Library will be 'modern space' after £3m revamp

Cumberland Council Artist's impression of the library's new children's zone. A woman with blonde hair is reading to four youngsters in the centre of the room. Behind them, a girl is sitting on her mother's lap as they read a book. The room has red walls and shelves, a green carpet and splashes of other colours.Cumberland Council
A colourful new children's zone is planned at Carlisle Library

More than £3m is to be spent on the redesign of a city's library almost 40 years after it first opened.

Carlisle Library, which is located within the The Lanes shopping centre, is in need of "essential upgrades", according to Cumberland Council.

As well as structural work such as rewiring, the authority said the facility would be transformed into a "modern space" with a children's zone, study spaces and adult learning classrooms.

It is being funded by the government as part of a £19.7m Carlisle Town Deal programme.

The council said designs would be "finalised soon", but the library is also set to have a social space, charging stations and a range of computer equipment.

A timeline for the scheme's completion has not yet been announced.

The library, on the first floor of the shopping centre, opened in April 1986.

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