Your Community Library

Past, Present & Future

Our Vision

To be at the heart of the community, encouraging social cohesion, health and wellbeing and minimising social isolation together with providing lifelong training for locally needed skills for all sections of the community.

Our Objectives

To provide a positive future for children and adults of all ages.

To enrich the life of older people.

To encourage strong, safe and sustainable communities.

To promote local identity and community pride.

To provide learning and skills for workforce development.

To provide facilities to improve health and wellbeing.

To encourage equality, community cohesion and social justice.

To help economic regeneration.

Our Activities

To provide a range of relevent activities for children and adults of all ages.

To provide a good range of reading material to suit local needs and to encourage reading through book clubs, childrens’ activities, authors’ talks and similar events.

To provide short programmes for improving abilities and education, including IT proficiency and skills required for job finding.

To promote and support local and family history studies.

To provide activities to improve health and wellbeing including exercise classes and health education.

To provide activities to tackle social isolation, such as clubs, art sessions and craft making.

To provide purpose built facilities, providing people with comfortable, safe and secure surroundings to undertake community activities.

The History of Your Library

Mobile van visits Berkeley in School Lane approximately twice monthly. It was easy to miss these visits and it was an unsatisfactory arrangement. Locals lobbied for a better service.

1970

1977

Current building supplied as a temporary solution. It is poorly insulated and expensive to heat. It also overheats in the summer.

Saved from closure!!

Cost cutting exercise by Gloucestershire County Council. Six libraries were to close and some mobile units. The Big Community Offer allowed a group of volunteers to take over the running of the library and receive an annual revenue grant.

2007

2012

Berkeley Books was formed.

It is a Limited Company limited by guarantee. It is also a charity and the charity number is 1149718. Started trading on the 11/11/2012 and the services on offer have gradually been increased.

Decision taken to pursue a new building. An architect has designed a new two-phase building and planning permission has been granted.

2016

2019

New Parking Spaces

Three new car parking spaces have been constructed. These will normally be reserved for disabled users, but at the discretion of the staff, may be used by others. We are also looking at the possibility of installing an electric car charging point for two of the spaces, in which case only one space would be labelled disabled. If anyone is considering buying an electric car and is likely to use these points would you please contact the library to show your interest.

The History of Your Library

1970

Mobile van visits Berkeley in School Lane approximately twice monthly. It was easy to miss these visits and it was an unsatisfactory arrangement. Locals lobbied for a better service.

1977

Current building supplied as a temporary solution. It is poorly insulated and expensive to heat. It also overheats in the summer.

2007

Saved from closure!!

Cost cutting exercise by Gloucestershire County Council. Six libraries were to close and some mobile units. The Big Community Offer allowed a group of volunteers to take over the running of the library and receive an annual revenue grant.

2012

Berkeley Books was formed.

It is a Limited Company limited by guarantee. It is also a charity. The charity number is 1149718. It started trading on the 11/11/2012 and the services on offer have gradually been increased.

2016

Berkeley Books was formed.Decision taken to pursue a new building. An architect has designed a new two-phase building and planning permission has been granted.

 

2019

We are adding three car parking spaces marked for disabled use, but library staff discretion may allow use by others on occasion.

Your Library’s Future

The existing building is not fit for purpose. It was a temporary building provided decades ago. It is constructed of steel RSJs and wooden panels supported on stone piers. It is hot in summer and cold in winter. It is expensive to run as it is not adequately insulated to modern standards.
There is no natural central place for the community to meet, carry out community activities and socialise, or hold business or club/association meetings.  All this is against the background of several crucial closures within the town of Berkeley.
Over the last few years the hospital, the bank, the police station, the secondary school and several shops have closed. The library is a facility that caters for all age groups including children, young people and the elderly. The library also attracts people from surrounding communities thus supporting local shops and other facilities. If there is nowhere for the residents to go, meet, socialise and take part in communal activities then the town will be heartless.

In view of the above the trustees took the decision to provide a new building that would be a library and a community centre. An architect was engaged, new plans were agreed and planning permission was granted. This was supported by Berkeley Town Council, Stroud District Council and Gloucestershire County Council.

The first phase would be to build a new library behind the old one, thus avoiding the closure of the library whilst building was carried out. The second phase would then be to build an annexe to the side as a community centre.

So far we have had a number of donations and currently have £120,000 in hand towards the cost of new build. With another £150,000 we could start building and look for further funds whilst the new library is being built.

How We’re Managed

Company Secretary

Trustees/Directors

Chairman

E Camper

John Stanton, Eugene Camper,

Katie Endacott &

 Barbara Whitwam Davis

John Stanton

"

Supervisor and Management Committee

"

All Volunteers

How We’re Managed

Chairman

John Stanton

Trustees/Directors

John Stanton, Eugene Camper,

Katie Endacott &

 Barbara Whitwam Davis

Company Secretary

E Camper

"

Supervisor and Management Committee

"

All Volunteers

Support Your Community Library