Work has started on site to deliver a new £1 million library for Strathblane and its surrounding villages.
Strathblane Community Development Trust’s (SCDT) wholly owned subsidiary Thomas Graham Library Ltd (TGLL) are behind the community-owned Thomas Graham Library.
Scheduled to open in November 2022, the building will be owned and operated by TGLL on behalf of the community, although the library service will continue to be provided by Stirling Council.
The building, in Kirkburn Road, has been funded entirely through personal and charitable donations, making it the first community-owned public library to be built in Scotland in living memory.
A total of 275 local people donated to a library crowdfunding appeal that raised more than £1m. Roughly one third of households in the community of Strathblane have donated.
It is named after Professor Thomas Graham, the great-uncle of Angus Graham, a local landowner and businessman who is principal donor.
Professor Graham was a Glasgow-born chemist who pioneered the science of diffusion and became a leading British scientist in the mid-19 th century.
The building has been designed by Thomas Robinson Architects from Croftamie and the main contractor is Fleming from Lenzie.
Margaret Vass, chair of the development trust, said: “We can’t quite believe that work has begun after the struggle to do this during a pandemic. Our community has delivered in extraordinary circumstances.”
Iain Stewart, chair of TGLL, said: “Now the hard work begins to deliver the building on time and within budget. At the same time, we will be working with the community to find volunteers to manage the building when complete.”
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As well as the donations from locals through a crowdfunding appeal around £700,000 was secured from major donors.
The Strathblane project is building a new community-owned library to replace what is normally a council-funded facility. Instead the development trust is negotiating a partnership agreement with Stirling Council, under which the council will operate its library service from the community’s building.
The new library will also become a first community hub for Strathblane and its adjoining villages of Blanefield, Mugdock and Carbeth, providing social, recreational and education services to their 2300 residents.
Strathblane’s old library was housed in an ageing portable cabin but was exceptionally popular, attracting 33,000 visits a year from 1500 people.
The breakthrough for the trust came when Angus Graham committeed £500,000 towards the cost of the new library. A further £100,000 came from a European family charitable foundation that has links with Mr Graham.
The new library features a largely glassed north wall providing views up to the adjacent Campsie Hills, with a long desk providing reading space for visitors.
The building’s technical specification will also feature an advanced energy generating system based on roof-mounted solar panels, an air-sourced heat pump and battery storage.
