New city centre library to open seven days a week
University of SunderlandA new city centre library will open seven days a week, a local authority has said.
Sunderland City Council said its new facility in the Culture House building would operate between 10 and 6 each day when it opened later in the year. It will replace Sunderland City Library, which has been shut since December for the transfer, and did not open on Sundays in recent years.
In March the weekly opening hours of Houghton and Washington libraries were cut by 7.5 and 2.5 hours respectively.
The council said it had reduced the hours of the two locations due to usage, as well as where it saw "future audience growth opportunities".
Of the council's libraries, Houghton had the biggest cut in its opening hours, according to a freedom of information (FOI) request.
Before 30 March, the site was open for 43.5 hours a week. This was then cut to 36.5 hours with the site now being totally shut on Thursdays.
Sunderland City Council said it had taken a "strategic, network-wide approach" on library opening hours.
'Flagship facility'
It said opening its new city centre library on Sundays was a "key part" of ensuring people could access services when they needed them and it would be a "significant step forward in accessibility".
It said it had been necessary to shut Sunderland City Library since December due to the "scale of the opportunity" of the library's move to Culture House.
A spokesperson said: "This is not a simple transfer of stock as it involves setting up a flagship facility, integrating collections, installing new systems and ensuring the space is fully operational, accessible and ready to deliver with its expanded offer from day one."
The new city centre library will be open for 56 hours a week compared with the Sunderland City Library's previous 45.5 hours.
It is unclear when exactly this year Culture House will open.
