Town's pop-up library service expanded

Whitchurch Library has been operating a weekly pop-up service at the market since September

A pop-up library service is being expanded after the closure for safety reasons of the building in which provision originally operated.

Whitchurch Library, now based at the town’s market hall, will run on Mondays in addition to the Friday opening, in two sessions each day - 09:30 to 12.30 and 13:30 to 16:30 BST.

People can use the service to pick up and drop off books from Monday, 15 April.

The pop-up service was rolled out after host Whitchurch Civic Centre was forced to close in September when a crumbly form of aerated concrete was discovered.

Whitchurch Civic Centre will remain closed for the foreseeable future

Shropshire Council and Whitchurch Town Council are considering options for the future of the civic centre site.

Robert Macey, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for culture and digital, said: “We fully understand people’s frustration over the problems that have been caused by the closure of Whitchurch Civic Centre, and we are still striving to find a solution for the library.”

Peggy Mullock, councillor for Whitchurch North, said staff had worked hard to keep as much of the library service available as possible since the building closed.

The authorities said Raac (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) was present across the majority of the Whitchurch Civic Centre complex, and that the site had major structural issues.

They said engineers had advised them that the building was unsafe to reopen.