Barry Council Office and Library

Barry Town Hall with Library to the right

Barry Council Office and Library is a local government building and public library located in King's Square, Barry, Wales.

History

The original building housed the town hall (opened 1908) and Carnegie library (opened 1906).[1] The architects were C.E. Hutchinson and E. Harding Payne of London, who won an architectural competition to design the building, in 1903. A further expansion to the rear of the new building was planned, but never executed.[2]

The first lending library in Barry was opened in 1890, at 144 Holton Road. It later moved to a three-storey house on the Square, with the ground floor used as a reading room, the lending library on the second floor and caretaker's rooms on the top floor.[1] In 1903 the Council applied to the Andrew Carnegie Trust for a grant to enable a public library to be built. A grant of £8,000 was awarded, and the library was opened by the Earl of Plymouth on 1 March 1906.[1]

21st century

The library was moved to the Leisure Centre in 2001, to allow the refurbishment of the Town Hall and Library buildings.[1] In 2003 the building was restored[3] and a new wing was provided for the library. The new library was opened on 4 January 2007.[4] This was the first new county library to be opened in Wales for 10 years.

The redevelopment of the former town hall building cost £371,000, £124,000 more than had been set aside, the increased cost sparked an inquiry in February 2008.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "BARRY TOWN HALL & LIBRARY". Tom Clemett's History of Barry. Archived from the original on 2008-08-28.
  2. ↑ "FROM THE ARCHIVES: Barry's town hall remains unfinished", Barry and District News, 11 May 2017. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
  3. ↑ Restoration of Barry Town Hall, John Weaver Contractors. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
  4. ↑ "Barry Library". Vale of Glamorgan.
  5. ↑ Peter Collins (2008-02-15). "Inquiry into cost of new Barry library". South Wales Echo.

Coordinates: 51°24′24″N 3°16′00″W / 51.4067°N 3.2666°W / 51.4067; -3.2666

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