"A café, quiet areas for study, research and computing work, and a shop top the list of additional facilities that villagers would like to see alongside the planned new community library hub development.
These views were expressed in the latest community survey to be carried out by Strathblane Community Development Trust as it works to finalise the design of the library building. More than 250 responses were received by the time the survey closed on May 20, a result described as ‘excellent’ by SCDT chair Margaret Vass.
There was strong support for the provision of a garden area for reading and relaxation. Many people supported the potential inclusion of new accommodation for the busy Strathblane Out-Of-School Club, which is looking for new premises. And over 80% want to see the new library built where the present much-loved facility is located, next to the school.
“Thanks to everyone who participated in our study, we’re clearer now on what facilities the community wants to see in this project,” adds Margaret Vass. “Our next step is to finalise design concepts with our architects, and present those back to everyone so they can see how the new building will look on that particular site.”
“We’ll also be looking hard at likely costs to see what we can afford. Angus Graham’s generous donation will probably cover most of the cost of a new library, but if we want to use this one-off opportunity to create a genuine community hub around a library facility, we’ll have to find additional funding. That’s unlikely to be easy in current circumstances.”
The full survey report is shown below.