi throughout the building, including the children’s library with future plans to enable greater speed and capacity for whole WiFi for library, possibly 1GB; and
  • A review of the heating, electrical lighting and power installations will be initiated to address the ongoing building service requirements.

The council said the millions earmarked for the North Kensington Library relocation would instead be spent on Grenfell recovery efforts.

The building has housed North Kensington Library for more than 125 years.

Keep up to date with the latest news in west London via the free getwestlondon app.

You can even set it to receive push notifications for all the breaking news in your area

Available to download from the App Store or Google Play for Android now.