Volunteers raise £60,000 to save library

A public library facing closure is being offered a new lease of life after residents volunteered to run it themselves.

Camden council said it would cease funding Chalk Farm Library at the end of March. But the Primrose Hill Community Association has now formally submitted an expression of interest in taking on a lease for the building.

More than £60,000 has been raised in a week including "around 10" four-figure pledges and one offer of £35,000. The aim is to raise a £1.2 million endowment fund so that the interest and other money from letting and activities will provide enough to guarantee the future annual income.

The Friends of Chalk Farm Library and the community association want to turn the library into a community-led space open five to seven days a week (up from three). In the documents submitted they state that in the existing adult section "there will be a non-fiction and reference library, which will also serve as a drop-in centre with newspapers, wi-fi with computer access and a limited catering service".

It adds: "The foyer will be the area for neighbourhood information with notice boards and published information material from the council, London and central government; it will also be the operating base of Neighbourhood Help." The children's library would remain "largely unchanged".

Association chairwoman Maureen Betts said: "We are overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and support from the local residents and companies in Primrose Hill for the campaign to save the library building for the community."
Dick Bird, who sits on the library committee, told the Camden New Journal: "It is amazing. But now is the time we really need the big hitters to come to the party."