As you can see from the recent photos below real progress is being made in the Station Masters House. All the hard work and planning is reaping results and the house is now taking shape. The carpet upstairs has been fitted and once all the bookshelves have been built, fitted and varnished then the remaining carpet can be fitted on the stairs and downstairs rooms. Our thanks to Tania of Shaw’s Floors in Lynton Road for donating the flooring. The transformation is almost complete.
The concrete front wall around the outside of the house has been replaced by a brick one and paving flags are being laid in the front garden. Many thanks go to Phil Margham, one of the Trustees, who has been responsible for managing the building project. He has done an amazing job and I am sure he will be ready for a much needed holiday soon. Our builder should have completed all the building work by the end of August. It is then that the next phase commences before the planned opening date on 1st November. The books will need to be catalogued and sorted during September and early October. We have many books in storage so it will be a huge task to get them all shelf ready. Thankfully we have the help of volunteer librarians to do this.
Our two managers will be responsible for the volunteer training and this will take place during October. We have had an excellent response to our requests for volunteers and they have a good variety of skills and experience. The upstairs meeting rooms will be available to hire for classes and community activities. The computer lounge will have six computers installed for public use. Even though the present Covid-19 situation will make things difficult initially we hope that all the activities that one associates with a library and community hub can take place in the spring next year. All government regulations will be followed at the time of opening.